Music's Biggest Night

Drama, surprise, upsets, duets, applause, tributes. These are the words that first come to mind when searching for a way to describe the biggest night in the music industry. On Sunday night, the 52nd annual Grammy Awards ceremony was broadcasted from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Taylor Swift ended up winning the biggest honor of the night with album of the year for her CD "Fearless". Swift was nominated for eight awards but walked away with the top honors as well as best country album for "Fearless" and best country song. Winning album of the year was a redeeming moment for Swift, as she visibly struggled to sing in tune while playing live with Stevie Nicks. But, at least she sang her own music, and although it was bad, everyone knew she wasn't lip-syncing. It was impossible not to notice the error, though.

Despite Swift's spotlight moments, Beyonce was actually the night's biggest winner, taking home six of the ten Grammys she was nominated for. She also found a place in Grammy history; no other female artist has ever accomplished winning six trophies in one night before. The Zac Brown Band won best new artist. They were the headliner for Spring Weekend 2009 at Longwood, and nine months later they win a Grammy.

Lady Gaga, considered by many to be this year's biggest breakout act, was ruled ineligible because she had a song released and nominated last year. Lady Gaga, whose performance opened the show, won two Grammys presented in the pre-telecast. Her single "Poker Face" won in the best dance recording category. Her album "The Fame" also won a Grammy for best electronic/dance album of the year. She did bring her own style to the show by performing a mash-up with Sir Elton John. Wearing an atrocious green sparkly leotard, she belted out her hit "Poker Face" before mellowing the crowd with a piano heavy version of her ballad "Speechless" and Johns' "Your Song."

The biggest focus of the media for the night was definitely the Lifetime Achievement award that went posthumously to Michael Jackson. Before the award was given out, Lionel Richie appeared on stage to present a video of Jackson's "Earth Song" in 3D. Umm, what? The Grammys show things in three dimensions now? It wouldn't have been such a shock if I had any idea it was coming and neither apparently did most of the audience. Unless you were psychic or saw an ad to get 3D glasses at Target, you watched a video of blurry people singing with blue, red and green surrounding them. 3D is cool and all, but not when you don't have the glasses.

Jackson's children, Paris and Prince Michael took the stage surrounded by Jackson's brothers and they both gave interesting speeches. Prince Michael clearly memorized what he said, but the idea that Jackson's message was one of love, is nothing but the truth.

The kid stumbles at times, but made his point that his father loved his fans and this world. Just like at Jackson's memorial seven months earlier, Paris once again spoke words that shattered hearts across the Staples Center. She mentioned her love for her father and thanked everyone.

The real drama about the show came around when the big awards of the night were given out. Kings of Leon won Record of the Year, which marked the first time that Music City artists had won both record of the year (Kings of Leon) and album of the year (Swift). Kings of Leon were nominated for Grammys last year as well, but only took home trophies for their breakthrough album "Only by The Night" in 2010. And as trivial as popular music is, it is determined by the mainstream. The band joked that their families could only really see their success because of their Grammy win.

Bay area rockers Green Day took home Best Rock Album for "21st Century Breakdown" and front man Billie Joe Armstrong thanked their families and coworkers and then joked about doing shots with Kings of Leon backstage to celebrate.

The most unique performance of the night went to P!nk, who suspended herself in the air hanging by a sheet wrapped around her to belt out her hit "Glitter in the Air." She spun around so fast I wondered if she got dizzy (which she claims she didn't) and showed off her nearly nude costume to the crowd while raining on them. The last big performance of the night was a collaboration between Eminem and Lil' Wayne. Eminem won a Grammy for best rap album for this latest CD "Relapse."

For an awards show that has been airing for 52 years, it did not disappoint. There were truly touching moments and some that make you wonder how on earth that artist won an award. Good performances, bad performances, lifetime achievement awards and let's not forget all the Twitter updates from the show either. (Thanks Ryan Seacrest!) It was a good four hours of music. 2010 better bring some good music, since 2009 gave us Lady Gaga. Let's hope that better music will also bring us a decent awards show next year!