Live blogging the Grammys [by Angela]

The 51st Grammy Awards are airing tonight at 8 p.m. on CBS. I’m only watching it because Blink 182 is presenting an award. We’ll get into that later.
So far:
-Duane Johnson, aka “The Rock” aka “Hot” is hosting? Kind of odd, but not as odd as that Beatles joke he made after announcing Paul McCartney was there.
-First award of the night goes to Jennifer Hudson. It tugged at my heart strings. “I want to thank my family- the ones in heaven and the ones on earth.” Also, she’s dating one of the dudes that was on I Love New York. Hrmm…
-Coldplay = don’t care, holy sh*t is that Hov?!?!? Sick.
-Carrie Underwood performs “Don’t Even Know His Last Name.” Interestingly enough, I “didn’t even know the name of the song” and had to ask my roommate Jess, who wants me to make mention of her hideous outfit.
-Song of the Year award goes to… “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay. KANYE IS GONNA FLIP!
-Taylor Swift and Miley Ray Cyrus perform, and the sound of Cyrus’s voice legit makes me want to stick a skewer in my eardrum. 🙂
-“Did you even watch that dude? It was like, heartstrings.” — Christina on Jennifer Hudson’s performance. And no, I wasn’t watching. I was texting.
-Seeing Blink 182 together made the world feel right again. More to come.
-Very unimpressed with Katy Perry’s performance of “I Kissed a Girl.” She was like a stiff Chiquita Banana Lady. Very impressed with Estelle and Kanye’s performance of “American Girl.” Of course Kanye says something about how they didn’t win, whatever whatever, I don’t care because this man’s rhymes give me the chills.
-Record of the Year goes to “Please Read this Letter” by Allison Krause and Robert Plant. I don’t even know this song, but if Coldplay can win like, three awards in one night then I guess anything is possible.
-M.I.A. performs “Swagga Like Us” with T.I., Hov, Kanye, and Lil Wayne. *Drools* I don’t know who is cooler: M.I.A. for dusting off Jay Z’s shoulder, or her unborn child for being in the womb at the time. Also loved M.I.A’s little polka-dot suit. Kate Beckinsale later informed the audience that M.I.A.’s baby was actually due today. *Makes joke about her water breaking on-stage*
-Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl perform “I Saw Her Standing There.” I almost forgot to write about it here, which says a lot about the performance itself. The most notable thing about it is the fact that Paul looks damn good and, much like Michael J. Fox and Bob Saget, appears to be ageless.
-John Mayer wins Best Male Vocal award, didn’t see Jen.
-Gwyneth Paltrow can hardly contain her excitement when she introduces Radiohead, who put on a good performance. They had a whole marching band with them! I don’t think the TV did it justice, though.
-T.I. and Justin perform “Dead and Gone,” and as always I’m impressed with Justin’s old-school values as an entertainer. Otherwise known as singing, dancing, and playing an instrument. At the same time.
-Neil Diamond performs “Sweet Caroline.” Lame at the bar, lame now.
-Lil Wayne performs with Robin Thicke. They sing a song about New Orleans, which is the rapper’s hometown. They are joined by a slew of other artists, including the Hot 8 Brass Band.
-Best Rap album goes to Lil Wayne. He was up against Jay-Z, Lupe Fiasco, Nas and T.I.
-Robert Plant and Alison Krause perform “Rich Woman.” These two have won a few awards tonight, and I was pretty impressed with what I heard.
-Greenday presents the award for Album of the Year. Robert Plant & Alison Krause, Coldplay, Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo and Radiohead are nominated. Robert Plant & Alison Krause win, reaffirming that the Grammys is the most out of touch award show on television.
Comments
Perry did a much better performance, a great acoustic job on “Kissed a Girl” when she was on Howard’s show. Of course it didn’t hurt that George Takei and Artie were dancing in the background while she sang.
my money hands down goes to Paul McCartney. I could just listen to him sing old beatles songs with Dave Grohl making like Ringo Starr in the background.
good coverage man
I was glued to the sports section screen for “Swagga Like Us.” Basically all my favorite rappers, although I don’t like Lil Wayne a lot a lot. HOOOOOOOOOvaaaaaahhhhhh. And when M.I.A. brushed his shoulder off, I squealed like a schoolgirl. I also printed out a pic of Hov in his shades and suit and hung it next to my pic of Obama dusting his own shoulder off.
As far as the fashion goes, I think Jay-Z turned in the best performance there, as well. T.I. looked great too, even with his tie undone. (Hov always stays tidy. Fresh.) Kanye looked a little out there with his halfro and sequined suit, but he’s doin his thing. I didn’t even watch Sheryl, Carrie, Taylor, any of those girls – and sadly, I missed Blink, which I was waiting for the first half of the night.
My sports editor kept saying the accoustics were horrible, so I don’t trust the performances I heard. But I loveeddd Al Greene and Justin Timberlake.
Ange, one thing you left out: Chris Brown and Rhianna’s cancellations. For that hard news, head back to the main page …
i cant believe cold play is considered rock. i cold play hate
K.. Ange.. Agree and disagree… First, I realize I am 200 years old but I truly did not know who some of these “new” artists were. The British one who won for best new song or artist? I liked her song a lot but never heard of her. Oh well, maybe if I turned off Howard in the morning and actually listened to some music…
Also, did not like the preggo outfit on M.I.A.. I do like the voice on Taylor Swift who is in a completely different category talent wise than Miley/Hannah Montana/ Cyrus. Loved listening to Paul McCartney. He brings back memories and has such class and charisma.
Oh!!!! what was the deal with with Morgan Freeman being there and then introducing Kenny Chesney? So confusing! And the topper of the night? The performance of Stevie Wonder with those brothers. I am brain dead this morning so the names keep leaving me but it was so bad and embarassing that it was painful to watch.
It was fun texting all night with my girls, though!
you’re thinking of the jonas brothers, or, jobros as they are called.
nobody ever knows who is on the grammys, it’s all politically correct crap.
Yeah, ma, stop making these age references. None of us knew who those people were. Who’s Duffy? Get that newb off the stage and give me more Sir Paul!
I liked the show on the whole. I at least liked the idea that they were trying for interesting combinations and contrasts on stage. some were on target, some were clean misses. Also, it must be the mother of all undertakings to produce a show like that. Like, “Ms. Underwood, you’ll be exiting stage left. Don’t forget your complimentary gift bag, and please, please remember to hold still as soon as you get backstage, so the third assistant director can set your outfit on fire.”
Angela said she didn’t like Paul’s performance, as I recall. His voice wasn’t strong enough to really carry that tune, but who cares. He is such a cool guy.
his voice sounded fine, i just think they should’ve gone from i saw her standing there into something more interesting. that song doesn’t do much for me.
it looks like Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus are officially BFF’s now
I kind of like Taylor Swift.
Jay Z’s appearances were pretty sick…
Did you know Blueprint 3 is supposed to come out at the end of this month? Seems like American Gangster came out like yesterday… Can’t wait…
You didn’t like the McCartney/Grohl performance? I loved it… That, the Four Tops tribute, and the Bo Diddley tribute were the best of the night I think.
Swagga Like Us was pretty good but I thought T.I. was pretty boring there. Lil Wayne wasn’t too impressive either. Then again, I was at work, so I was most likely distracted.
Stevie Wonder/JoBros gets honorable mention in my book just ’cause Stevie’s awesome and is still as good as he ever was.
Best Grammys I’ve seen in a long time though.
Sorry, but I did not like the Jonas brothers with Stevie Wonder. What kills me is that the kids who waited all night to see their “heart throbs” the JoBros probably had no clue who Stevie Wonder was or is. I don’t care that these boys are having their 15 minutes (hey, I used to love the Monkees!) but please don’t set them up to be equal to, or good grief, superior in talent to Stevie Wonder. Perhaps, I am taking it a little too seriously. If Stevie didn’t care, why should I?