By Zac Taylor
Editor-in-Chief

The 51st Annual Grammy Awards was a star-studded, long-winded, genre-bending night of backing tracks and bizarre collaborations. Justin Timberlake and Kanye West were rarely off camera, and the curly haired Jonas Brother fudged the words to “Superstition” during his performance with Stevie Wonder. M.I.A. was due to give birth earlier that day, but instead performed quite energetically and gracefully for a being nine months pregnant.

While the telecast was indeed long, it did flow better than in recent years, and many Grammys went to some excellent and deserving artists. Adele beat out the Jonas Brothers and Duffy for Best New Artist, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss cleaned up with five awards, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year. “I’m bewildered. In the old days we would have called this selling out, but it’s a good way to spend a Sunday,” said Plant.

Coldplay were also big winners, snagging the coveted Song of the Year award for “Viva La Vida.” Drummer Will Champion said, “Thank you and sorry to Sir Paul McCartney for blatantly recycling the Sgt. Pepper’s uniforms,” referring to the band’s colorfully choreographed wardrobe. McCartney lit the stage up featuring Dave Grohl on drums on the Beatles’ classic “I Saw Her Standing There.”

Not unlike the Superbowl, there was an abundance of ‘help’ for much of the live performance, including Estelle and Kanye’s duet on “American Boy” (On Estelle’s chorus, not on Kanye’s hair, where it was needed). Some help wouldn’t have hurt Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus’ duet on the Swift-penned “Fifteen,” in which Swift was much more in tune than her Saturday Night Live performance, which isn’t saying much.

Some collaborations were better than others. Jamie Foxx and Smokey Robinson led a quartet for a medley of Four Tops songs, which was uplifting and reverent. Kanye West, T.I., Jay-Z, and Lil’ Wayne dubbed themselves “the Rap Pack,” and performed after a tribute to Dean Martin, who received a lifetime achievement award.

One of the most engaging performances of the night was Katy Perry, who sang her hit “I Kissed a Girl” with a giant strawberry and banana set design behind her. A team of white-clad dancers backed up Perry, who had the stride of a 1950s beauty queen. Radiohead performed with a marching band, after which a gracious Thom Yorke smiled and bowed to the crowd. Their record In Rainbows received awards for Best Alternative Album and Best Boxed or Special Edition Album. BB King, Buddy Guy, John Mayer, and Keith Urban all traded licks to pay tribute to the late great Bo Diddley, during which a slideshow of the innovative bluesman played on the screens behind them.

There were 22 Berklee alumni and one faculty member nominated for Grammys, and many of whom won:

John Mayer ‘98 Best Male Pop Performance “Say”; Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance “Gravity”.

Gavin Lurssen ’91, Mastering/Engineering on Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ Raising Sand (Five Awards).

Andrew Dawson ’01 Engineer/Mixer for Lil’ Wayne’s Tha Carter III Best Rap Album

Thomas Pridgen ’03 Drummer for Mars Volta drummer Wax Simulacra Best Hard Rock Performance

Gary Burton ‘62 & Chick Corea, soloists, Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group The New Crystal Silence

Joe Travers ‘91 Best Rock Instrumental Performance Peaches En Regalia Zappa Plays Zappa

Alex Lacamoire ‘95 Producer Best Musical Show Album In The Heights

For more, visit Grammy.com