by Wilfred Okiche

The 2012 Grammy awards were held over the weekend at the staple Centre. We watched the whole telecast live and as with any awards ceremony, there were winners as well as losers. We bring you our list of the night’s winners and losers- in no particular order.

Adele

Of course. The English belle won in all the categories she was eligible for and emerged the night’s big winners with 6 trophies including the trifecta of song, record and album of the year.  Those who watched solely to hear if she sounds as good as the hype were pleasantly rewarded when she belted out the chorus of her monster single, ‘Rolling in the deep.’ And she has such a bubbly personality too; we thought she’d be all gloom and doom.

Whitney Houston

The late diva’s death earlier on Saturday had cast a huge pall on the ceremonies but as it turned out, did not overshadow the event. The night began with host LL Cool J, announcing, ‘There’s no way around this, there’s been a death in the family.’’ He went on to say a quick prayer for her and some footage of her earlier Grammy performance was played to a standing ovation. The tribute would climax with vocal powerhouse Jennifer Hudson giving a touching, effective send up performance of ‘I will always love you’ and just as she said at the end, we’ll always love you, Whitney.

LL Cool J

The Grammys have not had a host in 7 years and so could you blame us if we took extra interest in rap icon LL Cool J’s hosting skills. Glad to report that he represented himself very will. Could he be making it back next year?

The Foo Fighters

Had a great night, winning five trophies and performing two of their huge hits. They may have lost to Adele in the major categories, (frankly who didn’t?) but they showed just why they deserve every trophy they collected. We are having ‘Walk’ on replay right now.

Sir Paul McCartney

Frankly, we did not care much for his first performance but when he came up for the curtain closer playing a medley of Beatles oldies and was joined by Bruce Springsteen and David Grohl of the Foo Fighters, we felt we were in Guitar heaven. Only the Grammys can deliver moments like this.

Taylor Swift

She won album of the year last two years and was criticized for not being a very good singer following a shaky performance. Being Taylor Swift she went and wrote a song about it and the said song, ‘Mean’ became a huge hit, netting her two Grammys. Her performance of ‘Mean’ was more confident and had a certain bite to it. Lesson learned: stop talking trash about Taylor Swift, it only makes her more successful.

Bon Iver

Yes we know, Bon who? The alternative band upset Nicki Minaj for the best new artiste gong (but we knew there was no way Nicki would win) and the lead singer delivered an endearing, confused sppech which was one of the most genuine moments of the night.

Chris Brown

Frankly we are not sure where to place him as his performances weren’t all that but you have to give it to him, the fact that all seems to be forgiven. He won a trophy for best R&B album (we have our reservations)and made an effective return to the industry’s good books so we say win-win for him.

Losers

Nicki Minaj

Forget what she was wearing and the fact that she lost best new artiste (no one but the Young Money crew really expected her to win anyway.) On second thought, don’t forget what she wore, what was that anyway? Her bizarre red riding nun habit was matched only by the scandalous performance of her new single ‘Roman holiday.’ She was handed rap music’s biggest chance to shine but her overlong, overstuffed performance left us thoroughly bewildered. It wasn’t bad, don’t get us wrong, it was just something she should have saved for her tour schedule, not the Grammys stage or better still a misfire she should have left for Lady Gaga- or Christina Aguilera on a bad day.

Rihanna

The Barbados born pop tart proved one thing, her dancing has improved dramatically. Asides from that and the fact that she ruined an otherwise excellent Coldplay performance, she wasn’t all that noticeable. The opening notes of her ‘We found love’ single were music to only a tone deaf person’s ears and she slummed through an acoustic rendition of the duet ‘Princess of China’ with Chris Martin. Thankfully she was soon off the stage and gave way for Martin and his band to what they do best. Ah! Paradise.

Bruno Mars

He may have given one of the night’s most lauded performances but it does not change the fact that the 6 time nominee was the night’s biggest loser. He lost in all his categories, most times to Adele and reminded us of India Arie some years back. Now let us wait for his reply song.

Lady Gaga

For a singer so ubiquitous, Lady Gaga’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-her moment this year was surprising to say the least. Bereft of further ‘groundbreaking’ ideas, she chose to sit out the red carpet appearance and our first glimpse of her gave a whole new meaning to the term merry widow. Plus Nicki Minaj attempted to steal her thunder- to disastrous results we might add. But it is something last year’s Lady Gaga would never have stood for.

Katy Perry

With performances like the one she put up, Russell Brand should be in no hurry to take her back. All fireworks and no substance. Not like the videos.