2005 Grammy Awards

By far my favorite awards show (and quite possibly one of my favorite Sunday evenings of the year) is Grammy night. No lip-synching allowed, just actual musicianship (or the lack thereof, a la J. Lo and Marc Antony). This year's ceremony was no disappointment. The late, great Ray Charles won eight awards, including Album of the Year. Alicia Keys and Jamie Foxx did Ray proud with "Georgia On My Mind." U2 won all three awards for which they were nominated and paid a moving tribute to Bono's father for whom they wrote and performed, "Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own." Usher kept all his clothes on (first time I've seen this happen in several years) as he sang and danced with the legendary James Brown. The clear low point of the evening (other than aforementioned Lopez and Antony) was the tsunami relief song, sung by way too many artists and egos to bother naming. Suffice to say, vocals by Green Day, Bono, Steven Tyler, and Norah Jones are tough to blend together. However, overall, it was a solid night celebrating some great musicians.