8 Most Outrageous Grammy Moments
A duet between Lady Gaga and Elton John, Stephen Colbert with an iPad, and speeches by Michael Jackson’s children. Did we mention the 3-D tribute? WATCH VIDEO of the highlights.
#8: General Larry Platt's Body on the Ground
At first it was funny, now it's sad and weird–almost! Here's General Larry Platt on E!'s red carpet show, performing… well, you know what he's performing. The odd wrinkle: the General's belts, which we hope he's going to make some money selling, and the mid-performance drop to the ground, from which it appeared he might not get up.
#7: Lady Gaga Thrown in Fire, Emerges with Elton John
The rumors that Elton John would appear with Lady Gaga proved true, and all credit goes to the duo: they hit it out of the park. The performance began with Gaga's "Speechless," continued with her being tossed into an inferno and with her and Sir Elton belting out "Your Song." Young, old, great music: it's what these shows are all about when they are not boring us to tears.
#6: Stephen Colbert Finds Comedy Gold in Daughter, iPad
Stephen Colbert wins the presenter of the night award with some barbs at Susan Boyle, the show itself and his desire to keep Katy Perry away from his daughter. He even managed to sneak in an iPad. And we mean an actual iPad.
#5: Beyoncé, with No Reason to Be Angry at Anything, Channels Alanis
By now, Beyoncé fans are familiar with her inner Sasha Fierce—but her inner Alanis Morissette? Both alter egos came out in all their man-eating glory at the Grammys, as the superstar performed a high-energy mash-up of "If I Were a Boy" and Morissette's angry ‘90s hit "You Oughta Know." Beyoncé had little to be angry about by the end of the evening, though: She took home five awards, including Song of the Year ("Single Ladies") and Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Halo").
#4: Grammys® Falsely Assume We Own 3-D Glasses
It's tough to say what was stranger about this Michael Jackson tribute: Deciding to show the trippy yet boring forest scenes from This Is It, or the fact that the entire performance was only watchable for those wearing 3-D glasses. (For the rest of us, it was a big, blurry question mark.) If you looked away, though, the all-star ensemble of Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, and Smokey Robinson did wow with their performance of the King of Pop's "Earth Song."
#3: Pink Takes ‘Diva' to New Heights
The next time an American Idol hopeful claims she isn't singing her best because of a little cold, consider Pink's performance Sunday night: Not only was the pop star suspended high above the ground while beautifully belting out "Glitter in the Air" from her Funhouse album—but she was also eventually singing upside down, while being doused with water! It was a truly jaw-dropping act, if a slightly perplexing one.
#2: Odd Couple Blige and Bocelli Knock It Out of the Park
Lady Gaga and Elton John weren't the only interesting duo to hit the stage. Performing a moving arrangement of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" to raise money for Haiti the cover is now available on iTunes—R&B star Mary J. Blige and Italian pop tenor Andrea Bocelli arguably stole the show. Is this the beginning of a new genre, Classical Italian R&B Pop?
#1: Michael Jackson's Kids, Undisguised, Accept Award
So we'll stay away from the uncomfortable observation that Paris and Prince Jackson LOOK NOTHING LIKE THEIR FATHER. We won't go there, promise. But kudos to the Jackson children for their poise and sincerity in accepting a Lifetime Achievement award on his behalf. Michael may not have wanted them to appear on worldwide television, but he has something to be proud of. "Through all his songs," Prince said, "his message was simple: Love."
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