Adele pops, Foo Fighters rock, Nicki Minaj flops: Grammy night’s prizes and surprises

Thank goodness for Adele.

Her predictable-but-deserved Grammy sweep on Sunday night means the likes of circus acts Katy Perry and Lady Gaga were left on the sidelines without any hardware to take home, and her own performance of the now-iconic “Rolling in the Deep” stood out as one of the highlights of an evening that also featured an impressive, poignant tribute to the late Whitney Houston by Jennifer Hudson. (See videos of both performances below.)

But there was plenty more on the Grammy road … from hot rods that roared to some jalopies that spun off the road into a ditch. As for the awards themselves, there were some intriguing selections to be sure.

Best Performance by Artists Who Started Their Careers During the JFK Administration or Before: Paul McCartney, Glen Campbell, The Beach Boys, Tony Bennett? Loved Campbell’s courage (even if “Rhinestone Cowboy” is my least favorite hit in his catalog) but I have to give it to Macca, only because his show-ending performance of a Beatles classic (which included a somewhat sloppy-but-fun guitar jam with David Grohl, Joe Walsh and Bruce Springsteen) seemed like a truly apropos way to bring the Grammys to “The End.” As for the Beach Boys, I was afraid the real “Good Vibrations” would come from the defibrillator back stage.

Train-Wreck Performance of the Night: Nicki Minaj’s exorcism schtick was as tasteless as it was baffling. A close second in the baffling department was the “medley” that featured Chris Brown, Foo Fighters, David Guetta, DeadMau5. What exactly was that mess and can we make sure it doesn’t happen again?

Worst Lip-Syncing Combined with Auto-Tune Chaos: Chris Brown.

Upset of the Night: Who else, but laid-back indie-folk fella Justin Vernon, aka Bon Iver? I mean, how does a guy from Eau Claire, Wis., who collaborates with a group dubbed Collections of Colonies of Bees beat out mega-hyped stars like The Band Perry and Nicki Minaj for best new artist, not to mention topping an alternative music category that features ultra-hip bands like Radiohead, Foster the People, Death Cab for Cutie and My Morning Jacket? I have no clue, but he’s gonna collect a nice paycheck in terms of album sales as a result.

Same goes for The Civil Wars, the harmonious folky duo which scored the second most impressive upset of the evening by winning for best country duo/group performance AND taking home best folk album honors. Of course, it helped that this talented pair also got a chance to perform Sunday night and just happened to hit it out of the ballpark.

Rock Comeback of the Year: After putting out an album that restored their rock roar, The Foo Fighters couldn’t be stopped on Sunday night, with Grohl and company collecting five Grammys, including rock album of the year for “Wasting Light” and best rock song “Walk.” And yes, they outpolled Grand Rapids’ own Anthony Kiedis and his Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Awards You May Have Missed: Apparently, the Grammys don’t want folks to know who won some of their awards because they do a miserable job of announcing who won categories that were covered earlier in the day. So, here are few to consider: Corea, Clarke & White (best jazz instrumental album), Alison Krauss & Union Station (best bluegrass album), Kirk Franklin (best gospel song and best gospel album), Tedeschi Trucks Band (best blues album), Levon Helm (best Americana album), Stephen Marley (best reggae album), Skrillex (best dance/electronica album).

And here’s the complete list at the Grammy website.

Email: jsinkevics@gmail.com