‘ From start to finish, the Grammy’s executed their annual rollercoaster ride through a year’s worth of music by showcasing many of the flaws of the industry while sneaking in some performances that were actually of redeeming quality.’

While all the headlines will center on Beyonce’s six awards, Lady Gaga’s anonymity and Taylor Swift’s semi-surprising win for Album of the Year, it was the performances by the vast and eclectic array of artists that were the most memorable parts, and with good reason.‘ If the essence of music is the live performance, some of these people shouldn’t have been anywhere near this supposed celebration of the best in the industry.

Having said that (cue Larry David voice), the show opened with one of the best performances of the night. Lady Gaga traded her other-worldly space cadet outfit for a one piece thingamabob that had more material on her shoulders than it did below her waist, but her dual-piano duet with Sir Elton John was a refreshing mix of both of their styles.‘ When seeing Lady Gaga’s outlandish attire and bizarre public image, the mind doesn’t usually jump to the man who wrote ‘Tiny Dancer.’ It’s easy to forget that Gaga herself started out as just a girl with a piano and Sir Elton in the Seventies was renowned for outfits just as weird as Gaga’s, yet their current images are opposite.

Green Day was the first of the questionable performances. Didn’t these guys start out as a better-than-average punk band? What happened? While presenter J-Lo implied that the band’s career started with American Idiot in 2004, it seems more like their career ended with it.‘ Albums from the 1990s like Dookie and Nimrod are what I’d like to remember them by rather than oddly arranged orchestral pieces played at the Grammy Awards.

Pink had by far the weirdest performance of the night ‘- why was she soaking wet and flying through the air again? ‘- while Jamie Foxx’s star-studded song, complete with an out of place Slash reprising the end solo from ‘November Rain’ for no apparent reason, was forgettable at best. By far the best part was the split-second shot of George Clinton in the crown dancing along to ‘Blame It,’ which will definitely make me revisit my opinion on it. If George Clinton can groove to it, maybe I can too.

I’m not going to say that I enjoyed the Zac Brown Band, because their song ‘Chicken Fried’ is oddly embarrassing to listen to, but at least it was the first instance of someone actually playing their instrument and playing it well; watching the show, it would have been forgivable to think that playing the guitar was no longer a celebrated form of musical expression. Legendary keyboard player Leon Russell was a nice addition to the group even though he looked like he was knocking on death’s door for the duration of the song.

Both Dave Matthews and Maxwell submitted forgettable performances reflecting their ineptitude, while whoever’s decision it was to give Bon Jovi THREE songs should probably be fired. The ‘fan vote’ gimmick was fun, but Bon Jovi’s ‘Livin’ On A Prayer’ is really only acceptable at 2 a.m. in the midst of an over-crowded frat party these days.

By far the most enjoyable performance in terms of actual music produced was Jeff Beck and company’s tribute to Les Paul. The short, staccato guitar adequately reflected Paul’s jazz style, and Beck, with his lengthy yet underrated career, was a great choice to celebrate one of the most important technological and musical innovators of the last century.

So while the awards were largely predictable ‘- though I must say that Katy Perry losing Best Female Vocal Performance for ‘Hot N Cold’ to Beyonce was a crime ‘- the real litmus test of the music industry came through the artists that were asked to perform at the Grammy’s, and for the most part it seemed a sad reflection. But in an industry struggling to survive, the up and down nature of the show might be the best reflection of the music business that we have today.