And don't let the show overshadow the actual winners. Alison Kraus and Robert Plant...? Not exactly the usual crass commercial artists that these often go to (in fact, Plant/Kraus this year, Herbie the last, this is pretty good stuff!).
I've had Raising Sand since it first hit the stores... a great album. It wasn't the #1 seller, yet it gets the prize. Are you SURE you want to classify this award as simply a nod to commercialism?
Here's the whole list... You know, there is some AWESOME music here...
Album of the Year: Raising Sand - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Rap Album: Tha Carter III - Lil Wayne
Male Pop Vocal Performance: Say - John Mayer
Record of the Year: Please Read The Letter - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
New Artist: Adele
Rock Album: Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends - Coldplay
Pop Collaboration With Vocals: Rich Woman - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Song of the Year: Viva La Vida - Coldplay
Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals: Stay - Sugarland
R&B Album: Jennifer Hudson - Jennifer Hudson
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Rick Rubin
Producer of the Year, Classical: David Frost
Female Pop Vocal Performance: Chasing Pavements - Adele
Pop Vocal Album: Rockferry - Duffy
Pop Instrumental Performance: I Dreamed There Was No War - Eagles
Pop Instrumental Album: Jingle All the Way - Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: Viva La Vida - Coldplay
Alternative Music Album: In Rainbows - Radiohead
Solo Rock Vocal Performance: Gravity - John Mayer,
Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: Sex on Fire - Kings of Leon
Hard Rock Performance: Wax Simulacra - The Mars Volta
Metal Performance: My Apocalypse - Metallica
Rock Instrumental Performance: Peaches En Regalia - Zappa Plays Zappa
Rock Song: Girls in Their Summer Clothes - Bruce Springsteen
Rap Solo Performance: A Milli - Lil Wayne
Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: Swagga Like Us - Jay-Z and T.I. featuring Kanye West and Lil Wayne
Rap/Sung Collaboration: American Boy - Estelle featuring Kanye West
Rap Song: Lollipop - Dwayne Carter, Darius Harrison, James Scheffer, Stephen Garrett and Rex Zamor,
Country Song: Stay - Sugarland
Female Country Vocal Performance: Last Name - Carrie Underwood,
Male Country Vocal Performance: Letter to Me - Brad Paisley,
Country Collaboration with Vocals: Killing the Blues - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss,
Country Instrumental Performance: Cluster Pluck - Brad Paisley, James Burton, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert and Steve Wariner
R&B Song: Miss Independent - Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen and Shaffer Smith
Contemporary R&B Album: Growing Pains - Mary J. Blige
Female R&B Vocal Solo: Superwoman - Alicia Keys
Male R&B Vocal Solo: Miss Independent - Ne-Yo
R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: Stay With Me (By the Sea), Al Green featuring John Legend
Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: You've Got the Love I Need - Al Green featuring Anthony Hamilton
Urban/Alternative Performance: Be OK - Chrisette Michele featuring will.i.am
Dance Recording: Harder Better Faster Stronger - Daft Punk
Electronic Dance Album: Alive 2007 - Daft Punk
Bluegrass Album: Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947 - Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
Traditional Blues Album: One Kind Favor - B.B. King
Contemporary Blues Album: City That Care Forgot - Dr. John and The Lower 911
New Age Album: Peace Time - Jack DeJohnette
Contemporary Jazz Album: Randy in Brasil - Randy Brecker
Jazz Vocal Album: Loverly - Cassandra Wilson
Jazz Instrumental Solo: BE-BOP - Terence Blanchard,
Jazz Instrumental Album Individual or Group: The New Crystal Silence - Chick Corea and Gary Burton
Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard - The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
Latin Jazz Album: Song for Chico - Arturo O'Farrill and The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra
Latin Pop Album: La Vida ... Es Un Ratico - Juanes
Latin Rock or Alternative Album: 45 - Jaguares
Latin Urban Album: Los Extraterrestres - Wisin y Yandel
Tropical Latin Album: Senor Bachata - Jose Feliciano
Regional Mexican Album: Amor, Dolor y Lagrimas - Musica Ranchera
Tejano Album: Viva La Revolucion - Ruben Ramos and The Mexican Revolution
Norteno Album: Raices - Los Tigres Del Norte
Banda Album: No Es De Madera - Joan Sebastian
Traditional Folk Album: At 89 - Pete Seeger
Contemporary Folk/Americana Album: Raising Sand - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (Rounder)
Native American Music Album: Come to Me Great Mystery: Native American Healing Songs - Various Artists)
Hawaiian Music Album: Ikena - Tia Carrere and Daniel Ho
Zydeco or Cajun Music Album - Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival - BeauSoleil and Michael Doucet
Engineering Album, Classical: Traditions and Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago - David Frost, Tom Lazarus and Christopher Willis
Reggae Album: Jah Is Real - Burning Spear
Traditional World Music Album: Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu - Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Contemporary World Music Album: Global Drum Project - Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo
Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Juno - Various Artists
Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Television or Other Visual Media: The Dark Knight
Polka Album: Let the Whole World Sing - Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra
Gospel Performance: Get Up - Mary Mary
Gospel Song: Help Me Believe - Kirk Franklin
Rock or Rap Gospel Album: Alive and Transported - TobyMac
Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album: Thy Kingdom Come - CeCe Winans
Southern, Country, Bluegrass Gospel: Lovin' Life - Gaither Vocal Band
Traditional Gospel Album: Down in New Orleans - The Blind Boys of Alabama
Contemporary R&B Gospel Album: The Fight of My Life - Kirk Franklin
Classical Album: Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny - James Conlon, conductor
Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Down to Earth - WALL-E - Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, Musical Show Album: In the Heights - Kurt Deutsch, Alex Lacamoire, Andres Levin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Joel Moss and Bill Sherman, producers; Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer/lyricist
Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Story Telling): An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore) - Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon and Blair Underwood
Musical Album for Children: Here Come the 123s - They Might Be Giants
Spoken Word Album Children: Yes to Running! Bill Harley Live - Bill Harley
Comedy Album: It's Bad for Ya - George Carlin
Instrumental Composition: The Adventures of Mutt - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - John Williams
Instrumental Arrangement: Define Dancing - WALL-E Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): Here's That Rainy Day, Nan Schwartz
Engineered Album, Non-Classical: Consolers of the Lonely - Joe Chiccarelli, Vance Powell and Jack White III, engineers
Remixed Recording: Electric Feel (Justice Remix) - Justice
Surround Sound Album: Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Night on Bald Mountain; Prelude to Khovanshchina - Michael Bishop
Opera Recording: Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny - James Conlon, conductor
Orchestral Performance: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 - Bernard Haitink, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (With Orchestra): Schoenberg/Sibelius: Violin Concertos - Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Hilary Hahn
Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra): Piano Music of Salonen, Stucky, and Lutoslawski - Gloria Cheng
Chamber Music Performance: Carter, Elliott: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 5 - Pacifica Quartet
Small Ensemble Performance: Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary - Charles Bruffy, conductor; Phoenix Chorale
Classical Vocal Performance: Corigliano: Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan - Hila Plitmann
Classical Contemporary Composition: Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan, - John Corigliano
Classical Crossover Album: Simple Gifts - The King's Singers
Short Form Music Video: Pork and Beans - Weezer, Mathew Cullen,
Long Form Music Video: Runnin' Down a Dream - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Recording Package: Death Magnetic - Bruce Duckworth, Sarah Moffat and David Turner
Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: "In Rainbows - Stanley Donwood, Mel Maxwell and Christiaan Munro
Album Notes: Kind of Blue: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition - Francis Davis
Historical Album: Art of Field Recording Volume I: Fifty Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum - Steven Lance Ledbetter and Art Rosenbaum, compilation producers
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Not too shabby.
The hell with the show. THIS is what we should be listening to