Music Blogs

The 51st Grammys: Hours To Go Before We Sleep!

Posted Sun Feb 8, 2009 11:11pm PST by Billy Altman in And The Winner Is...

We have to admit that, compared to recent years, the 51st edition of the Grammy Awards ceremonies did carry a bit of suspense. For instance, Would Lil Wayne be the first rapper to win Album of the Year, and if so, would his pants stay up? If they won Song of the Year for "Viva La Vida," would Coldplay get coldcocked onstage by Joe Satriani, the guitarist whose instrumental "If I Could Fly" surely seemed to have been stolen lock, stock, and riff by Chris Martin and crew? Would ultra-pregnant M.I.A., appearing on her actual due date, become the first Grammy nominee to drop a baby right in the middle of a performance? And what on earth happened between Chris Brown and Rihanna, both of whom were no-shows on the telecast owing to a late Saturday night post-party altercation that apparently left Rihanna injured and Brown arrested on battery charges?

Well, over the course of a three-and-a-half-hour program in which a grand total of 10 (!) awards were actually given out (believe it or not, the rest of the 110 total Grammys up for grabs were all doled out, as has been the practice for some time now, in a hurried pre-telecast ceremony on the floor of L.A.'s Staples Center), we did get answers to the first three of those four questions: respectively, no, no and no.

Lil Wayne won Best Rap Album, but not Album of the Year, which, as per the Recording Academy's usual conservative bent, went to Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's Americana album Raising Sand. Coldplay won Song of the Year without anyone yelling, "Thief!" And M.I.A., wearing a sort of maternity leotard thing, made it through her part on "Swagga Like Us" without going into labor--though for any of us who actually made it through the whole darned show, labor was indeed the operative word.

As for the Chris Brown/Rihanna flareup, we'll probably need to wait for the police blotter sometime tomorrow to find out about that one.

Still, the 51st Grammy Awards show did overall have its share of moments to remember. And to that end, here's our own top 10: Yahoo!'s 2009 Grammy telecast "And The Winner Is" awards:

The "Rising To The Occasion" Award goes to Jennifer Hudson, for surpassing her dramatic rendition of the national anthem at last week's Super Bowl with a riveting (and decidedly non-lip-synched) performance of her uplifting "You Pulled Me Through."

The "Stooping To The Occasion" Award goes to Thom Yorke and Radiohead, whose whiny rendition of "15 Step" was so bad-vibed that you kind of wished they'd have just left the stage and allowed the USC Trojan Marching Band accompanying them to do the song by themselves.

The "Haven't We Seen This Picture Before?" Award goes to Whitney Houston, who looked and sounded as out-of-it as a presenter in 2009 as she did as a performer in 2000, when they had to remind her that her song was over and she kind of needed to leave the stage so the show could continue.

The "I Wonder What They're Thinking Right Now?" Award goes to Dean Martin's son and daughter, who after hearing Queen Latifah salute their late dad's Lifetime Achievement nod, then heard her introduce Kanye West, T.I., Lil Wayne, and Jay-Z as the "Rap Pack." Somewhere, Frank Sinatra is spinning in his grave.

The "Best Date Placement" Award goes to Paul McCartney, for using his upfront aisle-seat pull to show off new gal pal Nancy Shevell. Oh, Heather...

The "I Went To The Grammys And A Boston Red Sox Game Broke Out" Award goes to Neil Diamond, for his pluperfectly cheesy rendition of the Fenway Park 8th-inning staple "Sweet Caroline." And how 'bout those eyebrows?

The "Works Well With Fruit" Award goes to Katy Perry, for making the kitchiest most out of her performance of "I Kissed A Girl," complete with an entrance out of a giant peeled banana (insert your favorite Freud joke here) and a trash 'n' vaudeville outfit that, were she alive today, Carmen Miranda would kill for.

The "Was This In The Script?" Award goes to presenter Samuel L. Jackson, who actually began his intro of T.I. and Justin Timberlake with the following salutation: "People of Earth!"  Somewhere, Ed Wood is smiling.

The "Was This In The Script II?" Award goes to presenter Craig Ferguson, who announced that he was up for a Best Sex Tape Award: "It's me vs. Screech." Even Paris Hilton blushed at that one.

And, finally, the "All Kidding Aside" Award goes to NARAS chief Neil Portnow, for noting the organization's commitment to improving health care, saving music education in schools, and protecting musician's intellectual rights. And yes, past Grammy Award winner Barack Obama, a cabinet position of Secretary of the Arts is a pretty good idea. Just ask Quincy Jones.

392 Comments

81. Joel -
The "Whiny Mediocre Review of Decadent Spending and Washed Up, Sold Out Performers" goes to Billy Altman.

82. T.S -
Leave M.I.A. alone... yes she is GOING to be a mother, but she is a woman first. Let her have her fun while she can... She was only trying to induce labor...her due date was last night. And for those that have had children, you know you will do ANYTHING to get that labor started... maybe that was her way! Sugarland was great... And T.I. performance was wonderful... I love Kid Rock!!! But I think they should fire the whole audio team because everyone was having problems... The vocals were drowned out by the the instruments... Better sound check team next time.

83. Joe -
Blink is back.
That's all that matters about last night, Summer 09!

84. YankeeFan4Life -
Well, all I watched the grammys for was for the Blink-182 reunion. AND THEY DID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

85. Tina -
i thought the Grammy's were a train wreck.... Esp the Katie Perry show, I remember the Grammy's being good, now show boating, lip syncing, and people tuned in to watch the awards, not the train wrecks that appear.. I was very sad to see last nights show.... What is happening with all this... IT IS SAD!

86. Michael -
Wow, JT rocked!!!

87. Turbokat -
I will respect those who loved Radiohead's performance by not dissing them. Chalk it up to generational differences. I personally think it’s great to bring everyone's music together...like a display of different art in a gallery. I loved watching Paul McCartney sing "I Saw Her Standing There" accompanied by some of today's best talents. Keith Urban and John Mayer blew me away with their guitar abilities, and to see them along side B.B. King was great. Justin Timberlake proved he has what it takes to endure with a wonderful display of his own diverse ability. Watching the surviving member of The Four Tops perform with Jamie Foxx brought a tear to my eye as did Jennifer Hudson who has no equal in talent and class. In all, it was worth the time I spent watching.

88. Diane -
The worst produced bunch of crap yet...Awards???,,,singing???,,,cohesive???,,,yuck....Jennifer Hudson the class act of the night,,,

89. Joey -
So what about the award for "Are they serious?", the Jonas Brothers (who I loathe) playing with the ultra respectable Stevie Wonder, only to forget the lyrics to HIS song...talk about disrespectful!

90. Devious Blue -
Yeah the grammys leave me wanting to watch the MTV awards. At least the Mtv awards are more relevant. Like best record, I never even heard of.

91. Jingleman -
This whole thing is a show for who is most popular, not who is good. Most of these "artists" are jokes and no one will even remember them 10 years from now.

92. Bri -
Very awkward show, at least in my opinion.

Wrong people presenting, audio equipment malfunctioning and odd performances. Jonas/Stevie failed horribly, not digging Taylor/Miley, both are talentless and one's a flat out racist...Katy blew also.

Radiohead was good, T.I. was good, M.I.A and the "Rap Pack" Swagga performance was by far the best of the night, Coldplay was good. Everything else was average.

93. cricket -
the grammy's last night SUCKED plain and simple! no one stood out with a great performance, the choice of winners was ridiculous and i have nothing else to say because i'd get in trouble for saying it.

94. Kayce -
Radiohead's performance was the best....I actually saw some people giving a standing ovation. The USC Trojan Marching Band was awesome. I felt repulsed watching Whitney Houston stumble her way through her presentation. She was messed up as usual. Why was she even a part of the show?

95. John -
Nice to see Whitney Houston has sobered up.......oh wait.

96. jamesj -
The worst grammy show in history! who in the world produced and directed this, a third grader? na it still would have been better. I think whittney should be banned from tv until she gets some help, Ray Charles could see that she was stoned, MIA, what a getto disturbing performance, she should be ashamed and all the artis performing with her shouldve asked for her removal, discusting! I could go on but the real crime was Lil wayne getting cheated! The man is a musical master!

97. Yahoo! Music User -
Best G-show in years. Some good music this year. Missed The Boss but still personal favorites showed up. Good to see Al Green again though not the best perf but then again, they filled in for the no-show Rhianna so cred. Yeah, JoBros-Wonder collab was awkward but cred for effort. Trend of the night: dressing like Rat Packers (Kid Rock & the rappers). Good to see McCartney having a blast with Neil Diamond, etc. J-Hud nice moment. Whitney eerily like Anna Nicole but at least looked healthier physically. U2 opening, Coldplay, awesome way to rock at the start. Alison Krauss looked hothothot. Chick from Sugarland was in great voice. Adele's voice - awesome anyway.

98. The Dude -
Rhianna is a fraud, and her boyfriend's a thug who should be in prison with all the rest of the Rappers.

99. Yahoo! Music User -
brown sugar, rihanna couldnt be there because she was attacked by chris brown er somethin.

i hated these grammys. PAUL MCCARTNEY ROCKED THO :D

100. Yahoo! Music User -
oh i forgot to mention, the acoustics during all of the songs were all messed up. the singers' mics were too soft and the instruments were too loud. for instance, while kid rock was singing all summer long,he wasn't nearly as loud as the piano.
Page:  1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 
Leave Your Comment
You must sign in to leave a comment
Select a Blog Posts
And The Winner Is...
by Paul Grein
30
As Heard On...
by Lyndsey Parker
48
Chart Watch
by Paul Grein
149
Framed
by John Kordosh
123
GetBack
by Shawn Amos
346
Hip-Hop Media Training
by Billy Johnson, Jr.
239
List Of The Day
by Rob O'Connor
337
Maximum Performance
by Lyndsey Parker
167
Musictoob
by Andy Pemberton
201
New This Week
by Dave DiMartino
126
Reality Rocks
by Lyndsey Parker
610
Rock's Backpages
by Ben Myers (1999)
199
Stop The Presses!
by Lyndsey Parker
88
That's Really Week
by Lyndsey Parker
129
The Blender Burner
by Blender Magazine
27
The MOJO Blog
by Bill DeMain
92
The NME Blog
by Luke Lewis
50
The Spin Blog
by David Marchese
80
The Y! Music Playlist Blog
by Robert of the Radish
533
Video Ga Ga
by Lyndsey Parker
74
Viva NashVegas
by Wendy Geller
67

Nelly offers reward in burglary of his home

AP
Mon Dec 28, 2009 12:01pm PST

AP - The rapper Nelly is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the man who broke into his suburban St. Louis home earlier this month. CrimeStoppers announced the reward on Monday. Someone… More »

More Music News