Swift wins Grammy best album; Beyonce wins 6

LOS ANGELES: Beyonce became the most decorated female on a Grammy night as she collected six trophies, including song of the year for her anthem Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It), but it was another diva - Taylor Swift - who nabbed the top honor, album of the year, for her best-selling Fearless.

Swift, who won a total of four awards, jumped around like the 20-year-old kid that she is when she beat out Beyonce, the Dave Matthews Band, Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas for the honor.

"Oh wow - thank you so much! I just hope that you know how much this means to me.... that we get to take this back to Nashville," said Swift, whose Fearless was last year's best-selling album of any genre.

"Oh my God, our families are freaking out in their living rooms," she added. "My dad and my little brother are losing their minds in the living room right now."

Although Beyonce also lost out on record of the year, which went to the Kings of Leon's Use Somebody, the entertainer still owned the most awards of the evening.

In 2004, Beyonce won five Grammys on the strength of her debut album Dangerously in Love - a mark tied by Alicia Keys, Norah Jones and Lauryn Hill, Amy Winehouse and Alison Krauss. She reached that milestone again on Sunday night en route to the new record. She is the first to reach that mark twice.

She shared the song of the year trophy with three writers for Single Ladies and also won best R&B contemporary album for I Am ... Sasha Fierce.

"This has been such an amazing night for me and I'd love to thank the Grammys," Beyonce said after winning best female pop vocal for Halo.

The Kings of Leon were a bit more entertaining when they picked up their record of the year trophy, the family quartet's third of the night.

"I'm not going to lie, we're all a little drunk. But we're happy drunks," said lead singer Caleb Followill.

Lady Gaga won two Grammys during the pre-telecast ceremony but didn't get a chance to show her multitude of outrageous dresses during the primetime show, losing out on record, song and album of the year. But she made her presence felt when she kicked off the night with a sequined green leotard with massive shoulders as she sang her Grammy-nominated hit Poker Face, then brought out Elton John as they melded her song Speechless and his classic Your Song together in a performance that featured dueling pianos, and glitter-painted faces.

Swift, who was second to Beyonce in Grammy nominations with eight nods, also won best country album among her other awards. The victory capped an amazing run for Swift, whose Fearless is only her second album. Her self-titled debut was a platinum success but Fearless, with songs like You Belong With Me, took her into the superstar stratosphere, as she won accolades across genres.

Another country act to take a top award was the Zac Brown Band, which won best new artist.

The Black Eyed Peas also had three trophies, as well as Jay-Z, who won for best rap solo performance and two awards for Run This Town with Rihanna and Kanye West.

Rihanna, who was forced to bow out of last year's awards as a performer after being assaulted by then-boyfriend Chris Brown, accepted the trophy along with Jay-Z and with Beyonce's young nephew in tow. West - who has kept a relatively low profile since his dustup with Swift a few months back - was a notable no-show.

Maxwell, up for six awards, also won his first Grammys - best R&B male vocal for the ballad Pretty Wings and best R&B album for BLACKsummers' night. The album marked the R&B crooner's return after an absence of eight years from the music business.

Many participants in the program wore red cross buttons in support of Haiti earthquake relief. Mary J. Blige joined Andrea Bocelli in a rousing rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water, which was not only designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the song's big Grammy wins, but to raise money for the people in Haiti. The performance, introduced by Haitian native Wyclef Jean, will be available via iTunes.com/target, with the funds going to earthquake relief.

3-D tribute to Michael Jackson

The show also included a special 3-D tribute to Michael Jackson featuring a video clip he made of Earth Song as Usher, Carrie Underwood, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson sang along.

Jackson's young children, Prince and Paris, accepted a lifetime achievement award for their late father. "Through all his songs his message was simple, love. We will continue to spread his message and help the world," Prince said.

Actor and comedian Steve Martin, who will be presenting the Oscars next month, saw an awards ceremony from the winner's side at the Grammys, taking the award for best bluegrass album for The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo.

In a tribute to the late guitar legend Les Paul, British guitarist Jeff Beck and Irish singer Imelda May performed Paul's How High the Moon.

Beck won the best rock instrumental performance award, while English rockers Judas Priest won for best metal performance. British singer-songwriter Imogen Heap won an engineering award for her album Ellipse.

French rock band Phoenix won best alternative music album for Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.

AP

(China Daily 02/02/2010 page10)