It was ladies night at the Grammy awards last night. Beyonce, who led with the most nominations, along with Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga promised a close race in the categories they were up against each other. But it was Swift who took home the night’s top honor: Album of the Year. A thrilled and emotional Swift took the stage and vowed to remember this moment for her entire life.
“When we’re 80 years old and we’re telling the same stories over and over to our grandkids and they’re so annoyed with us, this is the story we’re going to be telling over and over again,” Swift proclaimed.
Swift collected four overall awards but Beyonce dominated the night with a record-breaking six awards including Song of The Year for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it).” Kings of Leon surprised most by winning Record of the Year for “Use Somebody” while Green Day took home Best Rock Album for 21st Century Breakdown.
Despite all the winners, the night truly belonged to Michael Jackson who received a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award. Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Smokey Robinson, Jennifer Hudson and Usher joined together to perform alongside the 3-D video for “Earth Song” that was intended for Jackson’s This Is It tour. Two of Jackson’s three children, Prince and Paris, made a rare public appearance by accepting their father’s award.
As for the rest of the performances, Pink was by far my favorite. She performed a stunning and impressive Cirque Du Soleil-inspired rendition of “Glitter in the Air” while spinning above the audience in a white bunting and spraying water everywhere. Beyonce channeled her alter ego Sasha Fierce in her angsty performance of “If I Were a Boy”/Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know.” Beyonce knows how to make a lasting impression but the performance was indulgent in my opinion.
Lady Gaga brought it with her pants-less performance of “Poker Face” then brought it down in a dueling piano-style performance of “Speechless” with Elton John. Gaga was more tame then we’ve seen her before but the duet with Elton John and working in his classic “Your Song” with “Speechless” was cleverly executed and proved once more that Gaga has the chops.
Other standouts of the night were the censor-filled collaboration of jail-bound Lil Wayne, Eminem and Drake with Travis Barker on drums and the Black Eyed Peas’ rocking light show of “I Gotta Feeling.”
This year’s Grammys was one of the better telecasts I’ve seen in a few years and if nothing else, Lady Gaga’s viewing outfit was worth every minute of watching the lengthy show.
Here is the complete list of winners:
Best dance recording – Lady Gaga
Best electronic/dance album – Lady Gaga – “The Fame”
Best female country vocal performance – Taylor Swift – “White Horse”
Best male country vocal performance – Keith Urban – “Sweet Thing”
Best country performance by a duo/group with vocals – Lady Antebellum – “I Run To You”
Best country collaboration with vocals – Carrie Underwood & Randy Travis – “I Told You So”
Best country song – Taylor Swift – “White Horse”
Best bluegrass album – Steve Martin “The Crow/New Songs For The Five-String Banjo”
Best children’s music album – Ziggy Marley – “Family Time”
Best spoken word album – Michael J. Fox – “Always Looking Up”
Best musical show album – West Side Story
Best compilation soundtrack album – Slumdog Millionaire
Best song written for motion picture, television or other visual media – Slumdog Millionare – “Jai Ho”
Best remixed recording, non-classical – David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland – “When Love Takes Over”
Best male pop vocal performance – Jason Mraz – “Make It Mine”
Best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals – Black Eyed Peas – “I Gotta Feeling”
Best pop collaboration with vocals – Jason Mraz & Colbie Callait – “Lucky”
Best pop instrumental album – Booker T. Jones – “Potato Hole”
Best pop vocal album – The Black Eyed Peas – The E.N.D.
Best traditional pop vocal album – Michael Buble – “Michael Buble Meets Madison Square Garden”
Best rock solo performance – Bruce Springsteen – “Working On A Dream”
Best rock performance by a duo/group w/vocals – Kings Of Leon – “Use Somebody”
Best hard rock performance – AC/DC – “War Machine”
Best metal performance – Judas Priest – “Dissident Aggressor”
Best rock instrumental performance – Jeff Beck – “A Day In The Life”
Best rock song – Kings Of Leon – “Use Somebody”
Best alternative music album – Phoenix – “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix”
Best female R&B vocal performance – Beyonce – “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”
Best male R&B vocal performance – Maxwell – “Pretty Wings”
Best R&B performance by a duo/group with vocals – Jamie Foxx & T-Pain – “Blame It”
Best traditional R&B vocal performance – Beyonce – “At Last”
Best urban/alternative performance – India.Arie & Dobet Gnahore – “Pearls”
Best R&B song – Beyonce – “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”
Best R&B album – Maxwell – “BLACKsummer’snight”
Best contemporary R&B album – Beyonce – “I Am…Sasha Fierce”
Best rap solo performance – Jay-Z – “D.O.A.”
Best rap performance by a duo/group – Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent – “Crack A Bottle”
Best rap song – Rihanna, Jay-Z & Kanye West – “Run This Town”
Best rap album – Eminem – “Relapse”
Best short form music video – The Black Eyed Peas – “Boom Boom Pow”
Best long form music video – Various Artists – “The Beatles Love – All Together Now”
Song of the year – Beyonce – “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”
Best country album – Taylor Swift – “Fearless”
Best new artist – Zac Brown Band
Best comedy album – Stephen Colbert – “The Greatest Gift Of All!”
Record of the year – Kings Of Leon – “Use Somebody”
Best rock album – Green Day – “21st Century Breakdown”
Best rap/sung collaboration – Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West – “Run This Town”
Best female vocal performance – Beyonce – “Halo”
Album of the year – Taylor Swift – “Fearless”
