Adele already has an Oscar for best song. It has more Grammys. So she’s halfway to EGOT, and by now she might even win an Emmy next year, because she co-executive produced her prime-time special. Adele only one night which aired last night and she should put it through Emmy’s consideration. This is the side of Adele that we don’t see often: Adele who is in full control of her brand, her creative presentation: Adele, the producer.
On the screen the Adele who showed up last night, both on the stage at Griffith Observatory and in Oprah Winfrey’s rose garden, was the one we are most familiar with: she is a performer, she is funny, that voice, that face, that eyeliner, that LIPSTICK! It’s the time her name appears after Ben Winston’s when the credits begin to roll which is the only evidence of the other parts of Adele’s work that makes the high-profile work possible. She is the architect of his promotional push back; music and lyrics by Adele, of course, but also all the rest of ADELE.
And this was a brilliant production. Adele, in the role of high priestess of astrology, singing her gospel from the Observatory, to promote an album inspired by her Saturn return, her clearly visible Saturn tattoo and those Saturn earrings that focus every close-up – she rightly seemed to have full control over the elements, both natural and man-made, as the wind seemed to pick up every time she moved her wrists, the screens behind her changed as she moved her eyes, and the lights went up and down to accommodate the rise and fall of the his voice.
Adele only one night it was good television, combining live music, conversation, fashion, surprise, editing and technology to tell the story of a woman who has fallen apart, as she describes it, and is trying to get back together. On editing, there are some who didn’t like the back and forth of the parts of the interview with Oprah cutting between songs. I actually liked that Adele and the production team took that swing. This is what made it different from, say, an HBO concert special. It worked for me because the theme of each segment of the interview matched the song that preceded or followed it. This gave the special a certain narrative structure and while, sure, it would have been more conventional to do the interview first and the concert to follow, playing with the format is achievable with an artist like Adele, who has the natural energy to bring upon completion the momentum shifts from the stage to the garden settings. And by doing this it gave them clear entry and exit points for the performance so that they could massage whatever technical adjustments needed – remember, this happened outside, as the light was constantly changing, I guess they would have to make some changes to the technology. to account for lighting only, as well as changes in sound and other technical considerations.
As for the surprise, the Ashley and Quentin couple proposal, that was the part where I wasn’t initially sure if it would work. Stunts like this can be very embarrassing because you’d have to take the camera out of a superstar and put it on two people the audience doesn’t know or care about. It’s a big risk, but Ashley and Quentin were so charming and sweet, and Ashley’s reactions were so hilarious, that they actually made it – which, to get back to work, means they did a good job with the casting. That’s what I mean by the level of production here – they’ve brought together the full catalog of essential television skills, plus star power from Adele, who used her star power to tap into more star power.
New life goal: getting engaged in front of @Adele. ‘?? pic.twitter.com/ybfa922aHg
– CBS (@CBS) November 15, 2021
Adele he recently told Rolling Stone that she was initially reluctant, even after moving to Los Angeles, to become friends with other celebrities – and what people like Nicole Richie and Jennifer Lawrence brought into her life once she allowed herself to let friendships develop. Nicole was there last night, along with dozens of other very famous people, including Lizzo, Donald Glover, Selena Gomez, Melissa McCarthy, Ava DuVernay, Seth Rogen, Gabrielle Union, Dwyane Wade, Ellen DeGeneres, Gayle King, James Corden, Gordon Ramsay, Sarah Paulson, Tyler Perry, Leonardo DiCaprio and of course Drake.
So basically it felt like an awards show. I’m pretty sure no one was forced to go, knowing how special the event was, the exclusivity of it, and celebrities love that shit – even those who aren’t “comfortable” standing in front of the camera. As if I couldn’t imagine Leo caring so much that there was a long shot on him in the first quarter of the show, after hearing Adele tell the audience earlier that she had personally curated the guest list so that she could have people who felt safe for her first performance in six years.
But also, that was her flex, that’s where she was willing to go to offer two hours of television that, for sure, the industry was paying attention to and ahead of the 30 Friday release which should be a monstrous success. Adele showed the shit about her work last night. So … did you reveal that you deadlift 160lbs ?! LOL this was my biggest achievement from the interview parts of the special. I do deadlifts two or three times a week and my weak butt – literally – can only handle 25-pound deadlifts, which is an improvement on the 20-pound I was doing six months ago. But she says she started at 10lbs. So now I want to believe I can get to 50lbs in six months. Adele is now my fantasy trainer!