10 Things I Learned from the 2010 Grammy Awards Show

Sunday night's broadcast of the 52^nd annual Grammy Awards featured dozens of performances, touching tributes and, well, even a few awards. But it was also a history lesson on what is going on in music these days. Even with the barrage of entertainment news out there, it's easy to miss a few things. Luckily the Grammy's cleared everything up for me. Here are 10 things I learned from the 52^nd Annual Grammy Awards Show.

1. Dan Seals died. Half of the soft rock duo England Dan and John Ford Coley, Seals had a hit with the 1976 song, I'd Really Love to See You Tonight. He was also the brother of Jim Seals from Seals and Crofts. I didn't know Dan Seals had died last year until the "In Memoriam" montage played during the Grammy's.

2. Steve Nicks doesn't mind being a backup singer. You'd think at a show like this, there wouldn't be enough space for all of the egos in the room. Still, I was surprised to see the legendary Stevie Nicks play second fiddle to Taylor Swift during their duet together. It seemed as though Stevie only sang a few bars of her hit song Rhiannon by herself before Swift quickly swooped in and dominated the performance. Maybe it was supposed to be that way. It was just surprising, since we haven't seen much of Nicks lately and we certainly didn't get to see much of her last night.

3. Pink must be a gymnast or something. The pop star's performance of Glitter in the Air featured her swinging from scarves and doing acrobatics. It was actually quite mesmerizing to watch, especially when she transformed into a human sprinkler and watered the audience. Suffice it to say, Pink's parents got their money's worth out of her childhood gymnastics classes.

4. Jeff Beck is a senior citizen. Of course, the legendary guitarist Jeff Beck has been around forever. Still, curiosity got the best of me and I Googled him to find out his age. According to Wikipedia, Beck was born in 1944, so he'll be 66 this June. He still jams like the best of them though, proving that as far as guitar skills go, age is just a number.

5. Green Day's American Idiot Is a Broadway musical. It's been a long time since I've seen a good rock opera. I love Green Day and I had no idea, but the band's 2004 album, American Idiot, is the subject of a Broadway musical beginning March 24, 2010. Green Day and Broadway-- who'd have thunk it?

6. Michael Jackson would not be happy. While fans are curious to see how Michael Jackson's children are doing, they've now made two very public appearances since their father's death last summer. While the masks and veils the kids used to wear were a bit extreme, Jackson was diligent about not having his children seen in public. So while the Jackson tribute during last night's Grammy Awards ceremony was moving, I'm not sure how the King of Pop would feel about his kids going on stage to accept his award. In any event, they did fine.

7. I should have picked up the complimentary 3-D glasses. The tribute to Michael Jackson was shown in 3-D, which was great if you picked up a pair of the free 3-D glasses at Target. Unfortunately, if you didn't have the glasses, the 3-D footage was headache- inducing. I didn't have the glasses.

8. It's official: Bon Jovi has successfully crossed over to country while still keeping their rock fans happy. For the record, I don't like the "country" Bon Jovi, but this is one smart band. Their teen female fans from the 80's are all country music loving soccer mom's now, so Bon Jovi has slyly slipped over into the country music arena, or at least as country as a former 80's hair band can be. The band managed to satisfy several demographics with their performance of Who Says You Can't Go Home (sungwith Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles) last night. They then sang the audience choice song, their 1987 mega hit, Living on a Prayer. Who says you can't please everyone?

9. I will have to download the Eminem/Drake/ Lil Wayne song so I can actually hear it. The CBS censors were working over time last night, especially during the performance of Drop the World and Forever by Eminem, Drake, Lil Wayne and Travis Barker. There were so many patches of cut-out audio, it was hard to understand even one profane word of the song.

10. Andrea Boccelli may seriously have the best voice in the world. His duet of A Bridge Over Troubled Water with Mary J. Blige was one of the best performances of the night and it showcased the fact that this man may have the most powerful voice in music since Pavoratti.

Sources:
The 52^nd Annual Grammy Awards, CBS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Beck