Grammy Awards 2018: Hillary Clinton, celebrities troll Donald Trump

An awards show heavy on political preaching featured a skit with Clinton reading an account of Donald Trump’s White House.

Ben Fielding, left, and Brooke Ligertwood, of Hillsong Worship, pose in the press room their Grammys.

Hillary Clinton has returned to the media spotlight to poke fun at Donald Trump in a star-studded Grammys skit.

In one of the more striking moments of a pointedly political Grammy Awards, the vanquished Democrat presidential candidate appeared in a video by the award show’s host James Corden, in which she and celebrities including Cher, Snoop Dogg and John Legend “audition” for a spoken-word version of the Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House.

It was an appearance one-time Grammy winner Clinton no doubt relished.

Clinton speaks slowly and deliberately as she recites a passage from the controversial book, which Trump has dismissed as “full of lies”, appearing to relish each syllable.

“He had a longtime fear of being poisoned, one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald’s - nobody saw him coming, and the food was safely premade,” she reads.

Clinton initially held Wolff’s book in front of her face but lowered it as she read the passage, prompting cheers from the audience.

On the hunt for a GRAMMY Award of his own, James Corden auditions celebrities for the spoken word version of Michael Wolff's "Fire and Fury." pic.twitter.com/SjTobAbv2N

— JAMES IS HOSTING THE GRAMMYS TONIGHT (@latelateshow) January 29, 2018

• Behind the liberal mask, Hollywood’s a horror story

• Hillary, Julia unite to fight sexism

Singer Cardi B, after narrating a passage about Trump going to bed with a cheeseburger, expressed her incredulity about the book’s contents, laughing: “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe that he really—this is how he lives his life?”

Corden ends the video by saying she has got the job, and it was a sure winner.

“You think so?” Trump’s 2016 election opponent said. “The Grammy’s in the bag?” Clinton is already a Grammy winner from 1997, for reading her book, “It Takes a Village.”

Not everyone was a fan of the moment. United Nations Ambassador Nikki Halley tweeted that the moment ruined the Grammy-watching experience for her. “I have always loved the Grammys but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it,” she tweeted. “Don’t ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it.”

It wasn’t the only political moment at the awards show. Like the pre-recorded skit with Clinton, all were meticulously planned.

Michael Wolff admits his book #FireAndFury is riddled with lies. "A number of his sources, he says, were definitely lying to him, while some offered accounts that flatly contradict those of others." It's sad to see @HillaryClinton reduced to reading lies. https://t.co/nFP9py1AnW

— Liza Smith (@LizaSoho) January 29, 2018

I have always loved the Grammys but to have artists read the Fire and Fury book killed it. Don’t ruin great music with trash. Some of us love music without the politics thrown in it.

— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) January 29, 2018

Three country artists who were on the bill at the country music festival that was the site of a mass shooting in Las Vegas in October joined to sing a sombre version of Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven.”

Eric Church, Maren Morris and the Brothers Osborne performed before a backdrop with the names of shooting victims. Singer Janelle Monae spoke up for women’s rights in an introduction to Kesha’s performance of her song “Praying,” which is about fighting back against mistreatment. Kesha accused her former producer, Dr. Luke, of sexual assault. The charges were later dropped, but Kesha’s song was an obvious reference to her battle, and she was joined by about a dozen other women singers backing her up. “To those who would dare try to silence us, we offer these words: ‘time’s up,”’ Monae said.

Singer Camila Cabello, a Cuban-Mexican immigrant brought to the United States as a child, spoke in favour of legal protections for so-called “dreamers.” “This country was built by dreamers for dreamers,” said Cabello, who introduced the rock band U2. In a pre-recorded performance of their song “Get Out of Your Own Way,” U2 was on a barge in the New York harbour with the Statue of Liberty in the background.

Australian group gets a gong

Australia’s Hillsong Worship won an award at the Grammys. The group, formed out of Sydney’s Hillsong megachurch, has had huge success across the world for their Christian inspired music and concerts.

“This is an absolutely incredible honour,” said Brooke Ligertwood, who accepted the award with Ben Fielding on stage inside Madison Square Garden, New York, this morning.

They received the award in the best contemporary Christian music performance/song category for What A Beautiful Name.

The award is given to artists and songwriters of new contemporary Christian pop, Christian rap/hip-hop or Christian rock singles or tracks.

“No matter how far or close you feel to God or no matter how great the distance his love is greater, his name is more powerful, more wonderful, more beautiful than any other,” Fielding said.

Since 1992, Hillsong Worship has created 24 albums with more than 275 songs. According to the Hillsong Church, the band’s song are sung by an estimated 50 million people in 60 languages.

The win came after fellow Australians Sia Furler, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Sydney trio Mansionair missed out on awards earlier in the ceremony. Adelaide’s chart-topping singer-songwriter Sia was nominated in the best song written for film or TV category for Never Give Up, featured in the Nicole Kidman, Oscar-nominated Australian produced film Lion.

The Grammy went to Lin-Manuel Miranda for How Far I’ll Go from Disney’s Moana: The Songs.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and director Andrew Dominik were snubbed in the best music film category for One More Time With Feeling.

The Defiant Ones won the Grammy.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds also received a cold shoulder in the Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package for Lovely Creatures: The Best Of Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds.

The winner was the Voyager Golden Record: 40th Anniversary Edition. Sydney trio Mansionair was nominated in the best dance recording category for their collaborative effort Line Of Sight with Seattle electronic duo Odesza, but they were beaten for the Grammy by LCD Soundsystem for Tonite.

AAP/AP