2008 Grammy Rundown: Awards and Performances
Published February 11, 2008
If, by chance, you happened to miss the 50th Annual GRAMMY Awards, here’s a quick rundown of the show’s main awards and featured performances:
Alicia Keys opened the program with a rousing rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “Singing the Blues.” Sinatra joined the stage as well, performing along-side Keys via archived video footage.
Carrie Underwood followed with a performance of “Before He Cheats.” Dancing percussionists gave the song an extra bounce, with booming intensity, in a STOMP-inspired routine.
Prince presented Alicia Keys with the GRAMMY for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for her smash hit “No One.”
James Harris III, better known as Jimmy Jam, was joined on-stage by fellow members of the Time for the band’s reunion performance. Morris Day, dressed in a bright gold suit, pumped up the volume, as he sang lead vocals for “Jungle Love.” Rihanna appeared in the midst of their performance, re-mixing a verse from “Umbrella,” before jumping into “Don’t Stop the Music.”
The Band was honored with the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Cirque du Soleil entertained the crowd with a visual performance of the Beatles “A Day in the Life” and “Let it Be.”
Amy Winehouse was named as the year’s Best New Artist.
Kanye West delivered a high-powered performance of “Stronger.” Donning glow-in-the-dark shades, West criss-crossed across the stage, as matching glow-in-the-dark violins shimmered in the background. An orchestral version of “Hey Mama” closed West’s two-song set.
Fergie sang “Finally,” as John Legend accompanied the singer on the keys. Fergie’s notes soared high—introducing the crowd to her less poppy side.
George Harrison’s LOVE-inspired project received the GRAMMY for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.
Beyonce Knowles paid tribute to Lena Horne, Whitney Houston and a host of other R&B vocalists, before introducing “the Queen,” Tina Turner. Tina Turner performed two of her well-known hits, “What’s Love Got to Do with It” and “Better Be Good to Me,” before launching into a high-energy performance of “Proud Mary.” Beyonce Knowles joined in on the number, as Tina and her dancers boogied with all their might.
Burt Bacharach was honored with the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Song of the Year GRAMMY went to Amy Winehouse for “Rehab.”
Ann Marie Calhoun, winner of the “My GRAMMY Moment” contest, joined the Foo Fighters on-stage for a performance of “The Pretender,” along with the “My GRAMMY Moment” Orchestra.
- 2008 Grammy Rundown: Awards and Performances
- Published: February 11, 2008
- Type: News
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Business, Music: News, Video: TV Recap
- Writer: Clayton Perry
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Comments
loved the Vince Gil/Kanye jab. pretty funny.
and i was expecting (and fearing) another Winehouse train wreck. that was a pleasant surprise.
good to see The Band honored. Too bad two of them are dead. I'd love a reunion.
Just glad Amy Whinehouse won for her talent instead of punishing her for her personal problems.
I'm an older fart, but I must say that pretty much the entire show was entertaining. The lesser emphasis on in your face Rap and Hip Hop was welcome, and having a number of the older performers and their music highlighted was great from my perspective. I especially enjoyed the Beatle tribute with Circ de Soleil, and Tina Turner's performance. She can't move quite like she used to, but she still looked pretty damn good.
The Fogarty/Richard/Lewis performance was a little troublesome to watch in that I had this feeling that if Jerry Lee Lewis as much as turned his head or smiled he might have a heart attack. Little Richard just looked like he was pissed about something.
Bocelli and Groban were ok. Groban's voice is so much bigger than Bocelli's that the sound was not very well balanced. I have two son's who are operatic tenors and don't particularly like either Bocelli or Groban, but at least classical singers got a bit of a nod with their performance.
By far my favorite performance was the Lang Lang/Hancock "Rhapsody In Blue" which, overall was pretty stunning except there was, I felt, an inadequate number of strings, but now I'm nit picking.
Keely Smith, bless her heart, seemed not just a little lost. Also, not quite able to stay with the program were Tony Bennett and Andy Williams who probably just couldn't read the prompter.
I did have the feeling that Amy Winehouse was near to flipping out, but she held it together. She looks far more like she's from Queens than England. She has the feel of someone who will likely crash and burn before too long, though.
The only award I had much of an opinion on was the "Compilation Soundtrack yada yada yada... but only because I'd seen "Once" and none of the others.
But, yeah. I liked the show.
Baritone





Springsteen shoulda got Best Rock Album...or at least Wilco. The Vince Gill diss on Kanye was pretty funny. Herbie Hancock wins best album for a Joni tribute and Joni's own album isn't even nominated. Ya gotta love Grammy logic...
-Glen