Award’s season took a break from the acting crowd to celebrate pop music’s elite at the Staples Center in Los Angeles for the 55th Grammy Awards ceremony.
By Chloe Schneider
Hours before the ceremony kicked off, the Recording Academy announced some 70 of the 81 awards including Best Rap Song (which went to Jay-Z and Kanye for Ni***s in Paris) and Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album (both of which went to The Black Keys). The big news in the early announcements came from Aussie star from Gotye who won Best Alternative Album and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, taking out two of the three awards he has been nominated for and making Australian music history by being the first Aussie Artist this century to win multiple Grammys for the same release.
This year, the Grammy Awards producers sent attendees a detailed guide on what not to wear, advising, “Please be sure that buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered. Thong type costumes are problematic. Please avoid exposing bare fleshy under curves of the buttocks and buttock crack.” amongst other things. The bizarre missive was mostly followed but J.Lo still managed to show off a fair bit of flesh with a slit-leg dress by Anthony Vaccarello. She told E!’s Ryan Seacrest, “They didn’t say anything about leg! I thought I was being such a good girl! A little shoulder, a little leg.” Leave it to J.Lo to find the loopholes in the skin-baring rules!
Taylor Swift, who looked white-hot on the red carpet in a J. Mendel gown, opened the show by belting out her nominated song ‘We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together’ wearing a sexy ensemble of a bedazzled white top hat, tails and hot pants. She ended the song with the line, “So he calls me and goes, ‘I still love you…’ And I’m like, ‘I’m sorry, I’m busy opening the Grammys.”
LL Cool J was the host for the night and opened with a lengthy speech that was, we have to say, a little on the safe side. After controversies in years past (Chris Brown, anyone?) it certainly seemed like the show’s producers were trying their hardest to keep everything PC.
JLo and Pitbull stepped on stage to present the Best Pop Solo award which went to Adele, who won six awards last year, for her live rendition of single ‘Set Fire to the Rain’.
fun. were the next performers to take the stage with their track Carry On. Shortly after Tim McGraw and Faith Hill announced the group won Song of the Year for their track ‘We Are Young’. In an odd but fantastic pairing, Ellen DeGeneres and Beyonce introduced Justin Timberlake for his performance of new single ‘Suit & Tie’. Jay-Z joined the star on stage to rap in the track before JT segued in to new track ‘Pusher Lover’. The response on both Twitter and in the audience was overwhelmingly positive and there’s no mistaking it – JT is back in a big way.
One of the more heated award battles of the night was between Frank Ocean and Chris Brown for Best Urban Contemporary Album. The pair had an altercation in a car park earlier in the week and the race was incredibly close. Much to the delight of females everywhere, Frank Ocean was announced the winner, proving that sometimes the nice guys do finish first.
Rihanna stunned audiences with her beautiful voice and killer body as she took the stage to perform the ballad ‘Stay’ wearing a fitted black gown. Later on in the night, the gorgeous RiRi had an outfit change and stepped on stage again for a Bob Marley tribute performance of ‘Could You Be Loved’ with Marley’s sons Ziggy and Damian, Sting, and Bruno Mars.
Unfortuntely RiRi missed out on the award but collaborator Jay-Z scored the award with Kanye West, Frank Ocean and The Dream for No Church in the Wild.
After winning the Best Pop Vocal Album for ‘Stronger’ Kelly Clarkson took to the stage to sing ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ as a tribute performance to lifetime achievement winners Patti Page and Carole King.
Prince took to the stage wearing a hood and holding a cane to present arguably the biggest award of the night – Record of the Year. And the winner is…. Aussie Gotye with his third award for the night.
In a moving performance, Elton John took the stage for with Mumford & Sons and others to perform The Weight by The Band as a tribute to the late students of Sandy Hook Elementary School.
And last but certainly not least, Adele came on to stage to announce the final award of the night – album of the year. Competition for this one was tight with already-winners .fun, The Black Keys, Frank Ocean and more on the list. The award goes to Mumford & Sons for their album ‘Babel’.
And that’s a wrap! For more from the Grammys, check out our Grammys Red Carpet Gallery and Josh Flinn’s Best and Worst Dressed
