The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards was held this past Sunday, Feb. 13 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Calif. Broadcast on CBS, the show was a drawn-out 3.5 hours of live performances, awkward presenters and the dozen or so of the 109 gramophones that are given out live.

The show began with LL Cool J introducing an Aretha Franklin tribute medley performed by Florence Welch, Jennifer Hudson, Yolanda Adams, Martina McBride and Christina Aguilera who recovered from her fumble of the National Anthem at last week’s Super Bowl XLV. After receiving a “Thank You” in a taped segment from the Queen of Soul who is still recovering from her recent hospitalization, the ladies announced the recipient of the Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals – Train. Their song, “Hey, Soul Sister” reached #1 on the Billboard Top 100 and is their first big single since “Calling All Angels” (2003). Lead singer Pat Monahan thanked Justin Bieber for not being nominated in their category, and also Howard Stern.

Ricky Martin then introduced Lady Gaga for a performance of her new single “Born This Way.” Gaga came onto the red carpet incubating in an egg carried on a chaise and did not emerge until her act that afterwards was criticized by some for its similarities to Madonna. Later in the night, Gaga won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album and thanked all her ‘Little Monsters’ and Whitney Houston.

There were many couple introductions the day before Valentine’s Day. Blake Shelton introduced his fiancé, Miranda Lambert, before her performance of “The House that Built Me” which she dedicated to “all of the great artists who have come before us, who set the stage for us to be here … right now.” She won for Best Female Country Vocal later in the evening. A more uncomfortable staging was between Jennifer Lopez and her husband Marc Antony when he started singing in their script before announcing Record of the Year.

Lenny Kravitz introduced Muse’s performance of “The Resistance” where their lighting had American and British currency on fire, vocalist Matthew Bellamy had a double neck guitar while an anarchic scene played out in front of the trio. Another performance turned win, this time for the U.K. group for Best Rock Album.

TV viewers experienced a different reality from inside the Staples Center when Ryan Seacrest introduced Bruno Mars, B.o.B. and Janelle Monae for their segment. Everyone could see B.o.B.’s monocle which he gave up on very quickly, but Bruno Mars introduced a soulful version of his single “Grenade” shown in black and white on CBS.

After that new artist mash up, we had a Justin Bieber, Usher and Jayden Smith show. At the end, Will Smith with a standing ovation and reading his lips, one could almost hear him say, “That’s my baby!” The following Mumford & Sons performance was one of the best by far. Bob Dylan joined the boys with a tired, raspy rendition that needed a throat lozenge, but we still clapped when he brought out the harmonica.

The Grammy’s tried to win over some sports fans when they paired Lea Michele (“Glee”) and Packers Quarterback Clay Matthews, announcing their announcing with the NFL song. Michele muddled her words with “Grammy wimmers” before presenting the overall winners for the evening, Lady Antebellum. The group from Nashville who performed “Need You Know” at last year’s Grammy’s took home five awards.

Jamie Foxx introduced Cee-Lo Green, the Muppets & Gwyneth Paltrow for a rendition of Green’s “Forget You.” Nicole Kidman was caught singing along to Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream.” Norah Jones, Keith Urban and John Mayer joined together for a tribute to Dolly Parton. Seth Rogen called out Miley Cyrus on her Salvia scandal. Half of Eminem’s performance was bleeped out. The Grammy for Best New Artist went to Esperanza Spalding.

The show finally started winding down with a poetic speech backed by the Grammy Jazz Ensemble. A quick “In Memorium” was done, with the focus on Solomon Burke, the King of Rock ‘n’ Soul. Mick Jagger appeared for the first time on the Grammy stage, in a cape and green jacket, to pay respects to the fallen king.

Eminem won Best Solo Rap Performance for “Not Afraid” and Arcade Fire closed the evening with their Album of the Year win for “The Suburbs.”

For more information, visit www.grammy.com.

Margaret Clayton can be reached at [email protected]