It’s a good thing the censors at CBS had an extra five minutes to get things right — without it, they may not have had the time to put on such a great Grammy Awards ceremony.

In the aftermath of Janet and her titillating Super Bowl halftime performance, the network execs put in a few extra safeguards, including a five-minute tape delay for the entire program. It may have been annoying, but surprisingly, it didn’t ruin the show. The night wasn’t perfect, but for the first time in many years, the live performances themselves were actually memorable.

The evening started off on a high note with a slightly disjointed duet between Prince and Beyonc‚ singing “Purple Rain.” Sadly, the tributes took an immediate downturn when Sting, Vince Gill, Dave Matthews and Pharrell stumbled their way through the Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There.” Who knew four talented men could be so terrible at a cover song?

Odd pairings seemed to dominate, and fortunately, the Beatles cover was the low point of the night. Popular mainstream acts were matched with legends of jazz and blues, creating a number of collaborations not common in the overproduced hoopla of awards ceremonies.

Two of the evening’s best performances were completely unexpected. Justin Timberlake’s renditions of “Se¤orita” and “Funky Child,” with the help of trumpet great Arturo Sandoval, were surprisingly soulful and lively, and the Foo Fighter’s pairing with jazz pianist Chick Corea on “Times Like These” breathed new life into a rock favorite. Unfortunately, Sting and Sean Paul dueting on “Roxanne” was a better idea on paper than on stage.

Those who chose to go it alone fared a bit worse than those who paired up. Beyonc‚’s “Dangerously in Love 2,” the Black Eyed Peas’ “Where Is the Love” (with a small but barely noticeable cameo by Timberlake) and the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” all set the bar high; however, Celine Dion’s version of the absent Luther Vandross’ emotional “Dance With My Father” was ruined by technical difficulties. Although watching Dion’s diva status plummet on semi-live television was fun to watch, it was sad to see such a wonderful sentiment ruined by a screeching mic and singer.

For the most part, the night’s winners were forgettable. Only a few surprises arose, including Timberlake’s victory over Warren Zevon and George Harrison for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance, and Coldplay’s “Clocks” over OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” for Best Record.

Perhaps a slipped nipple was good for live television entertainment. Instead of a night of hype, self-promotion and depravity, the music itself took its rightful place as the star of the evening.

About time.

Booties and jazz run rampant at Grammys

By P. Kim Bui

Iowa State Daily

Award shows for the past few years have gone from bad to worse. I could easily say the Grammys were horrible, with strange collaborations that work on paper but not in practice, like Sean Paul and Sting singing “Roxanne.”

But I saw a glimmer of light in the Grammys. I wanted to cram onstage with George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic and tell the world how much I want the funk.

Awards aside, the best parts of the night were the outstanding collaborations with jazz greats.

I’ve long been a fan of jazz. The parts of the soul that cannot be reached by other forms of music are by jazz. The Grammys were proof that jazz is a part of All-American music today.

Look at the Foo Fighters and Chick Corea performing “Times Like These.” You couldn’t ask for a better collaboration that not only suits the song well, but makes it even better than its original version.

“Times Like These” is already one of the Foo Fighters’ better songs off “One By One,” and Chick Corea is one of the best jazz pianists alive.

The more unexpected pair that actually worked was Justin Timberlake and jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval. Surprisingly, Sandoval could not have fit better than he did in “Se¤orita.”

Slowly, the awards themselves have become less interesting, even though more deserving musicians won awards at the Grammys than they did at the popularity-contest-turned-award-show MTV Music Video Awards. I watch award shows for two things now: the clothes and the performances.

Now that we’ve gotten the performances covered, we can get to the clothes. I’ll admit it — as a woman, I just want to see who wears what, which brings us to the trend of the moment: cleavage and booties.

It seems if you’re a female musician, you’re required to show off one or the other. Christina relied heavily on double-sided tape when she went up to accept the best female pop vocal performance for “Beautiful.” I’m glad it was pretty strong.

Pauline Rubio strung some black fabric around her essentials before she got onstage. We have J.Lo to thank for this trend. It all started with that green dress.

And we can’t forget how bootylicious Beyonc‚ is. There’s no avoiding it. Even a pink boa wrapped around her butt and a clingy diamond-encrusted piece of green fabric ends up looking good.

Thank God for class, like Martina McBride, and style, like Gwen Stefani.

Between the jazz-laced collaborations and the pink boa-wrapped booties, the Grammys turned out to be pretty decent.

There is hope for music after all.