And now for a few of our own award winners from the night’s nationally televised performances, speeches and other tomfoolery:
The saints go marching in: The Black Keys stormed down the streets of Treme, rocking up “Lonely Boy” with a jazz band and Dr. John in ceremonial, feathered “Night Tripper” head dress.
Revenge of the nerds: Though fun. often comes across as just another bland pop-rock band in the tradition of Train, matchbox20 and Hootie and the Blowfish, at least they have a self-deprecating sense of humor. In winning song of the year for “We are Young” over some strong competition, fun. singer Nate Ruess acknowledged, "We are not very young" and guitarist Jack Antonoff thanked "our families” who “let us live at home" for 12 years.
Best promotional plug: Justin Timberlake paved the way for his new album by fusing a ‘40s Cotton Club vibe, with the musicians and backing singers arrayed behind him on a Duke Ellington-style band stand, and then brought out Jay-Z, while channeling some Michael Jackson falsetto.
Least likely acid head: Taylor Swift got her surrealism on as she opened the broadcast by recasting her single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” as a kind of Little Bunny Foo Foo/Alice in Wonderland fantasia. Somewhere Lady Gaga was cackling. It sure put a new spin on Swift’s ultra-earnest, ultra-confessional singer-songwriter persona. Could a meat dress be next?
Country time machine: Last year it was electronic dance music, so this year the Grammys took a hard right and went for some Nashville twang as they presented a series of country entertainers. Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley may have been playing new tunes from their recent albums, but they weren’t that far removed from vintage ‘70s-style country-rockers.
Soul lives: Dapper Miguel, on bended kneed, crooned “Adore,” even with the distraction of Wiz Khalifa, who seemed greatly under-utilized in one of those duets-that-didn't work.
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Live Grammy Awards updates from the LA Times:
9:01 p.m.: It took nearly two hours, but the Grammys finally received a wake-up call, courtesy of the Black Keys, Dr. John and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. “Lonely Boy,” the Keys’ nominated single, is electric. The song is full of riffs that are constantly recharging, and the gospel-inspired chorus comes out of nowhere. It’s a rock ‘n’ roll blitz, and performing with Dr. John only heightened the band’s bluesy, swampy foundation. It would have been nice for something from Dr. John’s “Locked Down,” which the Keys’ Dan Auerbach produced, but hey, had to get that Maroon 5/Alicia Keys performance in there.
8:53 p.m.: We were promised Rihanna “like we had never seen her before,” as host LL Cool J put it, and for most of her performance of “Stay,” it looked exactly like the Rihanna we had seen on “Saturday Night Live.” Yet here she was joined by Mikky Ekko, who was among the writers on “Stay.” As far as Rihanna performances go, this was one of the better ones. Rihanna is always best when she pulls back, when she opts to rely on her uniquely delicate voice rather than a dominatrix outfit and a flashy performance. At the Grammys, she proved she can in fact be a rather dramatic vocalist, as long as she drops all the accessories that typically come with her performances.
Shortly after, “No Church in the Wild” from Jay-Z and Kanye West won the Grammy for rap/sung collaboration. The song features Frank Ocean and the Dream, who joined Jay-Z onstage.“I didn’t think I’d be the first one speaking,” said Ocean, who kept trying to bring Jay-Z over to the microphone. But Jay-Z let his collaborators have the stage, and poked a little fun at them. “I’d like to thank the swap meet for his hat,” he said, pointing at the Dream’s winter stylings.
8:41 p.m.: The Grammy for rap/sung collaboration goes to "No Church in the Wild" from Jay-Z and Kanye West and featuring Frank Ocean and the Dream.
8:39 p.m.: You know the Grammys are having a tough night when the acceptance speeches are outshining the performances. That’s exactly what happened when Kelly Clarkson won pop vocal album, besting releases from Florence & the Machine, Fun., Maroon 5 and Pink. A surprised Clarkson gave a shout-out to the very fine vocals of R&B singer Miguel.
“Miguel,” she screamed, “I don’t know who the hell you are but we need to sing together. That was the sexiest damn thing I’ve ever seen. What!”
Hopefully, those watching at home had a similar reaction, but Clarkson’s declaration confirmed our belief that Miguel deserved more airtime.
As an aside: Clarkson’s win here ends any chance of Fun. winning album of the year.
8:38 p.m.: It’s a big night for the Black Keys, whose “El Camino” is filled with one hard-to-resist scorcher after another. If there’s anything passing as drama tonight, it’s the album of the year race between the Black Keys and Frank Ocean.
But getting there isn’t going to be easy. The next Grammy mash-up no one ever needed was the pairing of Maroon 5 and Alicia Keys. The former’s “Daylight” is the sort of simple-enough tune you can ignore if you’re walking around the mall, but when it’s in your face, as it was tonight, it only highlight’s Adam Levine’s weightless vocals and the band’s rent-a-hooks. Keys’ “Girl on Fire” is already played out, and though she tried to stark-it-up by adding a rhythmic punch to its opening verse, it soon became an uncomfortable back-and-forth between Keys and Maroon 5.
8:22 p.m. (Central time): A clearly nervous Frank Ocean accepted his Grammy for urban contemporary album. He made a nod to the old adage that you imagine a crowd naked if you want to calm your nerves, but the adventurous artist said, “I want to look at you as kids in tuxedos and being fancy and all that.” In the category, he was competing against albums from Miguel and Chris Brown. Ocean and Brown, of course, were recently in the gossip pages, but Pop & Hiss is going to try and mention’s the latter’s name as little as possible tonight. OK, just one last time: Our reporters in Staples Center tell us that it was dead silent when Brown’s name was read.
Grammy Awards: Fun., Frank Ocean, Adele win
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Grammy Awards: Fun., Frank Ocean, Adele win
