2010 GRAMMY AWARDS [REVIEW]

On Sunday, January 31st, what is hailed as music's biggest night, took place in Los Angeles with the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.

With Beyonce Knowles snagging a record-breaking six awards and Taylor Swift scoring four awards including 'Album of the Year', which made her the youngest female artist to ever take home the honor.

As a result of these somewhat questionable honors, numerous questions have been raised that the Grammys are ignoring their normal recognition of quality for popularity and a desperate ploy to boast their ratings.

QUESTIONABLE WINS:

Throughout their52 year history, the award for 'Song of the Year' had previously only been awarded to two R&B songs, which were Alicia Keys for "Fallin" and Luther Vandross for "Dance With My Father". Taking nothing away from the success of "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)", it's easy to see that it does match the legacy of the award, which honors the best in songwriting.

If it had won the award for 'Record of the Year', well then that would be another story, but ignoring more superior offerings, such as "Pretty Wings" and "Use Somebody", raises more than one eyebrow. Even Knowles' win for 'Best Female R&B Vocal Performance' over the competing four ladies that undoubtedly unleashed better vocal outings on their nominated songs, proves that the once prestigious honor is relying more on popularity.

That said, Knowles did collect trophies for 'Best Contemporary R&B Album' and 'Best Female Pop Vocal Performance', for 'I Am... Sasha Fierce' and "Halo" respectively, that were more than deserved given her competition.

The second big winner of the night Taylor Swift also proved that her popularity played a large part in her winnings, but the one that causes concern is not her win for 'Album of the Year', which was expected given the critical reception of the effort, but more so her win over Carrie Underwood for 'Best Female Country Vocal Performance'.

If the win alone was unjustifiable, watching their performances of the night, shined more light on the fact that Swift should not be winning anything with the term 'vocal' in its description.

That said, the night did have its moments of glory with Lady GaGa and Maxwell each taking home a pair of well deserved trophies, and Prince and Paris Jackson accepting a trophy on behalf of their late father, Michael Jackson.

BEST OF THE NIGHT:

Kicking off the show on a high note, Lady GaGa delivered a performance of "Poker Face" that was full of all her usual craziness, before toning it down with a vocally appeasing duet of "Speechless" with Elton John.

While it was obvious not what most fans expected, the tribute to Michael Jackson, showcased what he as a person was most passionate about, which was preserving the beauty of life and the world. Celine Dion, Usher, Smokey Robinson and Jennifer Hudson all collectively blend, but it was Carrie Underwood who rose as leader of the pack, further cementing her position as one of the best female vocalists in the industry.

Last but never least, Pink with her performance of "Glitter in the Air". While the song itself was quite a bore, you have to give the songstress credit for being suspended in the air and still delivering a vocal performance that was second to none. To put it simply, it was the definition of amazing.

DISAPPOINTING:

It's hard not to be a little disappointed that Beyonce completely avoided her nominated songs, instead opting for a performance of "If I Were A Boy" and Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know", which we had already previously seen her do on her tour. That said, even on her worst day, the songstress still manages to outshine most of the other female performers.

WORST OF THE NIGHT:

Country starlet Taylor Swift, who failed to hit a single in-tune note during her medley of "Today Was A Fairytale", "You Belong to Me" and the Stevie Nicks-assisted "Rhiannon", and R&B crooner Maxwell, who deliver one of his worst vocal outings to date (in his defense, he was clearly under the weather, which is more than can be said for Taylor).