So back in December when the nominations were announced, we (Firstgentleman) threw out some picks of who he thought was going to win in a few select categories. Now that the big night has passed, here’s a breakdown of picks vs. wins — did you create a scorecard for yourself?

Hit the jump!

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Well, the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards have come and gone and much to everyone’s surprise, there were some awards that were given out that we didn’t agree with. Too bad no one cares what we think, right? LOL!

Overall, the first half of the show was pretty tight and RIGHT. The pacing was good and it just seemed to snap and pop overall. Then, after the Michael Jackson tribute, it just seemed to head downhill.

There were no overt shenanigans, though I think something almost happened with Da Queen of Creole Beyonce’ when she was on-stage. Also, I think the chick from Lady Antebellum almost got hit with a curtain?

Stephen Colbert opened up the show with a pretty funny dialogue at times, and he also won in the comedy category.

Best performance of the night definitely went to Pink. I don’t care what you say, it takes talent, strength, stamina and just balls to sing spinning, suspended and dripping wet. It was stunning. It was awe inspiring to watch too. She received a standing ovation! Pink did that, all while singing and not missing barely any notes.

Honorable mention went to Lady GaGa just for sheer spectacle and for bringing out ELTON JOHN. What other co-sign do you need from the Rocket Man himself!? That was amazing. I love Elton John and for him to come out and jam with GaGa while she played AND sung was just the jewel in her crown I’m sure.

In terms of other genres, I really enjoyed the Lady Antebellum performance, and also the Bon Jovi performance with Jennifer Nettles from Sugarland. Bon Jovi allowed the fans to select a song and of course we selected “Living On A Prayer” and he cheated by letting Jennifer Nettles sing the high notes — I see you Jon.

The Michael Jackson tribute featuring Celine Dion, Carrie Underwood, Usher, Smokey Robinson and Jennifer Hudson was also not what I expected. Be clear, Celine Dion and Carrie Underwood did their good singing! Smokey brought that classic smooth soul sound, but it was nothing to write home about (though he repped actually KNOWING Michael). Usher, however, needed to go and get his swagger back from the 90’s because that was terrible. That was his make or break moment and he seriously dropped the ball.

Another performance that was SERIOUSLY unexpectedly bad was Maxwell & Roberta Flack. I was waiting for her to just come out and SCHOOL the folks but, no. And Maxwell trying to hit that falsetto but missing the mark (99 1/2 won’t do Maxie!) was terrible. And someone sent in a picture to the blog immediately following of The Cowardly Lion from “The Wiz” as a representation of Roberta’s outfit and makeup and hair. :/

Mary J. Blige and Andrea Boccelli did a bang up job with Andrea doing most of the heavy lifting. New Artist winners Zac Brown Band really missed the mark vocally but they took it to country church at the end of their song with Leon Russell. Dave Matthews had an off-beat sway tha mirrored the uneven motion of the oceans — get get GET it!

Lastly to highlight, Beyonce’. You know, I expected a lot from B. I didn’t get it in a nutshell. It was both frantic and musical; focused and disparate; it showed a dichotomy that wasn’t really a balanced view of her personalities. It was ALL over the place — tender and yet violent all at the same time. Then the segue into Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know” could have been powerful, but it just became another tactic in Sasha Fierce’s arsenal of “shock value tactics”.

Below, you will see the tweets as I typed them — that’s where the REAL fun is. Trust.Me.On.This. Read them from bottom to top as the first tweets (at the bottom) are the beginning of the show. I love the support and make sure you tell someone about the recap!

For a full list of winners, check out the Grammy website — it’s wayyyy too many to list! Hit the jump! Retweet this link, share, email, all that!

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After a hiatus, the Soul Train Awards are back with a new owner and broadcast partner, BET’s “new” network, Centric. Which is basically BETJ w/ rebranding. The Soul Train Awards had begun a slow decline into obscurity a couple of years ago, finally culminating in cancellation. However, BET is determined to breathe new life into the show and heritage, and they did their best to try and do that Sunday night.

Overall, I was just waiting for Chaka Khan. While I waited, I had to deal with a lot of vocal shenanigans and faux affection from show hosts Taraji P. Henson and Terrance Howard. Their skits were largely unfunny and just became a bit of a bore as the night went along. But other than that, the too-tightly edited show was MARRED with largely bad audio, tepid sets and unbearable writing. The only saviors were the few music performances that shined.

Hit the jump for my live-blogged recap of the show! Of course, you can always follow me on Twitter to catch the off the cuff reactions as they come quick and fast…you know this is gonna be long but FUNNY if I say so myself. That’s how we roll! Enjoy and share your thoughts and comments in the comments!

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So, “The 2009 American Music Awards” were last night (November 22nd, 2009) and boy was it 3 hours of our lives that WE will never get back. HOWEVER, all praises be to Sweet Minty Jesus, YOU don’t have to suffer that same fate! Why? Because I GOT YOU!

As the shenanigans went down, I’m giving you the play by play. Complete with off-the-cuff commentary and thoughts and reactions. So sit back, grab a cup of coffee, because at 3 hours total for the show, you can imagine how long the live blog is!

Overall, there were a lot of missteps than they were amazing performances. But the best and most notable moment of the night was when Jennifer Lopez fell and landed on her tail. Oh man…and then they had the nerve to EDIT it out for the West Coast people. Thanks Youtube! Also, Adam Lambert fell during his overserved performance for the kids. Wamp.

So, hit the jump for the full recap and also the video of J. Lo falling — it’s classic!

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Alright, I wasn’t going to post this, because SO MUCH has been said, but I guess ya’ll like my off the cuff reactions to these awards shows. So…here it goes! Enjoy. And please, please, realize that yes it’s late, but these are just the thoughts that I had when this ish aired LOL. Take it or leave it!

Hit the jump!

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