Music, Award Shows | featured news

Lady Gaga in an egg and Justin Bieber resulted in a slight ratings bump for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards on CBS. From 8-11:30PM, the show, which crowned Nashville-based Lady Antebellum as the night's big winners, drew 26.55 million viewers and a 10.0/26 in adults 18-49. Compared to last year's highly-rated telecast that aired on Jan. 31, outside the February sweep, the Grammys were up a tenth (1%) in adults 18-49 (from 9.9/24) and 3% in total viewers (from 25.87 million). It was the best delivery for the awards show in adults 18-49 since 2004 and in viewers since 2001. CBS won the night with a 8.2/22 in 18-49 and 23.7 million viewers.

The Recording Academy is finally getting some satisfaction, with Mick Jagger's first appearance on the Grammy stage.

Just think, it was only 12 months ago that Taylor Swift became the nation's most supported underdog; Kanye West became, well, not; Katy Perry was first publicly propositioned by her now-fiancé (and last year's VMA host) Russell Brand; and Chelsea Handler was making waves by pissing off celebrities…in the funniest way possible.

Chris Brown paid a tearful tribute to Michael Jackson with an emotional performance at the BET Awards on Sunday night.

The head of Taylor Swift's record label is fired up and ready to defend his superstar from people who are criticizing her Grammy-night performance. "She is the voice of this generation. She speaks directly to (her fans), and they speak directly back to her," said Big Machine Records CEO Scott Borchetta in a phone interview. "This is not `American Idol.' This is not a competition of getting up and seeing who can sing the highest note. This is about a true artist and writer and communicator. It's not about that technically perfect performance."

Last year, as the Grammys were approaching, the show's executive producer was in frequent talks with Michael Jackson to appear on the telecast to celebrate the 25th anniversary of "Thriller."...

Beyonce, the Black Eyed Peas and Taylor Swift are to perform at the 52nd Annual Grammys early next year.

Taylor Swift's haul of eight nods was only second to Beyonce, who got 10.

Complaints poured in Monday about Adam Lambert's sexually charged performance at the American Music Awards, including criticism of his kiss with a male keyboard player that was left out of rehearsals for the show....

The 19-year-old sensation has the record sales. She beat out every living artist — no matter the genre — this year with more than 3 million copies of her "Fearless" CD sold and counting.