Amy Winehouse is the Best and the Worst of the 2008 Grammy Awards

Troubled British soul singer Amy Winehouse took the top honors at the 50^th Annual Grammy Awards held on February 10^th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Winehouse won five of the six awards she was nominated for. The singer won the awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year for the song "Rehab." She also was awarded best pop vocal performance and best pop vocal album for the album Back to Black. The Best New Artist award also went to Winehouse, who was unable to attend to ceremony after her request for a US Visa was denied earlier this week.

Kanye West won four trophies. During the televised portion, West took home the award for Best Rap Album for his album Graduation. During his acceptance, the never humble artist boasted about his amazingness and scolded the show for starting the music before he finished his acceptance speech in which he gave tribute to her mother. In addition, West also won for best rap performance for "Stronger," best rap duo or group performance for "Southside" featuring rapper Common, and best rap song for "Good Life."

West's performance exemplified why he deserved the accolades he received. He performed "Stronger" in an elaborate stage production complete with a pitch black stage, smoke, and neon lights. Afterwards he performed an emotional tribute to his mother, Dr. Donda West who died suddenly late last November. He performed a remixed version of "Hey Mama" with an image of an angelic figure in the background. He also had the word "mama" shaved into his head.

After opening the ceremony with a beautiful duet of "Learnin' the Blues" with a video image of the late great Frank Sinatra, Alicia Keys took home the first televised award of the night. Keys beat out Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Fantasia Barrino and newcomer Chrisette Michelle for Best Female R&B Performance for the song "No One." She later performed the song in a high energy duet with John Mayer.

Chairman of the National Recording Academy Board of Trustees, James "Jimmy Jam" Harris was reunited onstage for the first time in 15 years with Terry Lewis and Morris Day of The Time to performs there classic "Jungle Love." In a mismatched pairing, Rihanna then took the stage and performed a medley of the hit of the summer "Umbrella" and her latest single ""Please Don't Stop the Music." She was then rejoined onstage by the Time for the closing.

Other performances included a high energy rendition of "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood and an exhaustingly long Cirque de Soleil dance tribute to the Beattles. Also, Fergie performed "Suddenly" from her multi platinum CD The Duchess. She was accompanied on piano by Grammy winner John Legend. One of the more forgettable performances of the night, Fergie sounded a bit strained on vocals. Aretha Franklin performed a moving an all star gospel set with BeBe Winans, the Clark Sisters and others.

Perhaps one of the most exciting and spellbinding performance came from the legendary Tina Turner and her contemporary reincarnation Beyonce. The performance began with Beyonce paying tribute to the divas that graced the Grammy stage in years past. She then introduced Turner who sang her biggest solo hit "What's Love Got to Do With It." Dressed in a silver metallic tank topped, capri -length jump suit and black pumps, Turner then went into "You Better Be Good To Me." She then brought out Beyonce for a duet of "Proud Mary." Complete with the signature choreography, the two lit up the stage.

In the most highly anticipated performance of the night, Winehouse performed "I Cheated Myself" and "Rehab" live via satellite from London. Winehouse's performance was somewhat painful to watch. Never a great live performer, Winehouse seemed awkward and uneasy. And knowing her current problems, seeing her perform "Rehab" was just plain weird.

In her televised acceptance speech for Record of the year, she gave a shout out to her incarcerated husband and dedicated the award to London.

In the biggest surprise of the night, Winehouse and West lost the award for Album of the Year to jazz legend Herbie Hancock for River: The Joni Letters.. Hancock remarked that his win marked only the second time the award had gone to a jazz artist.

According to the Grammy website, the awards presented tonight award achievement in music released from October 1, 2006 and September 30, 2007.