Ah, the Grammys, a night that everyone waits for. The anticipation of the award winners, the exciting performances, and the gorgeous dresses make the night memorable, and this year was no different.

Winning a Grammy is one of the biggest moments of an artist’s career. Several nominees were first-timers, such as Adele, who was up for four awards, including Best New Artist, which she won. Leading the pack of nominees was Coldplay, with seven nominations. Coldplay was predicted to win most of their awards but walked away with three, including Song of the Year for “Viva La Vida.”

The most surprising winners of the night were Allison Krauss and Robert Plant, who won Record of the
Year, Album of the Year, Best Pop Collaboration and Best Country Collaboration. Krauss and Plant beat out
tough competition in both categories, including Coldplay, Leona Lewis, Kenny Chesney, Justin Timberlake,
and Madonna.

This year at the Grammys, the performances were far from disappointing. Among the solo acts were U2, who opened the show with an explosive bang as they sang “Get Your Boots On.” Just in case there were problems understanding Bono’s booming voice, the lyrics flashed across the screen so attendees and viewers at home could sing along. Jennifer Hudson also chose to take the solo performance route, singing “You Pulled Me Through,” which warranted a standing ovation.

Almost all of the performances this year were collaborations. The Jonas Brothers and Stevie Wonder combined their respective hits “Burnin’ Up” and “Superstition” for a surprisingly entertaining performance. Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus joined together to sing an acoustic version of Swift’s song “Fifteen.” Estelle and Kanye West also came together to sing their hit song “American Boy.”

Furthermore, the most controversial performance of the night was the clash of “Paper Planes” and “Swagga Like Us,” sung by T.I., Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, and a very, very pregnant M.I.A. Although her due date was the day of the Grammy’s (Feb. M.I.A. still believed that the show must go on! M.I.A. played it awfully close, because her baby boy was born on Feb. 11.

Being that the Grammy’s is such a big show, all of the performances were rehearsed over and over again. This was the case for all of the performances of the night except for one. Al Green, Boyz II Men, Justin Timberlake and Keith Urban all worked together to perform Green’s smash hit “Let’s Stay Together.” The men only had a mere two hours to pull the entire performance together — not that anyone could tell, because it was spectacular.

The reason for the quickly arranged performance was due to the sudden absence of Rihanna and Chris Brown. In what once was a mystery of their absence has now uncovered a shocking story. At press time, Brown’s alleged assault on Rihanna is still under investigation, with several different reports and rumors floating around. The one thing that is for sure is that Rihanna was the victim in a brutal act of violence.

Even though the heartbreaking and disturbing event revolving around Brown and Rihanna was the main focus surrounding the Grammy’s, the show itself is something to be remembered. While our country is facing a time of crisis and change, the show proved that going out of someone’s comfort zone and bringing opposites together, like artists from complete different genres of music and making something sound so wonderful, shows just how beautiful change can be.