As someone who loves music, the Grammys is a fascinating event. The illusive formula that the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences uses to determine the winners, musicians taking the stage to push their personal or political agendas, and the unfiltered reactions of the crowd make it feel like a social experiment set up for the world to study.

While I put little weight on who is nominated, wins, or loses, the academy got it wrong more than once this year, starting with the Best New Artist. When I saw the nominees on the screen, I thought the winner had to be Noah Kahan, Olivia Rodrigo, or Ice Spice. All three artists skyrocketed toward the top of Spotify’s charts and had at least 17 million more monthly listeners than winner Victoria Monét.

All but two nominees had more monthly listeners, making me question exactly how the academy decided the winner. Rodrigo trumped everyone at 59.3 million monthly listeners. While I cannot say she is my pick for Best New Artist, everyone knows who she is. Everyone has heard at least one of her songs, from my teenage niece, a strict country fan, to my mother, an Elton John die-hard.

Kahan and Rodrigo have both toured across the United States and Europe, selling out legendary venues like Madison Square Garden and Red Rocks Amphitheater. Tickets to see either artist were nearly impossible to get, and if you were lucky enough to secure them, you were paying $300 plus for mediocre seats. During Kahan’s presale, I spent 20 minutes adding tickets to my cart, only for them to be bought out from under me until none were left. Now, they are reselling for hundreds on StubHub. When are buying bots and scalping going to be illegal?

I also took issue with the Song of the Year winner, Billie Eilish. I have loved her music since her career was in its infancy, and the evolution of her style and sound has been a pleasure to listen to, but when has anyone gone out of their way to listen to “What Was I Made For?” more than once? We all heard the song in the “Barbie movie,” and it fits perfectly there, but unless I am trying to have a good cry, nothing about the song makes me want to listen, and even then, it does not make the top 10. SZA’s “Kill Bill” was the obvious pick for Song of the Year, with “Vampire” by Rodrigo as a close second. Both songs had big, bad female energy that made you want to sing. “Kill Bill” has over 1.6 billion listens on Spotify, which is over a billion more than “What Was I Made For?”

I know the academy has its reasons for how and why they vote the way they do, but public opinion should hold more weight. Then again, the billions of Swifties out there could take over the world and turn the Grammys into the Taylor Awards if given the right opportunity.

So, let us get into Swift. Her album announcement in the middle of the award show received mixed reviews from the crowd. The camera panned to Miley Cyrus and Rodrigo, who uncomfortably forced smiles. To be fair, Rodrigo had the same face every time the camera was on her, but Miley Cyrus looked like she was doing everything she could not to roll her eyes.

The internet has compared Swift’s album reveal to the selfish act of getting engaged at someone else’s wedding, and I cannot agree more. Millions of people watching the Grammys, myself included, turned away from the screen to find more information on the new record. The Instagram post that went out as she spoke on stage had millions of likes within minutes. If there is one thing Swift is good at, it is shameless self-promotion and her unmatched ability to steal the spotlight.

The only celebrity that may have one-upped Swift in the controversial category on Grammys night was Jay-Z with his scalding admonishment of the academy. The producer and rapper ranted about the lack of attention artists of color receive during award shows, only to be proven right later on when Best Rap Album, Song, and Performance all went untelevised. The Latin music categories also did not make the cut for the live broadcast, showing how the scales are tipped in favor of the categories that feature more white artists.

While no one can agree on clear-cut winners for any award show, we can agree on who should not have won in certain categories. The Grammys are just another popularity contest used to boost the already inflated egos of artists, whether they are deserving or not. Regardless, I will keep watching the various award shows and cross my fingers in hopes of Will Smith-Chris Rock-level drama.