This years opening act Lady Gaga was in her usual abstract attire. A green sparkle leotard with large shoulders and pink sparkle triangle paint covering her eyes singing “Poker Face” a slight disappointment this bastard would have prefered something new but after a quick dance routine Gaga is thrown into a fire pit to become a “monster” and comes out under the “Fame Factory” covered in dirt. She’s sitting at a piano facing another fashion diva Elton John. There was a bit of admiration in Gaga’s eyes as the two sang a melody of Gaga’s “Speechless” and Sir Elton’s “Your Song” ending with Elton John saying “How wonderful life is with Gaga in the world” and Gaga adding “Thank you, Love you Sir Elton John” a moment to be remembered in Grammy terms!
Next to take the stage is Green Day and the Cast of American idiot (I was amazed to find out this is a broadway musical) singing “21 Guns”. It starts with some of the cast members singing solo soon to be joined by Billy Joe, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool on stage for a truly emotional experience, Thank You for the warm fuzzy feeling!
Soon that warm fuzzy feeling runs for cover as Beyonce enters, surrounded by a SWAT team. She makes her way to the stage to sing “If I Were a Boy” and Alanis Morissette’s “You Outtta Know”, this was not a complimentary cover and the overall performance was mediocre. In her defense there was a slight ankle twist as she walked down the stairs but no fall, and in those heels that is an accomplishment! The whole time the SWAT team just swayed on the sidelines which left me wondering if there was a security issue.
4th act of the night was truly an act, a circus act! Pink took the stage with “Glitter in the Air” literally there was glitter falling from the sky and soon she was part of the act spinning in the air, I needed to look away from the TV, I was getting a little dizzy watching! Pink was so “HOT” she needed to be dipped in a some water to cool off and was soon spinning again spraying the crowd with her run off. A bit strange but overall impressive and it had the crowd on their feet applauding.
Following Pink the Blacked Eyed Peas brought the party with “Imma Be” and “I’ve Got a Feeling”. The team decked out in their futuristic attire gets the crowd on their feet dancing, as marching speaker (or maybe they’re turntables) robots join the fun. The crowd and the bastard agree this was a great performance that made you move!
Things slow down with a simple set from Lady Antebellum, “Need You Now” showcasing their talent, no glitz or glamor needed.
A witty introduction of the Royal Gramaphonics Society by Robert Downy Jr. leads to an opera like beginning to “Blame It”. Jamie Foxx begins dancing around and blame the rest on the a-a-a-alcohol. T Pain turns from conducting the band to joining the accusations, but wait there’s more…Doug E. Fresh walks up on stage beat boxing, still more…a random women dances up on stage, not sure who or why but she’s there, but wait still more…SLASH, yup the one from GNR. He’s playing “November Rain” and at this point it’s hard to understand what’s going on musically or visually and then it finally comes to an end with an ending comment from Jamie to Jay-Z “Sorry about the auto-tune Jay-Z”, really that’s all you’re sorry about!?
Just when this bastard needed saving the Zac Brown Band came to the rescue! Starting with “America the Beautiful” with some acoustic guitars and a Hammond Organ in the background it is beautifully done, soon accompanied by Leon Russell for “This is Dixie Lullaby” followed by the fun “Chicken Fried” that lifted everyone’s spirit. This refreshing performance was probably my favorite of the night!
The girl of the night blessed the crowd with her own turn at the mic. Taylor Swift started with “Today Was a Fairytale” her song from the “Valentine’s Day” soundtrack, beautifully sung. I was excited to see Stevie Nicks join Taylor on stage for “Rhiannon” but was quickly disappointed, it was not the best duet, whether it was nerves or just as the strong differences in their ranges or simply that as good as Taylor is she’s no Stevie Nicks. They were able to pull the song together near the end, but it was her last song “You Belong to Me” again joined by Stevie Nicks and Butch Walker on the banjo, that reminded us why she was the “it” girl, well done!
I think I’ll skip the Micheal Jackson tribute in 3-D. All I’ll say is that the crowd was full of Lady Gaga wannabes wearing their 3-D glasses!
No awards ceremony would be complete without the fan choice, text or call in to pick your favorite ___. This year Bon Jovi would play 2 songs “We Weren’t Born to Follow” an average performance then “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” sung with Jenifer Nettles from Sugarland, while she had a complimentary voice to Jon’s her black leather pants were not complimentary to her, sagging slightly in the crotch. And finally the moment of truth the song ‘we’ voted for “Living On a Prayer”, nothing new here. This song also sung with Nettles is done well, and a nice reminder of our younger days.
A tribute performance to Haiti “Bridge Over Troubled Water” sung by Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige is beautifully sung and emotional but on the entertainment side was a bit boring.
They next announce a band that has been together for 20 years, this only makes me feel old, when I find out it’s the Dave Matthews Band. Together with Tim Reynolds performing “You and Me”. Another average, well done set, accompanied by a group of strings, a horn section and a chorus of background singers, this ended with Dave having a funky moment of dancing. It’s always nice to see a musician getting into the music!
Next to take the stage would be Maxwell, other than the blue twinkle lights hanging overhead, making it look like it was raining his performance was forgettable. He was then joined by Roberta Flack singing “Where is the Love” always a great song to hear but again the performance…forgettable.
Another tribute, this time to Les Paul, done in a fun funky way by Jeff Beck and a pin up-esque Imelda May singing “How High The Moon”.
For the nights final performance, Lil Wayne, Eminem, Travis Barker team up. Lil Wayne comes out rapping “Drop the World” wearing a shirt that reads “listen to Lil’ Wayne” I’m trying to but his choice of words cause the censor to block most of the song. Soon Eminem is on stage and what can you say, he just does what he does so well! Last is “Forever” Drake on stage joining the trio, cleavage endowed basketball team missing, the team gets the crowd to their feet for this finale.
Overall this Bastard enjoyed most of the 52nd Annual Grammy performances. Everyone waits to see who they pair up and for this year the talk should be about Lady Gaga and Sir Elton John.
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The place I get to listen to music is in the minivan, without kids, on my 40 minute ride to and from work. That’s when I can listen to it as loud as I want, sing along, swear and skip as many songs as I want! I’m a big fan of the skip…I don’t have a lot of time to listen to stuff that doesn’t interest me! I’m not a music connoisseur, good or bad I like what I like! 
I love you, Lady Gaga! You’re so weird.