It was a clean sweep for Adele at Sunday night's Grammy Awards. The British soul singer scooped all the awards she was nominated for, including the Album of Year for 21 and Record of the Year for Rolling in the Deep.
The 23-year-old's joyous night was held among an event full of tributes to the late Whitney Houston, who was found dead in the Beverly Hilton hotel on Saturday afternoon before a pre-Grammy gala.
With the stars still reeling from the tragedy, the host LL Cool J did a sterling job easing the crowd into the event.
The rapper and actor began the event with a solemn prayer for the fallen star that was direct and not at all mawkish. "How do we speak to this time, to this day? There's no way around this: we've had a death in our family," he said. "So at least for me - for me - it only feels right to begin with a prayer for a woman who we loved, for our fallen sister Whitney Houston."
Such an introduction would have been difficult if a comedian was in the hosting seat.
But one understands why LL Cool J was given the role. For one thing, he is not Ricky Gervais. Actors can do a better job disguising contempt than musicians. The thought of a Gervais-type compère taking potshots at the likes of musical treasures Stevie Wonder or Paul McCartney would have surely sent a shiver down the spine of event organisers. LL Cool J's easy charm and optimism was the kind of steady stewardship the event needed in light of the recent tragedy.
Despite the mournful beginning, the event was full of dazzling performances by a variety of pop stars and legends, including the return of the Beach Boys with Brian Wilson.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off the proceedings with the rocking new single, We Take Care of Our Own.
Bruno Mars maintained his retro-shtick with a soul-fuelled performance channelling James Brown, while Rihanna was assisted by Coldplay in We Found Love before the UK group took over to perform their latest chart topper, Paradise.
The comeback of the reformed Beach Boys was among the most eagerly awaited of the night and the group demonstrated they haven't totally lost their sunny demeanour; their classic Good Vibrations had the audience on their feet in no time. Still, the return of Brian Wilson and Al Jardine, although authentic, lacked the necessary ingredient to persuade punters that a Beach Boys 50th anniversary tour is a good idea.
The same can be said of the Houston tribute performed by Jennifer Hudson. While time constraints prohibited the segment from being a full-blown tribute, Hudson's choice to lovingly cover I Will Always Love You seemed too safe. Perhaps a medley of Houston's songs would have been a better choice.
It was a great evening for the Foo Fighters, who walked away with five Grammys, including Best Rock Album for Wasting Light and Best Hard Rock Performance for White Limo.
But the night belonged to Adele, who despite her winnings remained endearingly humbled by the whole affair. "Thank you so much. This is ridiculous," she blurted when receiving the gong for Record of the Year. "I want to say thank you to every radio programmer and broadcaster that has been playing Rolling in the Deep ... because I know it's not really a pop record."
sasaeed@thenational.ae
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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Info
What: 11th edition of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship
When: December 27-29, 2018
Confirmed: men: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem, Hyeon Chung, Karen Khachanov; women: Venus Williams
Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ae, Virgin megastores or call 800 86 823
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MATCH INFO
Liverpool 2 (Van Dijk 18', 24')
Brighton 1 (Dunk 79')
Red card: Alisson (Liverpool)
Traits of Chinese zodiac animals
Tiger:independent, successful, volatile
Rat:witty, creative, charming
Ox:diligent, perseverent, conservative
Rabbit:gracious, considerate, sensitive
Dragon:prosperous, brave, rash
Snake:calm, thoughtful, stubborn
Horse:faithful, energetic, carefree
Sheep:easy-going, peacemaker, curious
Monkey:family-orientated, clever, playful
Rooster:honest, confident, pompous
Dog:loyal, kind, perfectionist
Boar:loving, tolerant, indulgent
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
The Lowdown
Kesari
Rating: 2.5/5 stars
Produced by: Dharma Productions, Azure Entertainment
Directed by: Anubhav Singh
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Parineeti Chopra
THE DRAFT
The final phase of player recruitment for the T10 League has taken place, with UAE and Indian players being drafted to each of the eight teams.
Bengal Tigers
UAE players: Chirag Suri, Mohammed Usman
Indian: Zaheer Khan
Karachians
UAE players: Ahmed Raza, Ghulam Shabber
Indian: Pravin Tambe
Kerala Kings
UAE players: Mohammed Naveed, Abdul Shakoor
Indian: RS Sodhi
Maratha Arabians
UAE players: Zahoor Khan, Amir Hayat
Indian: S Badrinath
Northern Warriors
UAE players: Imran Haider, Rahul Bhatia
Indian: Amitoze Singh
Pakhtoons
UAE players: Hafiz Kaleem, Sheer Walli
Indian: RP Singh
Punjabi Legends
UAE players: Shaiman Anwar, Sandy Singh
Indian: Praveen Kumar
Rajputs
UAE players: Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed
Indian: Munaf Patel
'Operation Mincemeat'
Director: John Madden
Cast: Colin Firth, Matthew Macfayden, Kelly Macdonald and Penelope Wilton
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
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BRAZIL%20SQUAD
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.