One day , many years from now , future generations will look back at this time in our country 's history and wonder what in the hell were we thinking . The Kardashians are famous for no reason , same-sex marriage is controversial for stupid reasons , and somehow the `` Twilight '' franchise is a cash cow . But our culture 's biggest sin may well be the auto-tuned syrup we 've allowed to dominate the pop charts . All-time chart records are handed to vacuous acts such as the Black Eyed Peas and singing awards are given to vocal lightweights such as Taylor Swift . History will show a dark time in our culture in which a million followers on Twitter became a key component to winning a Grammy . But thank God for Pink . That 's what I was thinking as I was watching her performance during Sunday 's American Music Awards . She recreated the video for her current single , `` Try , '' a midtempo ballad about the ups and downs of an imperfect relationship . Where there is desire . There is gon na be a flame . Where there is a flame . Someone 's bound to get burned . But just because it burns . Does n't mean you 're gon na die . You 've got ta get up and try try try . Singing words like that live with the right level of emotion that Pink is known for is hard enough . Doing so while in engaged in an athletic pas de deux , complete with lifts , is breathtaking . She received a standing ovation afterward , much in the same way she commanded one at the 2010 Grammys as she swung over the audience 's heads on a trapeze , asking : . Have you ever thrown a fist full of glitter in the air ? Have you ever looked fear in the face and said , `` I just do n't care '' ? It would all seem like a meat-dress wearing gimmick if she did n't have the voice and lyrics to back it up . But she does , and thus we can all breathe a sigh of relief knowing her voice will be there for future generations to discover when looking back at us . Pink wo n't be able to scrub our record clean singlehandedly -- there 's just too much manufacturing for one person to overcome . But at least there will be evidence for my great-great grandkids to see that we were n't all `` American Idol 's '' sheep . While Christina Aguilera has a tendency to oversing , Britney Spears ca n't sing , and Lauryn Hill sorta stopped singing , Pink has managed to carve a brilliant 13-year-career by being something that is incredibly rare these days -- an artist . A complete artist . Maybe the most underrated artist we 've had on the radio in the past 20 years . That 's not to suggest she 's been ignored -- Pink has sold more than 40 million albums worldwide . It 's just when you look at the amount of publicity given to her in comparison to say , Lady Gaga or Adele , well there is no comparison . We know she is phenomenal , but the others are considered phenomenons . Gaga and Adele are worthy of the accolades , but whenever I listen to Pink 's `` Dear Mr. President , '' `` Family Portrait '' or `` Sober , '' I feel the need to atone for us not making more room for her in the pop culture paradigm . Billboard magazine -- one of the most respected names in the music industry -- ranked the top five performances from the American Music Awards . For them , Pink 's brave rendition of `` Try '' was second . Tops was Psy doing `` Gangnam Style '' with MC Hammer . MC Hammer ! ? ! Yes ... we 're going to have a lot to answer for someday .
LZ Granderson : Why does our culture let auto-tuned syrup dominate the pop charts ? The answer is that we have a cultural obsession with sugar. He says Pink deserves the kind of attention that Lady Gaga and Adele receive .