Idol Chatter & Voice Views

The Grammy awards have been presented.

Now it’s time to dole out a few post-Grammy Idol Chatter honors.

Some come from the E! red carpet show, which many of you probably skipped.

I mean, how many hours of Grammy coverage would one want to watch?

If you want to check out scenes from the show and pre-show, head here for a comprehensive Grammy photo gallery.

Sportsmanship awards:   Somehow, Ryan Seacrest wound up interviewing Blake Shelton and Adam Levine on the red carpet.  And he gave both an opportunity to plug The Voice.   Would Randy Jackson have done the same considering the recent jabs he’s taken at the NBC hit?

Quote of the Night: Came from Blake Shelton, who found himself singing at the Super Bowl and nominated for three Grammys in the past two weeks.  Ryan asked what was responsible for his hot streak.   “I try not to think about it,”  Blake said.  “I’m afraid I’ll screw it up.”

Useless bit of information award:   Paris Hilton is working on a new album.  Here’s betting it won’t be Grammy nominated.  Oh, and she showed up at the Grammys dressed in white and didn’t pull it off nearly as well as Carrie Underwood.

Isn’t she lovely award:  Kelly Clarkson isn’t typically a darling of the red carpet, but I thought she looked great dressed in black for her duet with Jason Aldean.  And I’ll bet she never once considered showing up as Little Red Riding Hood.

Lingering question:  Who is heck is Sasha?  And why did she show up in a dress embellished with guns?  Anyone know.

Toughest job of the night:   Jennifer Hudson, of course, tasked at the last minute with singing a tribute to Whitney Houston.  She also got a big compliment from LL Cool J during the red carpet show.  He said she’s the closest we have to Whitney today.

Best disappearing act:  Talk about red carpet darlings, where in the world was Lady Gaga?  I know she was in attendance.  We saw her on screen a couple of times, I think.   Usually she’s front and center at such events, especially when she’s nominated for the night’s highest honor.  Was she being punished for showing up in an egg last year?

Partial answer to lingering question:  Celebuzz indentifies Sasha as Sasha Gradiva,  a Russian-born singer who is an “emerging star on the dance-pop scene.”  But I still don’t know why she was wearing guns.

Worst performance:  Nicki Minaj tried to play Lady Gaga at the Grammys and failed.  Miserably.  The announcers kept saying her performance was one everyone would be talking about.  Maybe.  If so, I’m not sure Nicki’s going to want to hear anything people are saying.

Best performance:  Wow, take your choice.  Bruce Springsteen and Bruno Mars opened the show with a bang.  Blue-haired Katy Perry was entertaining as always.  Lots of people seem tired of Taylor Swift, but I don’t know how you can’t admire her song-writing ability, and I thoroughly enjoyed her banjo-strumming version of “Mean.”   Then there was Paul McCartney and his all-star band performing at the end of the show.  All great stuff, but LL Cool J also deserves huge kudos for an introduction that set the proper tone for a night of mourning and celebration.

It’s a good thing the performances were great, because the awards weren’t exactly filled with suspense.  If Adele was nominated, you just knew she was going to win.  Oh, by the way, Adele sounded fabulous, too.   Of course.