Robert Plant and Alison Krauss take album of the year with "Raising Sand," beating out a gang of edgier bands that people under 40 like? That wasn’t utterly predictable.

Overall, it was a fairly bland, forgettable Grammy show, though there were some enjoyable moments in the last hour: The Bo Diddley tribute; Justin Timberlake and T.I. with the nice string arrangement for “Dead and Gone”; Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles knocking it out of the park on her own hit before helping Adele out on “Chasing Pavements.” And can’t forget my favorite goofball moment of the night, a sweaty and possibly buzzed Jay Mohr standing at L.L. Cool J’s side and shouting out Farmer’s Boulevard. You know, that's where he and E out. Cool out. Know what he's sayin'? That's where the crib's at. Sweet! So what stands out for you all?

“The Rap Pack,” featuring M.I.A.’s Maya Arulpragasam, five minutes away from droppin’ a baby, in a see-through outfit and obviously lip-syncing. Weird! Were there other people on the stage with her? Didn’t notice.

Paul McCartney with Dave Grohl on drums works better than the other match-ups I've been complaining about since Dave’s headed for the Rock Hall himself and all. But considering some of the more obnoxious pairings in recent years, I wouldn’t have been surprised if Sir Paul showed up and did a duet with Soulja Boy.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it, Katy Perry. You like kissing girls, cherry chapstick – blah blah blah. Now that off-key performance would have been a good place to insert some other obnoxious, fly by night pop star, not during one by a legend like Stevie freakin' Wonder! And what was Katy Perry wearing? All she was missing was one of those fruit headdresses from back in the day. If she was going for kitsch, mission accomplished. But to quote “American Idol’s” Randy Jackson, “That was not good, dog.”

- Whoah! Speaking of taking risks with fashion, Kanye pushes the style envelope once again and parties like it’s 1985 with a shag! Hey, if the hipsters on Capitol Hill can rock mullets in 2009, then why not? But personally, I think he should have really gone for it and rocked the high top fade. Maybe he didn't have time to grow one out. And love how he slipped in the oh-so-Kanye whine about not getting nominated for best new artist when he was eligible. At least he didn't flip out. But wonder if Estelle thought she was about to have a Mike Meyers moment for a second up there.

- Plant and Krauss win again for record of the year. Out of that batch, I was pulling for M.I.A.'s “Paper Planes,” even if the Clash should get a lot of the credit for that sick sample. Not that M.I.A. had an ice cube's chance in hell of winning against Robert Plant. Interesting comment from the guy, though, on the song’s origins.

“It’s an old song Jimmy Page and I wrote, post Led Zeppelin,” he said, drawing a smattering of cheers for his old band. Now if only they’d sort out their differences and get that Zep tour on the road already. I'm being optimistic and hoping all those Plant-less tour and feud rumors are just calculated publicity.

A few more observations during the commercial break:

- Figured Coldplay would take song of the year with “Viva la Vida” (even if “42” and “Yes” were better cuts in my humble opinion.) More of the self-deprecating humor with the joke about ripping off Paul McCartney. Chris Martin has already joked about ripping off everyone from Radiohead to Jeff Buckley, and it's a good way to defuse the haters, I guess.

- Kid Rock’s “wife beaters” must all be in the laundry. The guy cleans up pretty well, anyway. And the least he could do was acknowledge the late, great Billy Powell considering how he’s cashed in by ripping of Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” Jeez! Did he have a whole army on stage with him like that at the Puyallup Fair?

- Jennifer Hudson’s tearful “You Pulled Me Through” is, hands down, the best performance so far. It had to be tough for her keep it together during the performance between that poignant selection and the way her tragedy played out so publicly. Best wishes go out to her.

Wha-wha-what? The legendary Stevie Wonder on stage with the frickin’ Jonas Brothers? Nothing against the Jo Bros themselves even though I'm not a 12-year-old girl. They seem like nice enough lads and all, but get off of Stevie's stage! It's now official. The Grammys … must … be … stopped.

We're at the first commercial break, and just a few observations so far:

- Was it just me or did Whitney Houston seem a little out of it? And she sounded weird for a minute there, like she was doing an Eartha Kitt impression or something.

- Al Green should have won for "Lay It Down," easily my favorite R&B/soul cut of '08. But I cheated and peeked at some of the East Coast coverage and knew it would be Jennifer Hudson. Hard not to pull for her, and the acceptance speech kind of tugged at the heart strings after the tragic year she's had.

- Why do the Grammy people insist on jamming a million superstars on one stage, often ones that don't seem to really go together. Would have much rather seen Al Green by himself, even if Justin Timberlake kind of held his own. And the thing with Jay-Z joining Chris Martin during Coldplay's set did not work for me. Not at all. They finished strong, but this won't be as memorable as their performance of "Politik" a few shows back.

- On the country tip, Carrie Underwood kind of rocked out on "Last Name." Kind of wish I hadn't blown her off to see Heart when she was at the Puyallup Fair last fall. Maybe the tables will be reversed with Heart playing this year's Fair. Was kind of pulling for the Steeldrivers for country song by a group or duo, but should have figured on Sugarland. Love me some Jennifer Nettles. She's so funny.

Well, if you've got satellite TV or checked out all the spoilers online, you already know many of tonight's winners. But I'll be blogging during commercial breaks during the West Coast broadcast. So check back in a bit.

Buckcherry, featuring singer Josh Todd and guitarist Keith Nelson, got the Tacoma Dome all “Lit Up” last night. Click the “more” button to read more about what went down.
ERNEST JASMIN

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I'd been wanting to catch up with Olympia singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson for a while, ever since several of her songs helped the soundtrack for "Juno" become perhaps the most unlikely No. 1 album of 2008. She's been elusive for sure, but finally I got her on the phone for a spell to talk about the soundtrack being up for a Grammy tonight. And I've gotta say she was worth the wait. I found her to be disarmingly thoughtful, genuine and modest as we talked about everything from her recent concert at Thurston County's Timberline Library to Samuel L. Jackson.

Here are a couple of sound bites for starters. Check back later, and I may have a few more clips posted. And pick up a copy of the Sunday Trib to read the Kimya Q & A I wrote to go with our Grammy coverage.

Pt. 1: How she got involved with "Juno," how "silly" being embraced by the mainstream feels

Pt. 2: The next soundtrack she'll be on; her newest obsession ... community choir