It's the Grammy Awards, which, as we all know, are more about performances than actual awards—so the show opened, not at all surprisingly, with a performance by Taylor Swift. The music world's darling gave what appeared to be a circus/carnival/Alice in Wonderland-themed performance of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," and only after that could the host appear. Once again, it's LL Cool J. A rundown of the highlights:
- One of the first parts of the show to heat up Twitter: Rihanna is sitting next to Chris Brown, and they look quite cozy.
- Time for an award? No, of course not: After LL Cool J's speech, Elton John and Ed Sheeran perform together.
- And the first award of the night (presented by Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez, who is showing a lot of leg), goes to Adele for Best Pop Solo Performance for "Set Fire to the Rain." She keeps her acceptance speech delightfully brief.
- Neil Patrick Harris introduces fun. for, yes, another performance. Then Bonnie Raitt and John Mayer (cheered by a smiling Katy Perry in the audience) introduce a performance by by Dierks Bentley and Miranda Lambert.
- Finally, a second award. But of course, Wiz Khalifa and Miguel can't just present Best Country Solo Performance; first they have to sing a song. The award eventually goes to Carrie Underwood for "Blown Away."
- Faith Hill walks out holding hands with hubby Tim McGraw to present Song of the Year to fun. for "We Are Young."
- Johnny Depp is here, for the sole purpose of introducing a performance by Mumford and Sons. Next up: Justin Timberlake gets introduced by Ellen DeGeneres and Beyonce, and it turns out he's still got moves. He performs his new song "Suit and Tie," of course ... and Jay-Z joins him, before JT launches into another new song.
- New category alert: Best Urban Contemporary Album goes to Frank Ocean for Channel Orange. In a bit of poetic justice, he beats out Chris Brown for the award—and everyone gives Ocean a standing ovation except Brown.
- Best Rock Performance goes to the Black Keys for "Lonely Boy," then Alicia Keys joins Maroon 5 for a performance.
- Best Pop Vocal Album goes to Kelly Clarkson for "Stronger."
- Rihanna takes a break from cuddling with Chris Brown to perform, getting rave reviews on Twitter. Our fave, from Michael Buckley: "Rihanna is very talented. We forget because we get distracted by her choice in men and disturbing Instagram photos."
- Best Rap/Sung Collaboration goes to "No Church in the Wild" by Jay-Z and Kanye West.
- More performances, by the Black Keys and Kelly Clarkson, and then Best Country Album goes to the Zac Brown Band for Uncaged.
- Bruno Mars performs with Sting, Rihanna, and Ziggy Marley, bringing the audience to its feet. Then the Lumineers are up with a performance of "Ho Hey," followed by Jack White singing "Love Interruption."
- Katy Perry and her very prominent breasts present Best New Artist to fun.
- Hunter Hayes gives perhaps the briefest performance in the history of Grammys performances, followed by a full-length performance by Carrie Underwood.
- Finally: It's time for Record of the Year, presented by Prince. The award goes to Gotye for "Somebody That I Used to Know."
- After the In Memoriam segment and a tribute to Levon Helm, plus a couple more performances including one by Frank Ocean, Album of the Year goes to Mumford and Sons for Babel.
- Some of you may have forgotten, but LL Cool J is more than just a two-time Grammys host: He's also a rapper, so he closes the show with his very own performance.
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