What You Missed at the Grammy Awards!!

The Staples Center in Los Angeles, California was filled with great music and tributes that lasted well into last night as the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards brought music's best and brightest together.  With what is sure to go down as one of the most memorable Grammys, the evening began with a tribute to Aretha Franklin by 5 dazzling women, all of which are not afraid to show a little diva.  Yolanda Adams, Christina Aguilera, Florence Welch, Martina McBride and Jennifer Hudson delivered a great performance highlighting some of Franklin's most notable records of all time.  The performance was followed by a video cast of Aretha thanking everyone for the well wishes, http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xh0t3d_211213232_webcam#from=embed

Certainly, however, the most elaborate performance of the night came from Cee-Lo Green. All dressed up in colorful feathers and a sequined head cap, looked like a one-man tribute to George Clinton and Liberace as he performed an edited version of his nominated hit "F--- You," (The Song Otherwise Known as "Forget You") with cameos from Gwyneth Paltrow and Jim Henson Co.'s Muppets as backup singers. Paltrow wore a black suit with a deep V-neck, and played the vamped up girl pretty darn well to go opposite Green and all his glory.

One surprise of the night came from jazz artist Esperanza Spalding.  Spalding beat out Justin Bieber, Florence + the Machine, Mumford & Sons and Drake to win best new artist. Best New Artist was her only nomination for Sunday's awards and she went 1 for 1 as this was also the first time ever a jazz artist has gone home with this award.

While hip-hop and pop made their single presence felt in the form of Eminem and Train (Train won best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals-the band thanked Justin Bieber for taking a solo career). Country music made sure the music academy couldn't ignore it. Miranda Lambert won for best female country vocal performance while Lady Antebellum took home FIVE awards, including record and song of the year for its crossover smash "Need You Now" from their album "The Suburbs"; They beat out Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream," "The Fame Monster" by Lady Gaga and Eminem's "Recovery" - 2010's best selling album - to take home the trophy, a surprise win that left the Detroit MC shut out in all the top categories (Eminem was ahead with 10 nominations heading into the Grammys but came away with only 2 awards).

Personally, I found the performances of Katy Perry, Eminem/Dr. Dre/Rhianna and Drake/Rihanna the best and most true to form, they sounded excellent on stage.  The rare performances by Mick Jagger (celebrating the late Solomon Burke), Bob Dylan and Barbra Striesand were inspiring and brought the audience to their feet every time.

For a more complete wrap up of the nights events head to http://www.grammys.com/ to catch vids, and other special features available.