Should be any moment now…

8:01 Nice montage to Aretha Franklin. Good to see this isn’t all about Justin Bieber.

8:01 LL Cool J! He’s famous for something I’m sure.

8:02 Christina Aguilera, Yolanda Adams, Florence, Jennifer Hudson and Martina McBride. This is an interesting group to say the least…

8:03 Not sure who’s worst so far, Christina Aguilera or Martina McBridge. Aguilera is just having some bad weeks here, with the Super Bowl not too long ago…

8:05 That was all Christina; why were the others even there? And man, is she washed up.

8:08 Florence was Ok at least, but that’s the only one so far who hasn’t tarnished Aretha’s music…Jennifer Hudson should be good right?

8:10 Guess not.

8:11 Looks like Yolanda Adams, the one I had not heard of, did the best job. That’s not saying much though. This tribute doesn’t feel very tributary, and I’m not moved, just bored already.

Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group: “Hey Soul Sister” by Train

Not surprising right? This was a massive hit…14 months ago.

8:14 Aretha is looking good, if not a little thin.

8:22 Ricky Martin! It is 1999, I was feeling that vibe.

8:24 Lady Gaga performs her new single “Born this Way.” I’m curious if she’s singing live, cuz it sounds good. But I highly doubt it. The song is terrible, and an obvious attempt to cater controversy and the gay crowd. When will her five minutes be up?

8:30 A half hour in and they’ve given out one award. I hope I can make it through the whole show.

8:34 Miranda Lambert performs “The House that Built Us;” and she’s introduced by her husband, whos name I do not know.

8:35 As my roommate just pointed out, Lambert’s looking pretty darn pregnant. Is that official? I mean those boobs are fighting for attention with that baby bulge.

8:37 As my colleague just tweeted–Lambert’s engaged to Blake Shelton. In other news, we’re 0 for 3 tonight; these performances have been very lackluster, and Lambert’s yet to find a steady key. Shame, sounds like a song I’d like too.

8:39 Four-time Grammy winner Lenny Kravitz comes out…to introduce Muse. Still only one award in the first hour. What the heck Grammys?

8:41 I like Muse, but I do not like this. What’s with the Grammys this year; theyre making me a negative nancy! They need to stop with constant performances and get to giving some awards.

8:45 What’s funny is that the shameless promotion of HP’s new tablet WebOS looked exactly like an iPad, and probably confused a lot of people.

8:49 Good, I was afraid this show wouldn’t have much credibility, but now Ryan Seacrest is on! And he’s introducing Bruno Mars, Janelle Monae  and B.o.B.

8:50 Oh here we go; “Nothin’ on You,” finally a good performance.

8:56 Good segue to “Grenade,” but not a great job. I’m not sure who Janelle Monae is, but her and Bruno Mars are rocking the same outfit. And they started playing Janelle’s “Cold War”….and she dived into the audience!

8:57 I guess they’re going fast to make sure TWO awards are handed out in the first hour. Dierks Bentley and Zac Brown are presenting Best Female Vocal Country Performance.

Best Female Vocal Country Performance: “The House that Built Me” Miranda Lambert

9:01 I guess the votes were in before she performed live.

9:05 Eva Longoria is introducing Justin Bieber. I guess it makes sense that she’s here. How bout shameless “Never Say Never” promotion?

9:06 Great! An acoustic “Baby” performance! 13-year old girls everywhere are sobbing uncontrollably at the television. And here comes “Never Say Never.” Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith look so happy observing their little boy Jaden Smith performing with J. Bieber!

9:11 So it’s clear that from Bieber’s vocals he was lip-syncing. It’s clear from Usher’s pitchy performance that he is not. Their “OMG” performance was great! Teamwork! Biber was smiling and Usher looked very serious afterward.

9:13 Paramore and Pauly Parrett are here to introduce Best Rock Album.

Best Rock Album: “The Resistance” by Muse

9:14 Must be great luck to perform tonight, cuz performers are cleaning up.

Pop Vocal Album: “The Fame Monster” by Lady Gaga

9:23 Aww, Gaga with sunglasses is very emotional. Sounds like she is crying but she wears sunglasses so who knows?

9:29 Some folk groove is going onstage, which was introduced by David Letterman.

9:30 And…Bob Dylan came out. Legend. Mumford & Sons and Avett Brothers are totally having a blast altogether. They are playing “Maggie’s Farm.” Classic!

9:33 Did you get to see J.Lo’s jacket while she was clapping her hands? It was sparkling! I want it!

9:40 “Glee” star Leah Michele and Green Bay Packers-owned Clay Matthews introduce Lady Antebellum.

9:44 Miley Cyrus and Kings of Leon are presenting Best Country Album. They emphasize they are from Tennessee.

Best Country Album: “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum

9:47 Jamie Foxx is introducing Cee-Lo Green’s “F— You” performance! Woohoo!!

9:49 Gwyneth Paltrow just joined Cee-Lo Green. Why are there muppets onstage? Looks fun.

9:51 Every time they say Mick Jegger is going to perform, am I the only one who pay attention to Charlie Watts hitting the drums behind Mick? Great drummer…

10:00 Katy Perry is shining onstage after being introduced by Neil Patrick Harris. As a Valentine’s day gift, she is giving us “Teenage Dream.” What a wonderful gift. Even Nicole Kidman in the audience is enjoying it.

10:02 Norah Jones, John Mayer, and Keith Urban are performing. John is staring at something when singing. Can anyone let me know what it is? They are now presenting Song of the Year.

Song of the Year: “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum

10:13 Seth Rogen introduced Rihanna, Eminem, and Dr.Dre. RiRi started “Love the Way You Lie (Part 2)”

10:15 Eminem joined her. Em, it’s burning behind you onstage. Um, wait, he is on fire too. We can see his the veins and blood vessels.

10:17 They switched into “I Need a Doctor.” Em has been very powerful with his eyes widely open. Kind of terrifying.

10:18 Dr.Dre joined them!!!!!! People went crazy.They are giving a standing ovation to Dr.Dre (, Em, and RiRi too)

10:20 Jewel and John Legend are presenting Best New Artist. John Legend is looking sharp.

Best New Artist: Esperaza Spalding

Pop sensation JB couldn’t win but we should give him credit for his “OMG” performance with Usher tonight. It was THAT great!

10:28 “Glee” actor Matthew Morrison introduces NARAS president Neil Portnow and we are learning what the organization usually does,,, or something like that. The Grammy Jazz Ensemble and the Grammy Camp Band are now being introduced.

10:35 HERE WE GO. Even as a tribute to soul star Solomon Burke, Mick Jagger is killing it. He is completely dominating the Grammys. It’s definitely the best performance tonight. He is full of energy and so youthful. Can you believe he is 68? Can you? He is constantly moving around the stage.  That’s the music we totally enjoyed when we were little, right? Well, for me, it is.

10:46 Kris Kristofferson introduces Barbra Streisand’s “Evergreen” performance.

10:50 Nicki Minaj and will.i.am (“Check It Out” combination!) are presenting Best Rap Album. Nicki’s black/white hair is very,,,,gigantic,,, but she looks very beautiful.

Best Rap Album: “Recovery” by Eminem

Eminem’s acceptance speech shows his full confidence. It’s surprising Jay-Z couldn’t win.

10:59 P. Diddy is introducing Rihanna and Drake. Whenever Rihanna performs onstage tonight, it’s burning there.  Drake is closer to the fire. Hang in there, man!

11:01 Where is Drake? Anyway, Rihanna is so sexy! Their performance is done,,,where is Drake? Where did he go?

11:02 J.Lo and Marc Anthony are presenting Record of the Year. Why am I thinking of American Idol right now? Anyone else??

Record of the Year: “Need You Now” by Lady Antebellum

Wow, they have been winning a lot. Like, for real.

11:12 Jason Segel is introducing Arcade Fire’s performance. The stage lighting is insanely too much.

11:13 A few people are biking onstage? Distracting or entertaining? Intense lighting is still going on.

11:14 They are still biking. Still the intense light.

11:19 Are your eyes okay? I’m crying. My eyes got hurt. My glasses are crying too. I hope you guys are doing alright. The award for Album of the Year is still left tonight! Let’s go!

11:22 Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson are presenting Album of the Year. Ummmm, who is winning….

Album of the Year: “The Suburbs” by Arcade Fire

11:24 Arcade Fire is performing again. They just won the award over Lady Gaga, Eminem, and Katy Perry! That’s quite an achievement. Congratulations but please no bicycles and intense light this time.

11:26 They are rocking out!

DONE.

Thanks so much for checking out the Blast Grammy live-blog! Have an entertaining week!!

Jason Woods of the Blast staff contributed to this report.

About The Author

Eiko Watanabe is a Blast staff writer in New York

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