GRAMMY Hangover

So, it's come and it's gone; the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards. Last night, I blogged and tweeted for 3.5 hours straight and NOW it's time for the recap!!! Overall, the night was pretty decent. 

There were some good performances and there were some bad ones, but I'm thinking the good outweighed the bad. Luckily, Gaga wasn't THE outrageous one last night; that was Cee-Lo...who STILL did it better.  No one COMPLETELY undeserving went home with an award...AND TAYLOR SWIFT wasn't around. Wait, yeah she was. Dangit. She was pimping a re-release of her latest album that JUST came out and Covergirl cosmetics.  Please lose her, Covergirl.

Yeah, I said it.

Hands down, best performance last night was the first one.  The tribute to Aretha Franklin by Yolanda Adams, Martina McBride, Florence Welch, Christina Aguilera, and Jennifer Hudson.  The ladies did their thing and although they have different sounds, they all performed AWESOME.  Unfortunately for Christina, she took a BIT of a stumble.  Poor thing can't win for losing, huh? Oh well. 

The other performances I really liked were B.O.B, Bruno Mars, & Janelle Monet; Eminem, Dr. Dre, Rihanna, Adam Levine, & Skylar Grey; Mick Jagger & Rapheal Saadiq; John Mayer, Keith Urban, & Norah Jones; Mumford & Sons, The Avett Brothers, & Bob Dylan, and Miranda Lambert.

In the OKAY category, I'd put The Biebs, Usher, and Jaden Smith; Lady Antebellum (Hillary was a wreck because of the nerves. She still sounded good, but they seemed to overcome the good), Cee-Lo & Gwyneth Paltrow (it's only OKAY because I.Don't.Like.Muppets; they freaked me out); Barbara Streisand, and Muse.

Wow. I just realized I forgot about Katy Perry performing altogether. That's not a good sign. So...umm...we'll put Katy, Lady Gaga, and Arcade Fire in the same category. Anyone I'm missing?

It's not that Katy and Gaga were AWFUL. They were just forgettable.  See, I remember Arcade Fire, but mostly because I nearly had a seizure...CHEESE AND CRACKERS. 

OH and MOST AWKWARD MOMENT goes to Jennifer Lopez and husband, Marc Anthony. I'm not sure WHAT was supposed to happen, but it was apparent that Marc was not happy or he was HIGH AS A KITE! Whatever the schtick was; didn't work!!

I'd put the best dressed and all in here, but that's not my gig.  The music is my gig.  I'll come back to it all in a few, but first, here are the winners...ALL OF THEM:

Record of the Year


Lady Antebellum - "Need You Now"



Album of the Year

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs



Song of the Year

"Need You Now" - Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum)



Best New Artist

Esperanza Spalding



Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"



Best Male Pop Vocal Performance

Bruno Mars - "Just the Way You Are"



Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals

Train - "Hey, Soul Sister (Live)"



Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals

Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No. 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare - "Imagine"



Best Pop Instrumental Performance

Jeff Beck - "Nessun Dorma"



Best Pop Vocal Album

Lady Gaga - The Fame Monster



Best Dance Recording

Rihanna - "Only Girl (in the World)"



Best Electronic/Dance Album

La Roux



Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album

Michael Buble - Crazy Love



Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance

Paul McCartney - "Helter Skelter"



Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals

Black Keys - "Tighten Up"



Best Hard Rock Performance

Them Crooked Vultures - "New Fang"



Best Metal Performance

Iron Maiden - "El Dorado"



Best Rock Instrumental Performance

Jeff Beck - "Hammerhead"



Best Rock Song

"Angry World" - Neil Young, songwriter (Neil Young)



Best Rock Album

Muse - The Resistance



Best Alternative Music Album

Black Keys - Brothers



Best Female R&B Vocal Performance

Fantasia - "Bittersweet"



Best Male R&B Vocal Performance

Usher - "There Goes My Baby"



Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals

Sade - "Soldier of Love"



Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance

John Legend and The Roots - "Hang on in There"



Best Urban/Alternative Performance

Cee Lo Green - "F*** You"



Best R&B Song

"Shine" - John Stephens, songwriter (John Legend & The Roots)



Best R&B Album

John Legend and The Roots - Wake Up!



Best Contemporary R&B Album

Usher - Raymond V Raymond



Best Rap Solo Performance

Eminem - "Not Afraid"



Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group

Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz - "On to the Next One"



Best Rap/Sung Collaboration

Jay-Z & Alicia Keys - "Empire State of Mind"



Best Rap Song

"Empire State of Mind" - Shawn Carter, Angela Hunte, Burt Keyes, Alicia Keys, Jane't "Jnay" Sewell-Ulepic & Alexander Shuckburgh, songwriters (Sylvia Robinson, songwriter) (Jay-Z & Alicia Keys)



Best Rap Album

Eminem - Recovery



Best Female Country Vocal Performance

Miranda Lambert - "The House That Built Me"



Best Male Country Vocal Performance

Keith Urban - "'Til Summer Comes Around"



Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals

Lady Antebellum - "Need You Now"



Best Country Collaboration With Vocals

Zac Brown Band & Alan Jackson - "As She's Walking Away"



Best Country Instrumental Performance

Marty Stuart - "Hummingbyrd"



Best Country Song

"Need You Now" - Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott, songwriters (Lady Antebellum)



Best Country Album

Lady Antebellum - Need You Now



Best Gospel Performance

BeBe & CeCe Winans - "Grace"



Best Gospel Song

"It's What I Do" - Jerry Peters and Kirk Whalum, songwriters (Kirk Whalum and Lalah Hathaway)







Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album

Switchfoot - Hello Hurricane



Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album

Israel Houghton - Love God. Love People.



Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album

Diamond Rio - The Reason



Best Traditional Gospel Album

Patty Griffin - DowntownChurch



Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album

BeBe & CeCe Winans - Still



Best Americana Album

Mavis Staples - You Are Not Alone



Best Bluegrass Album

Patty Loveless - Mountain Soul II



Best Traditional Blues Album

Pinetop Perkins & Willie "Big Eyes" Smith - Joined at the Hip



Best Contemporary Blues Album

Buddy Guy - Living Proof



Best Traditional Folk Album

Carolina Chocolate Drops - Genuine Negro Jig



Best Contemporary Folk Album

Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs - God Willin' & The Creek Don't Rise



Best Improvised Jazz Solo

Herbie Hancock - "A Change Is Gonna Come"



Best Reggae Album

Buju Banton - Before the Dawn



Best Musical Album for Children

Pete Seeger With the Rivertown Kids and Friends - Tomorrow's Children





Best Spoken Word for Children

Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs and Lullabies



Best Spoken Word Album

Jon Stewart (with Samantha Bee, Wyatt Cenac, Jason Jones, John Oliver & Sigourney Weaver) - The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Audiobook)



Best Comedy Album

Lewis Black - Stark Raving Black



Best Musical Show Album

American Idiot (featuring Green Day)



Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media

Crazy Heart (Stephen Bruton & T Bone Burnett)



Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media

Randy Newman - Toy Story 3



Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media

"The Weary Kind" (from Crazy Heart) - Ryan Bingham & T Bone Burnett, songwriters (Ryan Bingham)



Best Recording Package

(an art director's award)

Black Keys - Brothers



Best Boxed or Limited Edition Package

(an art director's award)

White Stripes - Under Great White Northern Lights



Best Historical Album

The Beatles - The Original Studio Recordings



Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical

(an engineer's award)

John Mayer - Battle Studies



Best Remixed Recording

(a remixer's award)

David Guetta - "Revolver (One Love Club Remix)" (Madonna)



Producer of The Year, Non-Classical

Danger Mouse



Best Short Form Music Video

Lady Gaga - "Bad Romance"



Best Long Form Music Video

The Doors - When You're Strange