Grammy Awards: Rants and Raves

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Tonight awards season continued with the 55th annual Grammy Awards hosted by the eternally youthful and handsome LL Cool J. I forgot that he hosted last year and I really forgot that Whitney Houston passed away that night.

During his introduction did you notice that Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel were seated next to Beyonce? And that Rihanna was sitting with Chris Brown?

The show opened with Taylor Swift performing "We are never getting back together." I have to say, that song annoys me. I much prefer "Trouble." The theme of her set seemed to be Victorian carnival.

Next, Ed Sheeran and Elton John joined forces to sing "The A Team". I wish it had been a mash up! Maybe a segway into "Benny and the Jets."

J.Lo and Pitbull came out next to present the award for Best Pop Solo Performance. J.Lo, that is way too much leg! Don't you know Angelina already did the one leg thing?

The award from J.Lo's leg is handed to Adele for "Set Fire to the Rain." Adele isn't wearing black! This may be a first!

Next to take the stage was Fun, who is nominated in every category. Their performance includes a dramatic, simulated rain fall.

I then fast forwarded through the Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley performance. Country music gives me a tick.

The award for Best Country Solo Performance goes to Carrie Underwood for "Blown Away."

Power couple Faith Hill and Tim McGraw present the Song of the Year trophy to Fun for "We are young." Did you see Lena Dunham, radiant in canary yellow? She's dating one of the band members!

Unexpectedly Johnny Depp appears to introduce Mumford and Sons. It is simply impossible not to love "I will wait." Did you catch Taylor Swift loudly singing along during the performance?

Beyonce and Ellen DeGeneres introducing Justin Timberlake? Pure joy.

I really wish I liked the new JT song "Suit and Tie" but it just isn't doing it for me. Not even a performance in black and white or a Jay-Z cameo could save it.

Kelly Rowland, in a very revealing dress, and Nas, clearly high, present Frank Ocean with the award for Best Urban Contemporary Album. I have not heard one note of Channel Orange, but I've been reading that Ocean is amazing.

Next, the Black Keys win Best Rock Performance for "Lonely Boy."

I am obsessed with the Alicia Keys and Adam Levine mash up of "Daylight" and "Girl on Fire." How amazing was that? They made completely seamless transitions from song to song, their voices sounded incredible together and I loved Alicia drumming while she belted it out! This is why I watch the Grammys!

I did a victory dance when Kelly Clarkson won for Best Pop Vocal Album! I love that girl. I adored her even more when she made this confession during her speech, "Miguel, I don't know who the hell you are, but we need to sing together. I mean, good God, that was the sexiest damn thing I've ever seen. What?"

I was completely underwhelmed by the Rihanna performance.

The award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration went to "No Church in the Wild," Jay-Z and Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean and The Dream. I love this song and it's currently the soundtrack to the trailer for the upcoming "Great Gatsby" movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Carrie Mulligan.

A standing ovation for the Black Keys performance from the audience. Moments later Kelly Clarkson (in a new outfit) takes the stage to pay tribute to two of the lifetime achievement nominees. Another standing ovation! From the stage, Kelly presents the award for Best Country Album to the Zac Brown Band.

The entire theater rises to their feet for a Bob Marley tribute lead by Bruno Mars and Sting. Does Bruno have the best band and dancers or what? The whole room was singing along including Taylor Swift, Neil Patrick Harris, Adele and Keith Urban.

Sting kicks it to Rihanna and Ziggy Marley who keep the great vibe going, bringing Chris Brown and Ellen DeGeneres to their dancing feet.  I am pretty sure nothing else can top this.

The poor Lumineers! Who wants to follow the Bob Marley tribute?

Jack White scares me.

Katy Perry graces the stage in a sea foam green gown and hands the Best New Artist gold to Fun.

Country singer Hunter Hayes croons from behind a baby grand piano to introduce Carrie Underwood. Carrie is wearing a dress that could rival any wedding gown as she absolutely slays it. And it turns out her dress is a lighting prop! I did not see that coming. Very creative.

Surprise, surprise, Prince saunters out to present the award for Record of the Year. The prize goes to "Somebody that I used to know" by Gotye featuring Kimbra. What on earth is Kimbra wearing?

Juanes, who was very popular when I lived in Spain, comes out to sing Elton John's "Your song." He then introduces Frank Ocean. As I said earlier, Frank has been getting a lot of praise from critics since the nominations were announced, but I wasn't impressed with this performance of "Forrest Gump."

Adele, my favorite, comes to the mic to announce the winner of Album of the Year. She begins by saying, "Most artists who win album of the year tend to go on to have even more phenomenal global success, embark on humungous tours, or get knocked up like last year's winner." Ha!

And the trophy goes to Mumford and Sons!

LL Cool J himself closes the show! I was secretly hoping he'd do "Mama said knock you out."

And there you have it, the 2013 Grammy Awards. Without question the two highlights of the night were the Alicia Keys and Adam Levine duet and the Bob Marley tribute. Do you agree?

*Images courtesy of Access Hollywood, E Online and Just Jared.