I think it’s pretty safe to say that Sunday was a very eventful night for Harry Styles. On top of taking home one of the biggest awards at the Grammys — Album of the Year — it’s been revealed that there was a pretty major malfunction during his performance of “As It Was” during the ceremony.
In TikToks shared by two of Harry’s backup dancers, they explained that the rotating stage the group performed on was actually moving the opposite direction it was supposed to. Harry and his dancers were then forced to troubleshoot in real time and rework the routine live on air.
One dancer said that the original routine “was different than anything most of us had ever done before. It was frustrating and it was difficult making those patterns while something was moving, and having all this spatial awareness, and working together with people you’ve never met before. It was a wild challenge.”
She went on to explain that they tried to get the technician’s attention subtly while perfoming, but unfortunately it got lost in translation.
Harry received a fair amount of criticism for his performance, notably that he seemed nervous and off-key. If had to rework a whole routine LIVE in front of some of the most talented musicians in the world, it would’ve been a lot more obvious.
Since then, fans have taken to social media to applaud Harry and his dancers for their ~the show must go on~ attitude:
Say what you want about Harry or his Grammy wins this weekend, but him and his dancers handled that malfunction like pros, all things considered. I think the performance was pretty good ~as it was~.