VIA: Rolling Stone
Beyonce made history last night at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, scooping up six trophies — the most ever for a female artist on a single Grammy night — most notably Song of the Year and Best R&B Song for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Halo.”
Lady Gaga, who opened the show with a powerhouse duet with Elton John, won a pair of awards — Best Dance Album for The Fame and Best Electronica/Dance Song for “Poker Face” — but both were announced during a pre-telecast ceremony.
Jay-Z scored three trophies for singles (his Blueprint 3 wasn’t eligible this year) and the Black Eyed Peas also won three Grammys, including Best Pop Vocal Album for The E.N.D.
The Grammys are known for its high-wattage performances as much as their hardware, and last night’s show was packed with big-name team-ups. Lady Gaga got the party started with “Poker Face” before taking a seat at her piano (adorned with mannequin limbs frozen into Gaga’s monster claw) and facing off against Elton John on her “Speechless” and his “Your Song.”
Beyoncé and a SWAT team of dancers mashed up the I Am… Sasha Fierce hit “If I Were a Boy” with Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know.” Pink spun from the ceiling, soaking wet, during an acrobatic performance of “Glitter in the Air.”
And Lil Wayne, Eminem, Drake and Travis Barker kept the censors on their toes with a profanity-laced medley of Rebirth’s “Drop the World” and the hit “Forever.”
The ceremony also included a 3-D tribute to Michael Jackson featuring Celine Dion, Smokey Robinson, Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Carrie Underwood singing along with the King of Pop’s “Earth Song.” Jackson’s two eldest children, Prince and Paris, accepted their father’s posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award in one of the night’s most touching moments.
Jamie Foxx’s “Blame It” merged T-Pain, opera, Doug E. Fresh and Slash performing the “November Rain” solo into one ambitious performance.
2010 GRAMMY AWARD WINNERS:
Album of the Year: Fearless — Taylor Swift
Song of the Year: “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” — Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters (Beyoncé)
Record of the Year: “Use Somebody” — Kings of Leon
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: “Run This Town” — Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West
Best Dance Recording: “Poker Face” — Lady Gaga
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance: “Halo” — Beyoncé
Best New Artist: Zac Brown Band
Best Contemporary R&B Album: I Am… Sasha Fierce — Beyoncé
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)” — Beyoncé
Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals: “I Gotta Feeling” — The Black Eyed Peas
Best Pop Vocal Album: The E.N.D. — The Black Eyed Peas
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance: “Pretty Wings” — Maxwell
Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals: “Blame It” — Jamie Foxx & T-Pain
Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: “At Last” — Beyoncé
Best Urban/Alternative Performance: “Pearls” — India.Arie & Dobet Gnahore
Best R&B Song: “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)” — Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart, songwriters (Beyoncé)
Best Rap Solo Performance: “D.O.A. (Death Of Auto-Tune)” — Jay-Z
Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group: “Crack a Bottle” — Eminem, Dr. Dre & 50 Cent
Best Rap Song: “Run This Town” — Jeff Bhasker, Shawn Carter, Robyn Fenty, Kanye West & Ernest Wilson, songwriters (Athanasios Alatas, songwriter) (Jay-Z, Rihanna & Kanye West)
Best Rap Album: Relapse — Eminem
Best Contemporary Blues Album: Already Free — The Derek Trucks Band
Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media: Slumdog Millionaire — Various Artists, A.R. Rahman, producer
Best Song Written For Motion Picture, Television Or Other Visual Media: “Jai Ho” (From Slumdog Millionaire) — Gulzar, A.R. Rahman & Tanvi Shah, songwriters (A.R. Rahman, Sukhvinder Singh, Tanvi Shah, Mahalaxmi Iyer & Vijay Prakash)
Best Short Form Music Video: “Boom Boom Pow” — The Black Eyed Peas
Best Comedy Album: A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All! — Stephen Colbert