Kim Petras and Sam Smith, who won the 2023 Grammy award for best pop duo/group performance for “Unholy,” performed the song at tonight’s show.
Madonna introduced the performance with a monologue about what she’s learned about rebellion and being a troublemaker after her four decades in the music industry, noting that an artist is doing something right if they’re being called provocative.
Surrounded by a monochromatic wash of red lights and in front of a backdrop of fire, Sam Smith opened up the song, encircled by dancers, wearing an ensemble and working with props that had allusions to BDSM themes. Halfway through the song, Smith added a horned hat to his look.
Kim Petras sang her section from inside a cage on stage, and wore a red leather mini-dress with her signature long, blonde hair.
After the commercial break, Trevor Noah faked a call to his mother, acknowledging the “unholy” themes of the performance’s set design and the singers’ wardrobe choices, joking: “No, it wasn’t the actual devil, they were just dressed like the devil, mom,” before panning to the audience: “She said she’ll be praying for all of us.”
Earlier Petras and Smith won the Grammy for best pop duo/group performance for “Unholy” with Petras saying she was the first transgender winner in the category’s history.
