Grammy night sees glamour, grammaphones and some skin

55th Grammy Awards opened amid tight security at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Music’s biggest night, the 55th Grammy Awards, opened amid tight security on Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. After paying tribute to electronic dance music last year, the Grammys this year highlighted country music.

Indie pop band Fun., The Black Keys and Australian-Belgian singer Gotye bagged the most grammophone statuettes. Overall The Black Keys won the most Grammys, with four awards — Best Rock Performance, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Album for the band, and Producer of the Year, non-classical, for singer Dan Auerbach.

Gotye took home three trophies — Record of the Year, Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Alternative Album — as did Jay-Z and Kanye West, who triumphed for Best Rap Performance, rap/sung collaboration and rap song. New York-based band Fun. won Song of the Year for We Are Young as well as Best New Artist.

British rockers Mumford & Sons took Album of the Year with Babel, while Gotye won Record of the Year for Somebody That I Used to Know, featuring Kimbra.

Indian sitar player Ravi Shankar’s daughter Anoushka also accepted a Grammy on behalf of her late father Sunday — in a category in which she had also been nominated.

What wardrobe guidelines?

US television network CBS may have warned stars prior to the event to avoid showing too much skin on stage, but A-listers pushed the limits on the red carpet in revealing gowns. Singer Jennifer Lopez, whose plunging barely-there green Versace gown at the 2000 Grammys provided a red carpet moment for the ages, pushed the dress code to the edge with an asymmetrical Anthony Vaccarello ensemble that covered most — but not all — of her. “They didn’t say anything about leg!” she told the presenter on the red carpet ahead of the main event.

Singer Katy Perry clearly did not get the memo and arrived at the red carpet strutting in a skin-tight, cleavage-baring mint green dress. She said that she was inspired by the retro glam of Priscilla Presley’s look in the 1970s. Singer Rihanna opted for a body-skimming sheer red dress by Azzedine Alaia, with bright red lips to match.

Adele, the big winner at last year’s Grammys with six trophies, left her usual basic black at home but followed the rules, opting for a bold red floral Valentino dress with long sleeves and a conservative knee-length hem.

There was a little bit of drama on the eve of the Grammys, but nothing like Whitney Houston’s shock death last year; Brown wrecked his Porsche in Beverly Hills on Saturday, and blamed the paparazzi for the crash.

As well as helping provide security for the Grammys, the LA Police Department (LAPD), have been involved in a massive manhunt for an ex-cop accused of killing three people and threatening to kill more officers. Thankfully there were no incidents to disrupt Sunday evening’s show, which went off as smooth as glamorous as expected.

Top category winners

Album of the Year: Babel — Mumford & Sons

Song of the Year: We Are Young — Fun. featuring
Janelle Monáe

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: Somebody That I Used To Know — Gotye Featuring Kimbra

Best Pop Instrumental Album: Impressions — Chris Botti

Best Dance/Electronica Album: Bangarang (Skrillex)

Best Rock Performance: Lonely Boy — The Black Keys

Best Rock Album: El Camino (The Black Keys)

Best Rap Performance: N****s In Paris — Jay-Z & Kanye West

Record of the Year: Somebody That I Used To Know — Gotye featuring Kimbra

Best New Artist: Fun.

Best Pop Solo Performance: Set Fire to the Rain (Live) — Adele

Best Pop Vocal Album: Stronger — Kelly Clarkson

Best Dance Recording: Bangarang — Skrillex Featuring Sirah

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Kisses on the Bottom (Paul McCartney)

Best R&B Performance: Climax - Usher

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2013.            

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