Drama and music go together at Grammys like a movie soundtrack
By Jeffrey Jolson

Plant and Krauss - Odd couples make best ones

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Today) 2/8/09 – It was a strange night at Grammys 2009. The odd couple of Led Zepper Robert Plant and bluegrass princess Alison Krauss may have sounded weird at first, but their partnership “Raising Sand” won five Grammys including album and record of the year.
The big legal news wasn’t the anticipation of guitarist Joe Satriani serving Coldplay right there with a summons for claiming “Viva La Vida” was a copy of his material – and went on to win two of Coldplay’s three Grammys. We did not see process papers served.
Teen nominee Chris Brown was arrested on assault charges as the show was going on for felony assault on an unidentified female, now believed by some sources to be fellow nominee and girlfriend Rihanna, the night before in ritzy Hancock Park.
He was held on $50,000 bail and released, so did not show for his scheduled performances, nor did his g.f. Rihanna, also scheduled for a separate song.
But if you say at the Grammy Awards “Is there a performer in the house?,” every hand goes up. Justin Timberlake, Al Green, Keith Urban and Boyz II Men apparently waved their hands and filled in the missing timeslots. No mention was made of Brown onstage.
According to the police report, Brown and a woman were in a vehicle in Hancock Park when they began to argue around 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Brown stopped the car and both got out, whereupon the argument escalated, the report said.
The woman, who had visible injuries when police arrived, identified Brown as her attacker, but he had left the scene, the report said. Los Angeles police officer Karen Smith told AP Brown walked into a station around 7 p.m. and was being interviewed by detectives.
Another drama was the appearance of Oscar and now Grammy winner Jennifer Hudson, who has been in seclusion for four months since the grisly murders in Chicago of her mother, brother and nephew. She was teary during her performance and comment “I first would like to thank God who has brought me through. I would like to thank my family in heaven and those who are with me today.”
Hudson performed “You Pulled Me Through,” about overcoming deep despair. It lyrics included  “When I was drowning, when I was so confused, you, you pulled me through.” As she sang the last note, she looked directly into the camera and dissolved into tears once again.
Top nominee Lil Wayne with eight chances came through with four wins, including rap album of the year.
Plant said “Please Read The Letter” was “an old song that me and Jimmy Page wrote together post Led Zeppelin, and it’s been given that Nashville touch, and it feels pretty good.”

The pair had already won a Grammy last year for “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)” from the same album, bringing their total “Raising Sand” total to six.
The Grammy telecast was filled with great and not-so-great collaborations, from Radiohead’s collaboration with a college marching band to a televised black-and-white 50s re-hatch from Jay-Z, T.I., Lil Wayne and Kanye West, looking like the Temptations in their prime — though they never had an extremely pregnant singer like M.I.A. in their act as there was Sunday night.
“We’ve never had so many Grammys in our life,” said Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, who forgot they had already won four over the years. Maybe he had forgotten he had heard the Satriani song before and it had stuck in his head, like the old “Maverick” theme has inexpiably stuck in my mind.
But like the line in that old poker champ song, Martin didn’t come there to lose. He added “We feel so grateful to be here. I’m going to tear up.”
British singer Adele was also teary, as she beat hearthobs Jonas Brothers, Lady Antebellum, Jazmine Sullivan and fellow Brit singer Duffy to nab best new artist. She also grabbed the statue best female pop vocal. Not too shabby for a first album.
“Thank you so much. I’m going to cry. I want to thank my manager, my mom, she’s in London. And Duffy I love you. I think you’re amazing. Jonas Brothers, I love you as well,” she said, saying the last part with a devilish look, eliciting laughter.

The best thing about the night was the performaces, like Paul McCartney singing “I saw her Standing There” but for all that see related Hollywood Today story.