Grammys 2012: Best & Worst

The sudden death of Whitney Houston cast a pall over the pre-Grammy festivities, but it did give the red carpet show a sense of purpose. As co-hosts Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic asked star after star to share their thoughts on Houston, the standard red carpet blather gave way to heartfelt remembrances of singers who had actually worked closely with Houston in the past, including former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland, R&B singer Kelly Price and even “American Idol” music director Rickey Minor.  (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)

Fresh from the Super Bowl and being overshadowed by both Madonna and M.I.A., Nicki Minaj appeared determined to turn heads with her Grammy date. And she certainly succeeded with her oversized Red Riding Hood get-up and Pope-ish arm candy. As the red carpet commentators pointed out, Minaj’s arrival was the “egg” moment of 2012 (referring to Gaga’s much discussed arrival last year).  (Chris Pizzello / Associated Press)

Much has been made of Taylor Swift’s effusive facial expressions upon winning awards in televised awards casts. No matter how great or small the award, Swift appears completely blown away. But when she picked up a Grammy for country solo performance during the pre-show, with no national network covering the proceedings live, she showed that she doesn’t need a national audience to appear shocked -- shocked!  (Matt Sayles / Associated Press)

Before he did anything else, host LL Cool J addressed the crowd about the death of Whitney Houston. “We’ve had a death in our family, and so at least for me, for me, the only thing that feels right is to begin with a prayer,” he said. And then he read a prayer in honor of the late singer: “Heavenly Father, we thank you for sharing Whitney Houston with us,” he read. Then he introduced a clip of Houston performing “I Will Always Love You” at the Grammys to a standing ovation. It’s hard to handle tragedy in the face of a big celebration, but LL Cool J handled it with ease.  (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

Early on in the proceedings, the performers all made mention of music’s recent losses. Bruno Mars, above, honored Whitney Houston while Bonnie Raitt and Alicia Keys paid musical tribute to Etta James. Stevie Wonder also paid tribute to Whitney, while Common took a moment to commemorate Gil Scott-Heron. Later on, Jennifer Hudson sang a tribute to Whitney Houston and LL Cool J and Questlove paid their respects to “Soul Train” host Don Cornelius.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

As the first major winner of the night, Adele picked up the Grammy for pop solo performance and smartly thanked the most important people in her career at this moment: “I need to thank my doctors, I suppose, who brought my voice back.” Further demonstrating her smarts, she revealed that she knew exactly what she had when she first conceived the song “Someone Like You”: “My life changed when I wrote this song. I felt it before anyone had even heard it.”  (Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images)

Three years ago, Chris Brown was arrested by police in connection with the assault of girlfriend Rihanna on the eve of the Grammy Awards. His music was dropped by radio stations and his image was seemingly tarnished forever. This year, he was back at the Grammys, hopping around a Q*bert-style stage and performing “Turn Up the Music.” Though fan chatter online was not thrilled with his appearance, the crowd inside Staples certainly didn’t sit on their hands. Later, he picked up a Grammy for best R&B album.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“NCIS’” Pauley Perrette joined the New York Giants’ receivers Victor Cruz and Mario Manningham on stage to hand out the award for rock performance. But first, Perrette made Cruz show off his musical skill by dancing a little salsa on stage. It wasn’t enough that the poor guy just won the Super Bowl, he had to dance. Without musical accompaniment.  (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

The Foo Fighters have won 11 Grammys since 2000, including one for rock performance. Minutes before they took the stage to win, they were wearing ratty T-shirts during an outside performance. Then they were inside, winning -- and wearing blazers over their T-shirts. Are blazers the secret to Grammy longevity? Probably not, but at least their mothers are probably happy with them now.  (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

In the build-up to the Beach Boys reunion performance, Maroon 5 and Foster the People each tackled a classic Beach Boys tune. But poor Mark Foster of Foster the People looked half scared-to-death as he sang “Wouldn’t it Be Nice.” Luckily, he didn’t appear to forget any of the words.  (Matt Sayles / Associated Press)

Outside of the historic importance of the Beach Boys reuniting for their 50th anniversary, the reality of their reunion was slightly underwhelming to modern Grammy fans conditioned to big, pepped-up performances. Singer Mike Love, bedecked in Beach Boys merchandise, did his best to amaze the kids with some kind of magic business with his fingers while singing “Good Vibrations” and Brian Wilson sounded decent, but it was apparent the old Beach Boys magic was just that -- old.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

“She can shoot fireworks out of her boobs. Come on ladies, we’ve all tried,” Kate Beckinsale said as she introduced Katy Perry. But it wasn’t the goofy, poppy Katy Perry that the Grammys got this year. This was the angry, post-divorce Katy Perry with a score to settle, and it was apparent to everyone to whom she was singing “Part of Me.” With lines like “You can keep the diamond ring, it don’t mean anything,” the singer in her angry anime girl outfit of skin-tight costume and crimped blue hair was obviously sending a message to Russell Brand. With the outline of a man in ice and lots of fire around, it’s a safe bet that if voodoo magic really worked, Brand would be feeling the heat tonight.  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Adele has been through a lot with the surgery and recovery to save her amazingly powerful voice. Her first big public post-surgery performance was set for the Grammys. And no one did a thing to downplay expectations leading up to her moment. Luckily, Adele was prepared and knocked it out of the park with her lush rendition of “Rolling in the Deep.” And it was apparent the love was felt deeply in the room as she received one of the longest standing ovations of the evening when she was finished.  (Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images)

Glen Campbell may be battling Alzheimer’s, but he showed the Grammy telecast’s other performers how to do it with his rousing, lively performance of “Rhinestone Cowboy.” He strutted across the stage, he let the crowd participate in the song and he seemed to be having a grand old time with backup performers the Band Perry and Blake Shelton. Unfortunately, a sad reminder of reality sneaked in at the end of the performance as Campbell’s hot mic picked up the confused singer wondering aloud, “Where do I go? Do I go somewhere?”  (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon awkwardly picked up the Grammy for new artist and immediately told the crowd, “I’m a little uncomfortable up here.” And he was, with a long, rambling speech that certainly had the crowd shifting in its seats, praying for the music to play him off the stage -- which it finally did.  (Kevin Winter / Getty Images)

The “In Memoriam” segment of any awards show is a touching and emotional moment, but this year’s Grammys became more emotional by a factor of 10 with the death of Whitney Houston on Saturday. To close out the clips of every music person who passed in the previous year, Jennifer Hudson appeared on stage to perform Houston’s biggest hit, “I Will Always Love You.” A visibly emotional Hudson appeared to fight back tears as she sang and even changed the lyrics at the end to sing, “Whitney, we love you.” A more touching memorial would be impossible to conceive.  (Matt Sayles / Associated Press)

... but maybe she should have put some of those stops back in. Her performance of “Roman Holiday” was preceded by a short parody of “The Exorcist.” But it didn’t end there. The performance, drenched in Catholic imagery, featured flames, exorcists and a levitating Nicki Minaj. It also featured a bit of a Christmas carol and writhing creatures in nylon bodysuits. At least Audrey Hepburn wasn’t there to witness it.  (Robyn Beck / AFP / Getty Images)