I’m not one for awards shows, but there is one I watch year after year… the Grammys….and not so much to see who wins, and definitely not to see what they wear (I’m not really that type of girl), but mostly because they have some great, and sometimes unexpected performances.  They pretty much have access to any and every musician that is alive (and sometimes they manage to resurrect their music when they’re not) which makes for a pretty stellar lineup.  Not to mention, they don’t skimp on the production.

(Videos for most of the performances are here)

8pm…Grammy’s start…U2 comes out and rocks their new song “Get On Your Boots”, which I love, but think that somehow has been overplayed already (too much Sirius Alt Nation for me?).  Nonetheless…it is U2, and they come out rocking.  They are always one for a great performance, but honestly, I didn’t think they really sounded that great…and thank you, but I don’t need all the words to your song on the screen.  I felt like I was going to be quizzed.

So here comes Whitney Houston…man, she was lookin’ great!  Unfortunately, she’s either killed too many brain cells to sound coherent, or she had a few too much of something intoxicating that night, because something was just not right with that woman.  However, seeing Jennifer Hudson take away the award for best female R&B vocalist, was very touching.  She was so grateful, and those are the kind of people you just feel that really deserve it.

Then here comes JT…mmmm, so delicious…but peforming with Al Green?  Of course he killed it, and they sounded great…but I’m not gonna lie, he did seem a little out of his element, and kinda old and cheesy.

When Jennifer Hudson came back out to perform, she nailed it.  Her voice was impeccable and the sense of pride and accomplishment radiated in every note.

Everyone on the alt stations is giving Coldplay a hard time for having Jay-Z come out and drop a verse in the middle of Chris Martin’s solo, but honestly, Jay-Z is the man, and in my eyes, he can do no wrong.  I thought the pairing was hot.  And then of course, the rest of Coldplay came out and they sounded amazing as always…much better than U2 actually.  But what’s up with the British Army home-ec coats?  I can’t decide if that was cool, or just cheesy, but they definitely made a statement (just not sure what it was yet).

Unfortunately, the Grammys span all genres, even ones you might not like…such as country.  But being from VA, I still have a little bit of Kuuuntree left in me…and even if you don’t, Carrie Underwood is hot, so you could mute it and still be entertained.  Did I mention I have a new girl crush?  Not only did she nail it, she rocked it while she did it and had one seriously bad-ass chick rockin’ the guitar along side of her.  I think this performance of “Last Name” could even make a fan out of those damn yankees. 

Time for song of the year….who were my favorites?  Hmmm…well, “Sex on Fire” was definitely up there, but wait, they weren’t even nominated?  Oh, of course Coldplay got it…not that I didn’t love the other songs, but I’m finding it hard to believe that “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles and “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz even stood a chance.  Is anyone aware that “Love song” was written for the record industry (and about them)?  Oh wait, that’s who’s voting…now it all makes sense.  I would vote for what I was trying to sell too.

Next is Kid Rock.  I respect his talent (he plays all of his instruments), but I still just wish he’d go away.  “Summertime” is catchy and all, but my life would probably not be affected if the song didn’t exist.

So here come teen queens Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift.  I respect Taylor Swift…but I have to say her music sounds like the poetry I wrote about boys when I was in a young teenager…oh wait, that’s who buys her music, got it.  Taylor still sounded amazing and Miley didn’t sound so bad either, for Miley, but what was up with the random duded hanging out below their stage playing insruments?  They looked like they were their little pawns or something.

Woohoo!  Stevie Wonder was up next…that guy has so many classic songs, I thought for sure this was gonna be one of my favorite performances of the night.  Unfortunately, the epitome of all that is wrong with teeny bopper music came out…the Jonas Brothers.  Sometimes I think they were put on this earth to make me miserable.  I’m not gonna lie, they didn’t sound that bad…but they are just so f’n awkward!! I won’t call them by name (mostly because I don’t know them, and would be ashamed if I did), but what was up with that one guys hair?  Is he stuck in the 80s?  Was he even born in the 80s?  And this thing they call “dancing”, makes me feel very uncomfortable.  They are known for preaching celibacy, and it’s very evident if you watch the way they move up on stage.  You guys have no idea how to turn girls on…that are over the age of 13.  I wanted to cry….why Stevie?  Why?!!!

So then comes the news of the night…Blink 182 is reuniting!!! Woohooo!  The world will be whole again!!!  Or, um, I could care less.  I don’t dislike them, but I can’t say that I’m a huge Blink fan.  They are actually one of the only bands who I didn’t think was very good live. So…yeah, awesome.  New Blink music.  I’m sure it will be catchy.

Again Kings of Leon was passed up for an award….sad…

Now comes a performance I was really looking forward to….my much announced girl crush Katy Perry.  They had quite the production set up for her, and then she comes down in a big banana…why?  Who cares, it was awesome…along with all of the other sparkly fruit on her costume and the stage.  She is such a character and so different…I love it.  She looked like she was having the time of her life on stage..in her flat shoes (heels are overrated) and her superhot backup dancers.  This was one of my favorite acts of the night for sure.

So back to 80’s hair…did anyone see Kanye West?  Good thing he had Estelle with him, who was radiant and sounded amazing.  Although, they could have picked up Satellite signals from Mars in their silver getup.  The song sounded great though, and that’s what it’s all about…amazing music.

Adele took home best new artist and seemed happy, so that was good….blah blah blah…here comes the all star hip-hop hop lineup of the year…M.I.A., Jay Z, TI, Li’l Wayne, and Kanye West.  I knew this was something to remember when M.I.A. hit the stage with her polka dot getup  covering her big ol’ prego belly…and she killed it!  I’m not a Lil Wayne fan, but I’m not gonna lie, he sounded just as good as the other artists on stage that I love, so he gets my respect (for that night at least).  This wasn’t the annoying rap act when there’s too many guys on stage singing over each other. This was a lineup of some of the best talent in the genre, doin’ what they do best…droppin’ verses.  They mean what they say when they say that nobody else has a  “Swagga like us”.

Kate Beckinsale is hot…I don’t know why she’s presenting.  But she’s hot.

If I was an old white guy, I’d want to be Paul McCartney.  That guy still seem so young, it’s hard to believe that was who my parents rocked out to.  He came out on stage with Dave Grohl rockin’ the drums and brought “I saw her standing there” back to life.  For random pairings of the night…this one takes the cake.

John Mayer makes me want poke my eye out with a spoon. But he’s a good artist.  I just wish he’s stick with the guitar so I don’t have to hear his sappy music.

So…more country…here comes Sugarland.  This chick sounds amazing.  I like country, it’s in my blood, so I’m going with it.  Transition to:  Adele. She really does have an incredible voice and writes some great songs.  I think her stage presence could use a little work though.  She kinda just stands there emotionless.  This was very evident when Jennifer Nettles (singer from Sugarland) came out on stage and also nailed Adele’s song, but did it with a lot more passion.

I’m sure if you’re still reading this, your favorite performance of the night was the next one.  I know I didn’t give In Rainbows much credit (still can’t listen to the whole album), but I will never doubt the genius that is Radiohead or Thom Yorke.  The full marching band really brought “15 Step” to a whole new level.  This performance was brilliant, there’s not much more you can really say about that…another one of my top acts of the night.

Bringin’ it back to the hip-hop side…here comes JT and TI….awesome.  I heart JT and all of his musical deliciousness (and physical deliciousness).  I didn’t really know “Dead and Gone” before they performed it, but…Wow.  JT was workin’ that piano and T.I. dropped some very emotional lyrics that remind me why I love him so much (and why his album is way better than Lil Wayne’s).

Ne-Yo and Jamie fox take the stage to perform a tribute to the Four Tops, and if most of them were still alive, I think they’d be proud.  I couldn’t pick Ne-Yo out of a crowd, or tell you what he sings, but they did their job well.  And speaking of bringin’ it back to the old school.  Neil Diamond took the stage next, and we all know he’s a classic.  The stage was lined with all kinds of great guitar players and they had a nice little jam sesh, right on stage.  Awesome?  Yes, very.

So I hate to say it, but I did gain a lot of respect for Li’l Wayne at the Grammys.  He came out with Robin Thicke (which was a great pairing by the way) with a tribute to New Orleans and I was actually really feelin’ it.  Maybe I will go actually listen to his album…maybe…

Of course the pairing of the night in the eyes of the industry was Robert Plant and Allison Krauss.  They cleaned up on the awards, and their duet sounded good.  Is the rest of the album really that amazing?  Guess I’ll have to check it out, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

It was nice to see Stevie wrap up the evening solo, but it was a little uneventful.  I was hoping for an explosion of pop culture icons blowing up the stage…or maybe not, after all, this is the Grammys, not the Superbowl of 2006 (we all know what happened there).

Overall, I was very content with the level of entertainment I got, but I still think the industry needs a little shaking up…although Kings of Leon did win for “Sex on Fire” as the best rock song by a duo or group, I would have liked to see them clean up…oh, and maybe perform??  And where was Santogold?  No awards?  No performances?  I guess there are a lot of bands I would have liked to see perform (TV on the Radio), but I guess the Grammy’s take some time to catch on to what the rest of us already know is good music.

Sorry I couldn’t steal any pictures from the show…they are all protected   But you can go here, AOL has some good ones