The 2005 GRAMMY Awards

The 47th GRAMMY Awards aired last night on CBS and while Bostonist was hoping for something exciting to happen, like a wardrobe malfunction for example, nothing out of the ordinary really occured. Ray Charles was the big winner with the his collection of duets (completed a few months before his death), "Genius Loves Company" winning Best Album and "Here We Go Again," a duet with songstress Norah Jones, picking up Record of the Year. Charles deserves the GRAMMYs, especially after seeing the movie, Ray, and seeing how he got to be the musician he is known for. Comparing Charles to Usher or Greenday, who were both competing for the same award, is no contest, making few surprises at the podium.
Berkelee College's once-enrolled musician John Mayer won Song of the Year with "Daughters," his ode to girls getting messed up because their fathers. The Kiss of Death Award, also known as the Best New Artist Award, went to Maroon 5, who if they follow suit of those winners in years past, will fall off the face of the Earth. Kanye West performed his religious number, "Jesus Walks," complete with church background and church-going folks, and went on to accept the Best Rap Album. Alicia Keys' sophomore album, "The Diary of Alicia Keys" won Best R&B Album, while Greenday took home the Best Rock Album GRAMMY. U2 even won Best Rock Performance for that Apple iPod commercial song, "Vertigo."
There were some interesting performances and some that were major mistakes. Joss Stone and a bald Melissa Etheridge almost pulled off a Janis Joplin number, while an awful bedroom musical scene was recreated by Jennifer Lopez and hubby Marc Anthony. Alicia Keys and Jamie Foxx (see photo) in a duet were entertaining. Queen Latifah wasn't bad starring as herself, Dana Owens, in a jazz number, and did okay as host to the 2005 GRAMMY Awards. Look for an SNL-spoof this upcoming week based on last night's cover of the Beatles' number "Across the Universe" with Bono, Steven Tyler, Brian Wilson, and others. And hey y'all, let's give it up for Britney Spears for winning her first grammy for "Toxic"as Best Dance Recording. Kevin Federline must be so proud!

Photo courtesy of Wire Image/People Magazine