Starting a show with Bruce Springsteen is like throwing down a gauntlet that says “who else is going to be true to their own voice and not a marketing gimmick?” Whether you like Springsteen or not, you can’t ever accuse him of being anything other than true to himself.

On the subject of originality, Little Anthony and the Imperials (not to mention James Brown) did it a lot better than Bruno Mars.  

I don’t think anyone can move like Chris Brown did and sing live. You probably didn’t fall for that either—and whether he should have had this shot at redemption is another thing altogether.

In their duo performance, Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson sang, “don’t you want to stay?” My answer was, not if that’s the best you got.

There was no “wow factor” in pairing Rihanna and Coldplay.  I did, however, say “wow” when it was revealed that Willie Nelson is singing Coldplay’s “The Scientist” for Chipotle. 

The Foo Fighters are always real.  I’m not a huge fan, but I appreciate their integrity.  Dave Grohl expressed exactly what I feel about technology overtaking the music business. Then the producers interrupted him with manufactured music. 

Foster the People’s lead singer, Mark Foster, looked like a dear caught in headlights.  Of course, you can’t just replicate the Beach Boys harmonies and expect them to sound the same. That is, any more than you can expect the remaining Beach Boys to sound the way they used to, either.

Paul McCartney’s valentine song is actually pretty good.  I’m shocked. 

Johnny Depp looked a little bloated in his brief spot before Taylor Swift takes the stage. Oh, that wasn’t Johnny Depp in the Civil Wars? Fooled us. Watching Ms. Swift makes me grateful she’s not going to be Eponine in Les Misérables.

I didn’t get a couple things. Like Katy Perry and the Grammy’s fascination with Lady Antebellum. By the way, that’s only my second reference to an award. Do you know they only handed out nine awards in the three-and-a-half hour broadcast? 

It was immediately clear that Adele’s performance and the audience reaction would very hard to top. 

Would the Recording Academy have remembered Glen Campbell if he hadn’t gone public with his Alzheimer’s?

I loved the use of film music by Ennio Morricone and Randy Newman in the Grammy Cares section. Ironically, it was followed by the presentation of the award for Best New Artist, which went to someone I expect we’ll forget in a year or two.

And then, Jennifer Hudson topped Adele. What a trooper. With one day, if that, to prepare, she nailed it. She is a class act who gave a moving and memorable tribute to Whitney Houston.

If only the pretend power outage from Katy Perry’s performance happened during the very long “state of dance” segment.  That’s eight minutes we’ll never get back. 

Nicki Minaj’s performance was the single most self-indulgent, nonsensical, and misguided in all of Grammy history, truly an unmitigated disaster.

It was gratifying that, in an evening that had very little to do with creative integrity, Adele not only deserved to win Album of the Year, but she was completely honest and real in accepting the award.

Well, there was Lady Gaga walking out before Sir Paul closed the show.

Photograph courtesy grammy.com