Silence Isn't Golden for Grammy Viewers Fighting Censorship

Music was out in full force Sunday night at the Grammys, but for some viewers, it's what they didn't get to hear that was the problem.

Grammy audiences and critics are complaining because CBS censored large portions of performances by rap artists Eminem, Drake and Lil' Wayne during the Grammys on Sunday night, the Associated Press reported Monday.

Although the songs "Forever" and "Drop the World" by the rappers contain profanity in their original form, many think the silences were unnecessarily long.

CBS is also being criticized for asking artists to perform then censoring the very songs that warranted their invites, according to the AP.

"Don't have performers on the show if you're going to bleep...their performance," said Paul Levinson, professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University.

The music, as well as the singers' microphones, were cut off numerous times during the show. The silences lasted for so long some thought CBS was having technical difficulties. Meanwhile, the singers reverted to miming the words.

Dissatisfaction was expressed on Twitter too. One disgruntled viewer's opinion: "If you are going to bleep out more than half of the song then don't put it on!"

New York Magazine has the uncensored lyrics to the songs here.

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