10:06 CT. This Nikki Minaj performance features the best (and practically only) rapping of the night. I just wish there were a lot more of it.
9:55 CT. Lil Wayne looks like a total dweeb dancing around in his pajama pants next to Chris Brown and David Guetta. Dave Grohl in his stupid Slayer t-shirt takes one look at Deadmau5's awesome LED mouse helmet and immediately recants previous statement denouncing computer music.
9:39 CT. The most exciting thing about this guy and his Grammy Foundation was that cut-away shot to Elvis Costello. Looking good Elvis!
9:34 CT. Justin Vernon. The only white guy under 40 to wear a suit to the Grammys.
9:30 CT. Cool, Glenn Campbell. No "Witchita Lineman"? That's my favorite!
8:52 CT. Adele and Paul Epworth do awkward high-five/hug thing after winning award for Best Song. Excellent!
8:43 CT. I know everyone goes on about how Taylor Swift is actually a songwriting prodigy, etc etc. But it turns out she is really just an average songwriter who sticks out because most singers of her material do not write their own songs. And if this song is supposed to be rootsy, why does the backup band look like a Broadway company?
8:16 CT. I disagree with Dave Grohl's naive computer/soul dichotomy. Did he really just say that it's more important what's in your heart than what can be perfected inside a computer? That's just another way of saying "rock and roll is better than hip hop" and it's what led Morrissey to start singing "Hang the DJ". People are smarter than that.
8:11 CT. I think Rihanna is much more interesting as an artist than Coldplay. If that was Coldplay backing her up on "We Found Love" then I have to give them some credit. They delivered. Obviously she did as well. A great performer.
7:52 CT. This performance really highlights the Foo Fighters as champions of shitty 90s guitar rock.
7:43 CT. What the fuck. The award for Best Rap Performance just went to a slow song with no chorus and no one in the audience (except Nikki) even blinked. Jay and Ye, this must be some kind of precedent. Where you at!
7:38 CT. I've been saving up my mental blogging energies for live blogging the 54th Grammys. When I started watching just a few minutes ago, it occurred to me that I don't remember EVER watching the Grammys before. I'm impressed with what I see so far.
Bruce and the E Street Band played the new single, "We Take Care of Our Own". Political song, in the typical manner of Bruce. Sounds like a nondescript flag-waiver until you listen to some of the in-between lyrics. After all, with regard to the title, it's not an accident that it takes him til the bridge to ask "What happened to the promise?"
And, Bruno Mars? That was real good. I didn't know that Bruno Mars could do that Raphael Saadiq style. The Elvis doo was a little over the top but the James Brown dance break was genuinely impressive.
The only thing surprising about the Best Pop Solo Performance award was the introduction: Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt doing Etta's "A Sunday Kind of Love". These are two very different artists finding some nice shared territory. We all knew the award was going to Adele anyway.
I didn't know Chris Brown was this good at doing flips! Still, Breezy, you gotta do more than gymnastics to prove to me you are not a totally detestable human being.
