Chris Brown - Grammy's Chris Brown Lovefest Leaves Audience In Disbelief

The music industry is renowned for having a short memory. Normally, it works against people; careers are shot down in flames as quickly as they are built up by media hype and record company cash. For Chris Brown, though, the short-term memory loss of the music world seems to have worked in his favor, leaving his critics in a state of shock, in the process. It was surprise enough to learn that Chris Brown had been invited to perform at Sunday's Grammy Awards ceremony (February 12, 2012) but when he walked away with one of the coveted awards, as well, viewers were left in disbelief.

Brown was scheduled to perform at the Grammys three years ago in 2009. His performance was cancelled after he was alleged to have assaulted his girlfriend, Rihanna. She also cancelled her scheduled appearance and Brown was later found guilty of the offence. At the time, it didn't seem as though Chris Brown stood a chance of ever regaining a career and rightly so, as images of Rihanna's bruised and swollen face were widely publicised. Rihanna became an unwitting spokeswoman for victims of domestic violence and left the boyfriend who had beaten her. Brown may still be on probation for his crime and he may have undergone the requisite counselling that the judges ordered but many critics have still slammed the Grammys' decision to celebrate him in such a way. Forgiving past demeanours is one thing but celebrating such a quick turnaround in his success rests uneasy with many.

Chris Brown's music appeals largely to a young female audience. Perhaps a number of his fans are simply too young too remember the incident three years ago, or lack the maturity to place it into a wider context and consider the message that his Grammys award gives out. A recent article in the Los Angeles Times draws attention to a number of Twitter users posting comments such as "Chris Bro! wn can p unch me whenever he wants, love." That said, fellow Grammys performer Nicki Minaj also seemed eager to voice her support of Chris Brown, tweeting a message regarding his performance at the show that read: "Omg that chris brown performance. Shut Doowwwnnnn" His performance and the receipt of his award has certainly divided opinion but not necessarily in an even split, with most media outlets expressing concern that the Grammys' organizers chose to honour Chris Brown in this way.