Lester Cohen/WireImageThe look in Kim Kardashian's eyes—and the fist in Chrissy Teigen's mouth—said it all. (Though we still can't be entirely sure whether Kim had any idea of what her new BFF was up to back there.)
With the Grammy Awards now more about moments than music these days (producers can put together all the "unexpected" artistic collaborations they want to onstage, it's the truth), there were just enough of those moments to keep audiences guessing at the 57th annual incarnation of the show, last night at L.A.'s Staples Center.
Three and a half hours, 23 performances, 10 awards handed out during the televised portion of the show—and these were the five biggest jaw-droppers:
1. Beck Can't Believe It Either: Let us precede this one with: We love Beck. Grew up with Beck. So that's why the 44-year-old alt-rock singer-songwriter scooping up Grammys like it's 1997 and coming out on top against the likes of Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran, Pharrell and the night's wunderkind, Sam Smith, threw us for a pleasant loop. Heck, it even surprised Beck, who let out a visible if not audible "what the f--k" when his name was called for Album of the Year. And then it apparently really surprisedKim Kardashian in retrospect, but that's another story...
2. Taylor Swift Leaves Empty-Handed: The "Shake It Off" singer had to practice what she preached after the show after going 0-for-3, her night instead given over to bopping along in the audience and meeting Madonna. With 1989 qualifying for next years Grammys, "Shake It Off" lost out on Record and Song of the Year to Smith's "Stay With Me," and Pharrell's "Happy" (it only seems like that song is five years old) scooped her for Best Pop Solo Performance. In fact, Taylor didn't impact these Grammys much at all. Better luck next year.
3. Don't Look Now: So Katy Perry, fresh from her Super Bowl Halftime Show triumph, gave a very moving performance of "By the Grace of God." Even more memorably, however, she was introduced by Brooke Axtell, a domestic violence survivor who shared her story, saying that revealing the truth to her mother ultimately saved her life. "Please reach out for help. Your voice will save you. Let it extend into the night, let it part the darkness, let it set you free to know who you truly are: valuable, beautiful, loved," Axtell said. And that came after a taped message from President Barack Obama, who spoke about the It's On Us campaign, started to raise awareness of and fight sexual assault. But while the point was made, loud and clear and effectively, as the camera stubbornly refused to pan away from what was happening on stage it was pretty impossible not to think about Rihanna, sitting in the dark, watching. Or about Chris Brown, a three-time nominee last night who was also in attendance, sitting there, watching. Just sayin'.
4. Kristen Wiig Swings From the "Chandelier": Just when everyone thought that Shia LaBeouf would be the weirdest, artisest bit of yet another one of Sia's always weird and artsy performances of "Chandelier," up popped everybody's favorite new comedienne (and future Ghostbuster) making the scene as if tomorrow doesn't exist. But tomorrow exists, and we're going to use the opportunity to watch Wiig dominate the Grammys yet again on YouTube.
5. Kanye Almost Lets Beck Be: The Yeezus artist waited until after the show at least to slam the Grammys and suggest that Beck should have given his award to Beyoncé, once again the most deserving artist of all the artists in the land. In Kanye Land, anyway. Barely an hour beforehand he had brought the house down by seemingly poking fun at himself, rushing the stage when Beck won Album of the Year but then backing off. The bit killed. And Beck played along, amiably! But either Kanye was being so serious it came off as levity or he had a change of heart, because he said later backstage on E! After Party, "By the way, I got my wife, my daughter and my clothing line, so I'm not going to do nothing to put my daughter at risk but I am here to fight for creativity. That's the reason why I didn't say anything tonight. But you all know what it meant when 'Ye walks on the stage."
Well, we thought it meant you were being funny!