I watched most of it and was pleasantly surprised by the highlights. Jay-Z and Paul nodding to the Grey Album was excellent (even though the actual performance didn't quite live up to expectations, but Paul's Helter Skelter was awesome). Why oh why is Joss Stone at every single performance opportunity lately??? This week alone was the Super Bowl and Grammys. She's someone I just don't get. I caught her before the Stones show here in Charlotte back in October. I heard more wrong notes more than right ones. And enough of the hippy look. Actually, enough of her altogether. Is she Starbuck's answer to The Queen of Soul? And speaking of Stone, could the Grammy's not honor Sly Stone a bit more than by having Maroon 5, Joss Stone, Fantasia and 1/4 of Black Eyed Peas hack through his classics? The guys from Aerosmith I kind of understand and I thought it was cool to have Robert Randolph there. But it's like, "what can we do to coax Stone out onto the stage with the minimum amount of effort." I thought it was the equivalent of giving your wife next week for Valentine's Day a homemade coupon for a "free backrub redeemable anytime." There's just a trace amount of thought and zero amount of effort into the gift. I mean c'mon, it's not like Stevie Wonder wasn't already there (and onstage a bit later). When Sly did sing, he really didn't sound that bad. I'm sure he's got his share of "issues" from drugs, but I can't believe that didn't know exactly what he was doing up there. Like he was pulling one over on us. I loved his appearance. He must have gotten his onstage keyboard cues from Brian Wilson. And speaking of Fantasia, looks like American Idol has produced a bona fide artist. Kelly Clarkson's album, for what it is, is actually quite good. Glad to see her pick up some major awards. Gorillaz and Madonna were boring (but always nice to see De La Soul again). I would have liked to have seen them do more of a collaboration. Coldplay? The song isn't that bad, but I thought it was a painful to watch. Chris Martin just seemed to be doing bad Michael Stipe impressions. U2 were 1/2 great. These guys really shine in opportunities like this (remember the Super Bowl halftime a few years ago- they were brilliant). Vertigo rocked like a mofo. But the version of One with Mary J Blige was silly. Springsteen was excellent. He's moved from "the next Bob Dylan" to "the person looking most like Bob Dylan." Loved his line at the end about "bring em home." Mariah's second song was actually not bad. Did any pick on the Heineken commercial using Big Star's "I'm in Love with a Girl?" Excellent. -----Original Message----- From: audities-owner@smoe.org [mailto:audities-owner@smoe.org] On Behalf Of moteeko@telerama.com Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2006 8:38 AM To: audities@smoe.org Subject: The Grammys... I didn't have very high expectations for the Grammys, but decided to watch anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed 'em! There were people actually SINGING! There were songs that had melodies to 'em! Sugarland kept it together even though there was an open mic somwhere with all kinds of noise coming through. Sir Paul showed the youngsters he can still rock the joint with "Helter Skelter" Mariah and Xtina even sang! Okay, Xtina did yodel a little, but at least it was live. Jay-Z, Macca and the Linkin Park dude on "Yesterday"....when I heard the Linkin Park guy start riffing on "Yesterday," I thought he was just "givin' props" or dissin' Macca in the audience. I didn't think he was actually gonna join 'em. And Jay wore a Lennon shirt... I kinda thought Sly looked like the Grinch, with his head hangin' low and those droopy jowls. But from what little he did sing, it didn't sound bad. U2 rocked the crap out of "Vertigo" with what seemed to me to be augmentation-free. Only thing I can't figure out is what the green jersey was about that "Big Ben" wore... Madonna/Gorillaz and Kanye/Foxx...to me, just dance routines.