Grammy Awards Open with Tasteful Duet

The 50^th anniversary of the Grammy Awards opened up with the tastefully done virtual duet of Alicia Keys and Frank Sinatra singing "Learnin the Blues". With Alicia Keys dressed up in a 50's inspired emerald green gown she delivered a charming and classy performance.

Sunday's telecast focused on the original performances of the very first Grammy Awards which at times made the show drag on and possibly cause anyone younger than 50 to lose interest. Much to the surprise of everyone (and to her more than anyone else) Amy Winehouse led the trophy collection, picking up 4 of the 5 she was nominated for. (She lost out to Herbie Hancock for Album of the year). She also performed an upbeat rendition of You Know I'm No Good/Rehab late into the night via satellite from London.

Kanye West decked out in a glow in the dark jacket and sunglasses, performed his retro-techno hit "Stronger" with guests Daft Punk spinning the vinyl. He finished it off with his song "Hey Mama" which he wrote for his mother and was featured on his second album. While making his acceptance speech for the "Best Rap Album" award, he was "orchestrated" off the stage, to which he replied "It would be in good taste to stop the music." Which put an abrupt halt to their feeble attempts to silence the outspoken artist.

Deep down, I believe he was right. Unlike previous performance where he ranted and raved about the injustice of him NOT winning, this time he simply wanted to pay tribute and say thanks to his mother, who passed away recently. Strangely enough, the performance I found to be slightly disturbing was the one from the Foo Fighters. This could possibly be because I was watching it on TV (like countless others) but was I found the close-ups of Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins creepy. It led me to wonder if there were only two members in the band until Dave Grohl offered up a thanks to his band mates upon accepting their award for "Best Hard Rock Performance".

Carrie Underwood delivered an average performance of her hit "Before he Cheats" dressed up like Elizabeth Berkeley in Showgirls. I am almost positive the outfit kept viewers tuned in, as opposed to the performance. The legendary Tina Turner performed "What's Love got to Do with it?" and " Proud Mary" with Beyonce Knowles and proved beyond a reasonable doubt, that I aspire to look like her when I am 69. She rocked out in a shiny silver getup and proved that for her at least, age is just a number.

R & B star Rihanna performed "Umbrella" and "Please don't stop the music" with old school group "The Time" who's lead singer at first glance resemble MC Hammer and made be do a double take. The most amusing part of the entire show was watching Kid Rock drunkenly get through a a Capella duet with Keely Smith. At least Amy Winehouse isn't the only one who may need Rehab.

There were many more performances, some not enough to hold my attention at least, but for all the winners click the below link.

http://music.msn.com/music/grammys2008/winnerslist