Grammys 2009 a grand multigenerational show

The Jonas Brothers were as cute as can be when they performed their Burning Up and then Superstition with the great Stevie Wonder at the Grammy Awards show last Sunday evening, Feb. 8 and which we got to watch live on Star World, Monday morning. But can you think of anything cuter than a dashing and spirited Paul McCartney singing I Saw Her Standing There with Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl playing the drums.

Though now a sixty-something knight of the British Empire, Sir Paul had lost none of the huge audience appeal that captivated the whole world in the early ’60s. All of a sudden one wanted to tell the Jonases, this is what a pop idol is really like and to hope they would ditch the awards-giving and that McCartney would segue to Yeah, yeah, yeah, she loves you, yeah, yeah…

Of course he didn’t. He also lost out in the Male Pop Vocal category to Say by John Mayer. But McCartney, Stevie and the Jonas boys were the best examples of the multi-generational atmosphere that pervaded the 2009 Grammys. It was one fantastic bash where young stars, think sweet teens Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift in a duet of Fifteen  and pop icons like this year’s MusicCares awardee Neil Diamond contributing a happy sing along moment with Sweet Caroline  banded together for a spectacular musical in the music industry’s biggest night.

Therefore it was also most fitting that the top plums of the evening went to Robert Plant and Alison Kraus who beat Coldplay, Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo and Radiohead for the Album of the Year. The unlikely pairing of the Led Zeppelin frontman and the Bluegrass diva happened two years ago for the album Raising Sand.  Produced by the famous T-Bone Burnett, the CD mixed their diverse vocal styles in a line-up of country and folk classics. The results also won them Record of the Year for Please Read the Letter  and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocal for Rich Woman.

But while there were happy winners in Coldplay, Lil Wayne, Adele and others, the hero of the night was Justin Timberlake. Reports have it that when Rihanna cancelled her Grammy appearance a shocking half-hour before the show, JT, without any hesitation, agreed to step into the vacancy. Not only that he also brought the soul legend Al Green with him. Viewers never noticed the absence of the duo until they heard about an incident of domestic violence wherein charges were filed against Chris Brown.

Looks like it is now time for those two to backtrack and get their acts together. I do not know what has happened to Amy Winehouse, the Grammy sensation from two years ago. Is she now successfully detoxed? Seems like Whitney Houston is. She was a stunner in blue when she presented the Best R&B Album trophy to Jennifer Hudson. Also beautiful and elegant in gold was Natalie Cole, who won the Traditional Pop Vocal Album Grammy for Still Unforgettable.

But back to Jennifer. Remember, the Dream Girls star’s mother, brother and nephew were murdered last year and this was only her second public appearance. Her first was at the Superbowl. Watching her start her performance of You Pulled Me Through  from the shadows and then into the bright light with a Gospel choir was truly an inspiring moment.

Others that viewers now certainly treasure are Coldplay, all Brit and trendy with Viva La Vida; Katy Perry coming out of a banana for I Kissed a Girl; Smokey Robinson, Jamie Foxx, and Ne-Yo with Duke Fakir, the only surviving Four Tops member in a medley of the Motown group’s Reach Out I’ll Be There  and I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch); U2 and its new hit Sexy Boots; Radiohead with a rousing Fifteen Steps;  plus so many more that I am now wishing there would be lots of replays of the event.