The Good

• The short tribute to Whitney Houston at the beginning of the show. “Whitney, we will always love you,” L.L. said after delivering a heartfelt prayer. Also, Jennifer Hudson's restrained homage to Whitney.
• L.L. Cool J licking his lips no less than 20 times within the first two minutes he was on the stage.
• Adele returning to the stage after undergoing surgery to save her vocal chords, with a beautiful performance of “Rolling in the Deep” for which she received a long standing ovation.
• Bruno Mars, who conjured Andre 3000, Frankie Limon, and Morris Day for a glittery performance in which he demanded the crowd, “get their rich as**s” out of their seats and party.
• Chris Brown making his grand Grammy comeback by dancing on top of white Lego- blocks.

The Unfortunate:

• A blonde-wigged Rihanna trashing up what had previously been a relatively clean and classy performance year with her unnecessary theatrics.
• Ledisi not winning R&B album of the year for Pieces of Me.
• Carrie Underwood’s gold-studded mermaid dress.
• Lady Gaga’s fishnet facemask. Actually, just Lady Gaga.
• Nicki Minaj’s spastic, borderline blasphemous performance of her new single, “ Roman Holiday.” Um, LSD anyone?