Grammys: Are We Having fun. Yet?

Cover of LL Cool J

Last year's Grammy Awards were dominated by two female artists--one who had passed away the night before the ceremony, and the other who took home six of those little gramophones for an album that still tops the record charts.  This year, nothing like that happened.  But the latter woman--Adele--who now spells her name in all caps took home another one tonight.

Instead, the 55th Grammys were kind of underwhelming.  Yes, there was "Alice In Taylorland" as Taylor Swift's opening number and Justin Timberlake channeling his inner Bobby Darin. (Look out, ol' Justin is back!)  Other than that, most of the performances weren't that great. But the night belonged to artists who have been around for years, yet the public has never heard of them until now.

The band fun. were rewarded with the Best New Artist and Song of the Year awards for "We Are Young".  Record of the Year went to Gotye for "Somebody That I Used To Know", who seemed awestruck at getting the award from Prince.  Album of the Year was "Babel" by Mumford and Sons.

Everyone seemed to be on their best behavior tonight, having gotten the memo from CBS that no revealing dresses or butt cracks would be tolerated (this means you, Jennifer Lopez).  This from the network that once filmed Elvis Presley from the waist up on the "Ed Sullivan Show" back in the 1950s.  The Grammys, run by an equally conservative organization called NARAS, have had their awards televised by CBS for the last 40 years.  They deserve each other.

The telecast was hosted by LL Cool J, a rap artist who just happens to star in the CBS crime procedural "NCIS Los Angeles".  He would have been a much better host if he made the show less about himself, as illustrated by a clip they showed of his appearance on "American Bandstand" as a way of saluting the late Dick Clark.  But then, Clark had been running a competing awards show, the American Music Awards.

The night wasn't a total bust.  There was a rousing rendition of "The Weight" by Elton John, the Zac Brown Band, Mavis Staples and others as a tribute to Levon Helm, a member of The Band who died last year.

The Grammys are "Music's Biggest Night", all right.  Maybe they should consider cutting back on some of the performances because the running time of the telecast is approaching Oscars territory.  It is now three and a half hours.  We bailed after the Record of the Year was announced, skipping a performance by LL Cool J.  There is such a thing as too much fun.