Rockin' The Suburbs, Just Like Arcade Fire Did...

Finally.

I had to sit through three and a half painful hours but I finally got to see what I wanted to see: Good. Music. Rewarded.

The Academy got it right (for once) Sunday night and chose Arcade Fire's most recent album, "The Suburbs," as Album of the Year. To be honest, this was just an enormous bonus for me in general. I was just excited to watch their Grammy-debut performance,

the main reason why I had to push

myself through 3.5 hours of redundant Top 40 pop crap. The actual award (which followed the performance) was just the frosting to the anxious cake I had been baking throughout the show. And boy did it taste good in the end.

Actually, after saying that, I suppose the Grammy Award should be the cake itself and the figurative frosting would be AF's performance of "Ready to Start" that closed out the ceremonies. Because I'm not going to lie, although I do love the song "Month of May", I was a little disappointed with the performance. Were they trying to bring back BMXing? Were they trying to give me a light-induced seizure? Did they only pick that song because the lyrics suggest the process of "making an album"?.... Ehhhhh, in that case, I see what you did there, Arcade Fire...touche. Would've liked to see "We Used to Wait" but hey, we can't have our cake and eat it too...I swear that's my last cake reference.

[Which, speaking of, can we discuss real quickly how every person under the reign of God had a birthday this weekend? I'm serious, according to my trusty Facebook statistics, I was "friends" with 11 people who had a birthday on 2/13 and 8 people who had a birthday on 2/12. That just seems absurd to me. I can't even name 19 of my friends' birthdays, but chances are it was this weekend. Parents: stop getting frisky in the Month of May. Anyone see what I did there? Anyone? Bueller?]

Although I was surprised by AF's 'underdog', I can't cay that I didn't see it coming. As Grammy history would tend to suggest, the band that plays live on stage who also happens to be nominated for an award that is presented directly after their performance...usually wins. It happened tonight with Lady Antebellum - but then again, they seemed to clean house tonight anyway. [Funny, I don't know how I feel about a song that sounds like it belongs on EVERY episode of Glee winning that many Grammys but oh well...Better than Glee winning a Grammy. Wait, did they?] The funnier thing is that this didn't happen with Justine Bieby Bieby Beiby Oh! Thank god.

So, in any event, I guess I called it for AF. But then again, I did fall off my chair when they actually won. I mean, beating out the Super Overrated PopTards of Lady Gaga-bellum, Katy Perry, and Eminem (who isn't pop, but is a bit overrated) was a true underdog story. And the greatest part was that they were just as surprised as anyone as they scrambled to take the stage again (Win Butler blurting out "What the hell?") - just perfect. [And almost too perfect. Like, they must've planned it that way right? If Gaga would've won, would she have gone up there and got in her egg while the credits rolled? It only made sense that they put AF at the end of the show like that. I see what you did, Grammy Producers...]

10 Things We Learned about the Grammys:

1. Christina Aguilera is having the worst week of her life. First she forgets the words to the

National Anthem on the nation's biggest stage, then she forgets how to walk on LA's biggest stage. Hey Christina,maybe it's time to sit a few plays out. Maybe go back into hiding for a few

more months....

2. Lady Gaga proved that she is the devil. Who came from an egg. So, I guess, that makes her a deviled egg?

3. Wait, so...Lance Bass is Lady Antebellum? I mean, I knew he was a lady and all. But who knew he teamed up with Miley Cyrus and Demetri Martin to make this supergroup. I need to start listening to these guys. Gals. Whatever.

4. Hey, Johnny Mayer. Johnny Depp called. He wants his look back....

5. Hey Katy Perry. Zooey Deschanel called. She still wants her look back.

6. Hey Cee-Lo Green, the NBC Peacock called...yeah, you get the point....

7. Did anyone else think it was ironic that they had Mick Jagger perform right after they did a montage of musicians that have died in the past year? And did I catch Bob Dylan's name come up on that list?...

8. Hey Eminem, why so serious? Seriously. When he performs, he just yells. When they show

him on camera, he just glares. When he wins a Grammy, he just doesn't care.

Hey Em, how bout you smile for once. I mean, I know your mom sucked and your wife beat you and you grew up in Detroit and whatever, but life's not all that hard for now right? Don't you have money and friends and fame and all that good stuff? Why do you always have to play the "everyone's out to get me card"? I'm white, your white, let's go to Starbucks and talk about this.

9. Saw the commercial for Little Red Riding Hood. Since when did childhood fairy tales turn into

dark, gothic psychological thrillers? I blame Sherlock Holmes...

10. ...and finally! Happy Valentine's Day from Usher + Justin Beiber. The cutest couple on the planet! That love confession tonight was one of the most homo-romantic moments on stage since Diana Ross went to second base on Lil' Kim at the VMAs.

Album of the Week: This should be obvious. Clearly, it's "The Suburbs" by Arcade Fire. If you haven't had a chance to listen to this phenomenal record, get your hands on it today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqyakRmPNM8