Grammy Awards 2010: Full Recap of Grammy Winners and Performances

Sunday night's 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, kicked off with Lady Gaga in a wild rendition of her hit single, "Poker Face", choreographed to include her signature "monster" claw move. The elaborate stage set was reminscent of Micheal Jackson's "Thriller" in its spirit and movements. Gaga sparkled in a bright green, sequined body-suit with space-age shoulder-pads and glittering, highly-detailed make-up.

As Gaga's "Poker Face"/"Thriller"-homage Grammy opener ended, the controversial singing sensation disappeared momentarily, having been dumped into a "rejected" incinerator bin, before the stage opened up and revealed Elton John sitting across from a now ash-laden Lady Gaga, on a double-ended piano. The pair performed an embellished, high-energy duet of Gaga's "Speechless", with John's "Your Song" mixed in for good measure.

Host Stephen Colbert then took to the stage, congratulating himself and all 52nd Annual Grammy nominees....twice! Colbert, who is up for "Best Comedy Album", expressed disbelief at being surrounded by all the "cool kids" of the entertainment industry, and introduced his daughter to the crowd. He then dryly advised her to stay away from Katy Perry, to an amused audience reaction.

Colbert's monologue wrapped with an iPad plug, a quick dig at Jay-Z in the audience and the first Grammy nominations of the evening.

First up, Beyonce beat out Lady Gaga, the Kings of Leon, and Taylor Swift, to win the Grammy for "Song of the Year". She wasn't able to accept it herself, as she was getting ready for her perform ace.

Next, punk-rock revivalists, Green Day, took to the stage with the cast of "American Idiot", and together they performed the band's song, "Twenty-One Gun Salute". The female cast of "American Idiot" began the song's vocals, and Billie Joe came in on the second verse.

Actors Kristen Bell and Josh Duhmel then appeared on stage to present the Grammy for "Best Country Album" to Taylor Swift, who beat out the Zac Brown Band, George Straight and Leanne Womack for her album, "Fearless". The starlet thanked her label for allowing her creative freedom.

The next Grammy performance of the night was by ten-time Grammy nominee, Beyonce, who entered the theater in a black, strapless, industrial-looking mini-dress and matching wrist cuff. Beyonce and her dancers, dressed in almost militant costume, marched up the audience aisle to the stage to a rousing drum beat, before the music faded to the lilting opening notes of "If I Were A Boy". The singer uncharacteristically tugged at her crotch as she sang the first lines, belting out the rest of the song with gusto.

The Staples Center crowd went wild as Beyonce delved into a cover of "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morrisette, before performing a well-choreographed floor dance to bring the song back to her own track.

Seal, who was both a nominee and a presenter, came on stage to pay homage to Leonard Cohen for his "Lifetime Achievement" award. Seal also introduced the next musical performer, Pink.

Pink's stage was bathed in blues, and the singer/songwriter emerged under the spotlight in a white, hooded, Virgin Mary-esque gown, with nods of Toga-party thrown in for good measure. The reason for her Snuggie-like shroud? Her aeriel act, which requires a mid-performance quick-change. Pink disrobed to reveal a sheer bodysuit, with ribbons that wrapped her body, and small patches of silver glitter over her chest.

Pink, entwined now in thick fabric designed to hold her weight as she soars above the crowd, began her elegant, suspended dance while maintaining her vocal quality. Three gold-painted aerialists swayed gracefully along with Pink throughout the rest of the song. At the climax, Pink was dunked in water, and brought back up, dramatically soaked and dripping wet. five inch heels, beautiful spinning.

Next, the Grammy award was presented for 2010's "Best New Artist". The Zac Brown Band beat out Keri Hilson, MGMT, Silversun Pickups and The Ting Tings for the honor.

Miley Cyrus then presented the "Black Eyed Peas", who gave an energetic performance of their songs, "Imma Be" and "I Got A Feelin'". Their stage set had a robotic theme, with dancers dressed in elaborate, futuristic costumes. The Black Eyed Peas clothing was a mix of glitter and black, sparkle and leather, hard and metallic.

After the Black Eyed Peas left the stage, country-trio Lady Antebellum sang their hit song, "Need You Now".

The winner of "Best Comedy Album" was announced next. For Grammy judges, Stephen Colbert outshined Spinal Tap, Patton Oswalt, Kathy Griffin and others nominated for the award with his album, "A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift Of All.

Colbert thanked his wife, seemingly every person he's ever known and asked his daughter if he was finally cool and she finally nodded.

Norah Jones and Ringo Starr appeared onstage together to surprise the hell out of Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas by presenting rock band, Kings Of Leon, the Grammy for "Record Of The Year". The rock group beat out the latter with their track, "Use Somebody". The guys in Kings Of Leon expressed thanks and love to God, fans and family in their speech, and offered to buy shots for anyone they forgot to thank.

Robert Downey Jr. then appeared briefly to present a quick opera-based skit to intro Jamie Foxx's performance of "Blame It On The Alcohol". There were either technical issues going on during Foxx's performance, or there was a bit of painfully-obvious lip-synching going on. Thankfully, T-Pain then revealed himself and distracted the crowd for the remainder of the song. A hip-hop dance bit rounded the song out, before Slash (yes, that Slash) came onstage and closed it out with a tight guitar solo over the dance beats.

Katy Perry and Alice Cooper then presented "Best Rock Album" to Green Day for "21st Century Breakdown", and the Zac Brown Band performed "America The Beautiful" with country legend Leon Russell.

For the next Grammy performance, Stevie Nicks joined Taylor Swift for a co-mingling of Fleetwood Mac tunes and Swift's more modern hits. The result was cute, but very campy, culminating in a down-home version of Swift's "You Belong With Me".

Lionel Richie then presented Michael Jackson's vision of "Earth Song" in a 3-D tribute, narrated by Michael himself on audio recording, and sung by Celine Dion, Usher, Carrie Underwood and more. The performance was moving, as to be expected, but distracting for home viewers without 3-D glasses and older TV sets.

The Staples Center crowd stood on their feet, giving the performance, and Jackson, the "standing O" for a full thirty-seconds. The crowd remained on their feet while Jackson's children, Prince and Paris, spoke. The children accepted their father's "Lifetime Achievement Award". Prince and Paris were both dressed in black suits and red arm bands.

The Jackson kids thanked God and their grandparents, and their father's fans. Prince said he and his sister, Paris, intended to continue to spread his father's message of love, and expressed a desire to help the world. The children ended their speech by addressing their father individually, though identically: "We love you, Daddy".

Next, Sheryl Crow introduced Bon Jovi for their first-ever Grammy Award show performance. Bon Jovi played three songs, one of which was a "voter's choice" pick, which fans could text and vote on during the show. Fans chose "Livin' On A Prayer", and Bon Jovi and company complied happily, with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland backing them up.

After the Bon Jovi set, more awards were announced. The Grammy award for "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" went to Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West for "Run This Town Tonight". Jay-Z and Rihanna gave acceptances speeches, though Kanye West didn't appear.

Musical ground-breaker Wyclef Jean then brought attention to the crisis in Haiti for a few moments before returning to the musical performances. Wyclef turned the mic over to Mary-J Blige and opera star Andrea Bocelli, who gave a memorable performance of "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" (Simon & Garfunkel). The track's sales on iTunes/Target.com will be donated to help the people of Haiti.

Next up was a set by Dave Matthews Band, and the award for "Best Female Vocalist". Beyonce took that Grammy, for her record"Halo". Beyonce began humbly, "I'm sorry, I'm nervous..." , before thanking her family, hubby, Jay-Z, and of course, her fans.

Soon after, LL Cool J was on the Staples Center stage introducing R&B artist, Maxwell, who sang a mellow version of his popular song, "Pretty Wings". Maxwell, a Grammy winner himself tonight, was also was joined onstage by Roberta Flack for a bit of "Where Is The Love".

The Grammy Awards "In Memoriam" montage featured images and sound samples of the departed Mary Travers, Mike Seeger, Willie Mitchell, Koko Taylor, Dan Seals, Teddy Pendergrass, Uriel Jones, Adam Goldstein, Les Paul.

Jeff Bridges honored Les Paul by introducing Jeff Beck, a favorite of the late, great guitar god, to play a folksy, upbeat number.

In the final twenty minutes of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, Quinton Tarentino appeared in shades and a blousy polka-dot button-down. Tarentino introduced Eminem, Drake and Lil Wayne, with Travis Barker on drums, who performed what was likely the best, most fast-paced set of the night. The powerhouse of rap-and-rock talent coordinated incredibly high-energy, crowd-pumping versions of "Drop The World" and "I Want This Forever". Unfortunately, the network editted what felt like a third of the audio with all their cut-outs due to *gosh* profanity.

Finally, the 2010 Grammy Awards came to a close with John Legend and Carlos Santana reading the announcement for the winner of the most coveted Grammy of all among recording artists: "Album Of The Year".

And the Grammy goes to....

Taylor Swift, for "Fearless"!