The 2010 Grammys: The Complete Wrap Up (Video) Posted by Nathan S. on 02/01/10 | Filed under Top Stories, Features, Grammys

It's the same every year. I watch the Grammys, get infuriated by the terrible selections, watch performances by people I've never heard before and think, "wow, they're better than I would have thought", watch performances by people I know well and think, "wow, they're terrible live," mostly end up bored and then vow that next year I'm not going to watch or care about such an absurd spectacle. And then the next year I'm sucked in again. If this was a relationship the Grammys would be that crazy chick who acts insane but keeps promising she can change so I stupidly take her back. Anyway, the 2010 Grammys weren't anything new. For the awards to the performances to random craziness that always happens, here's everything you need to know about last night's festivities.

The Awards
The Wrap Up: If I had wagered money on the Grammy results (I said "if", gambling is illegal kids) last night would have been a very, very good night for me. As I predicted in my Grammy preview, Beyonce crushed everyone and walked away with six awards (Best Female R&B Performance, Best Song, etc.) and we also "treated" to a lot of Taylor Swift, coupled with a complete absence of Kanye West. America's still apparently pissed about the "I'm a let you finish..." fiasco.

As I also brilliantly called, Jay-Z swept the major rap awards, walking away with Best Rap Solo Performance for "D.O.A." and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration/Best Rap Song for "Run This Town". People love them so Hova. I will admit, though, that I was horribly wrong about Best Rap Album which went to Eminem's "Relapse". What can I say? I didn't think there was anyway the traditionally conservative Grammy Committee was going to give an album almost entirely about incest, rape, serial murder and prescription drug abuse an award. I did not see that coming.

Here's a complete list of the relevant awards with winners in bold, my notes in parentheses:

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
Beyoncé, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)"
Melanie Fiona, "It Kills Me"
Lalah Hathaway, "That Was Then"
Ledisi, "Goin' Thru Changes"
Jazmine Sullivan, "Lions, Tigers & Bears"

Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
Anthony Hamilton, "The Point of it All"
Maxwell, "Pretty Wings" Instant classic.
Musiq Soulchild, "Sobeautiful"
Pleasure P, "Under" (Really? Pleasure P got nominated for three Grammys!?)
Charlie Wilson, "There Goes My Baby"

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals
Jamie Foxx and T-Pain, "Blame It"
India.Arie and Musiq Soulchild, "Chocolate High"
Musiq Soulchild and Mary J. Blige, "Ifuleave"
Robert Randolph and the Clark Sisters, "Higher Ground"
Calvin Richardson and Ann Nesby, "Love Has Finally Come at Last"

Best R&B Song
"Blame It," Jamie Foxx and T-Pain
"Lions, Tigers & Bears," Jazmine Sullivan
"Pretty Wings," Maxwell
"Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", Beyoncé
"Under," Pleasure P Really?

Best R&B Album
The Point of It All, Anthony Hamilton
Testimony: Vol. 2, Love & Politics, India.Arie
Turn Me Loose, Ledisi
Blacksummers' Night, Maxwell (I would have gone with Hamilton, but I can't hate on this selection.)
Uncle Charlie, Charlie Wilson

Best Contemporary R&B Album
I Am...Sasha Fierce, Beyoncé
Intuition, Jamie Foxx
The Introduction of Marcus Cooper, Pleasure P (Really???!!!)
Ready, Trey Songz
Thr33 Ringz, T-Pain

Best Rap Solo Performance
Drake, "Best I Ever Had"
Eminem, "Beautiful"
Jay-Z, "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)" (Called it.)
Kid Cudi, "Day and Night"
Mos Def, "Casa Bey"

Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
* "Too Many Rappers," Beastie Boys and Nas
* "Crack a Bottle," Eminem, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent
* "Money Goes, Honey Stay," Fabolous and Jay-Z
* "Make Her Say," Kid Cudi, Kanye West and Common
* "Amazing," Kanye West and Young Jeezy

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
"Ego," Beyoncé and Kanye West
"Knock You Down," Keri Hilson, Kanye West and Ne-Yo
"Run This Town," Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West (Called it again)
"I'm On a Boat," The Lonely Island and T-Pain
"Dead and Gone," T.I. and Justin Timberlake

Best Rap Song
* "Best I Ever Had," Drake
* "Day 'N' Nite," Kid Cudi
* "Dead and Gone," T.I. and Justin Timberlake
* "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)," Jay-Z
* "Run This Town," Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West (You know it's coming...called it.)

Best Rap Album
Universal Mind Control, Common
Relapse, Eminem
R.O.O.T.S., Flo Rida (Thank Jesus. This has "new worst Grammy selection of all-time written all over it.)
The Ecstatic, Mos Def
The Renaissance, Q-Tip

Best Line of the Night
I'm gonna stay inside the Slavik household and give this one to my wife after we had the following exchange:
Wifey: "Wow, they let a drag queen onstage. Who is that?
Me: "Um, that's Ke$ha, the girl who does that "Tic Toc" song."
Wifey: "Oh, I thought she was a drag queen."

Yep, this is why I married her.

The Performances

Lady Gaga

She may be a couple sandwiches short of a picnic but I have to give it to the woman, she keeps people talking about her. You do not change the channel when she comes on. You just don't.



Just in case winning more awards than any other woman in Grammy history wasn't enough, Beyonce killed her Grammy performance. The woman's a force of nature.



Was it just me or was this terrible? T-Pain was good, but otherwise this fell completely flat. Maybe it's because Foxx's jacket made him look like one of those Civil War re-enactment nerds.

Drake x Eminem x Lil Wayne "Forever" & "Drop the World"

It's not going to supplant "Swagger Like Us" and the best Grammy hip-hop performance of all time, but I have to give it up to em, they killed this. Hopefully Wayne' officially got his wanna-be rockstar thing out of his system. Oh, and Kanye was missed on this one. Too bad America still hates him for Taylor Swiftgate.

Celine Dion x Usher x Carrie Underwood x Smokey Robinson x Jennifer Hudson "Michael Jackson Tribute"

You know what? This was damn good, even if Usher didn't do the crotch grab move in tribute to Michael like I was hoping.