Despite The Beatles’ reunion performance and a big white wedding, this year’s 56thannual Grammy Awards was generally average, with some stellar performances and many lackluster acts.The Grammys started the night off right by opening with pop’s power couple, Beyoncé and Jay-Z who performed their new single “Drunk in Love.” Beyoncé’s performance was simple, yet intimate. Her voice was incredible, even when she was singing upside down, proving that she’s the Queen of Pop.

Lorde took the stage soon after, performing for the first time at an American awards show. She was dressed in an unflattering menswear and danced in a weird exorcist-like fashion while she sang her smash hit “Royals”. Her vocals were powerful, but her performance matched her awkward personality.  The song later won Best Pop Solo and
Song of the Year.

After Hunter Hayes’s boring performance, Daft Punk was presented with the Pop Duo/Group award for their song “Get Lucky”. The group definitely got lucky last night, dominating almost every category they were nominated in, including Record of the Year and Album of the Year. They also performed with Pharrell Williams and Stevie Wonder, marking their second televised performance in their musical career.

Katy Perry’s performance was more of what I expected from the Grammys. It was over-the-top and dramatic, simulating a witch scene that ended with the burning at the stake. Although it was strange, it was enticing and predictable for a Katy Perry performance.

After two great collaboration performances by Robin Thicke and 70’s band Chicago as well as Keith Urban and Gary Clark Jr., John Legend mellowed the mood with his solo performance of his single “All of Me”. He played the piano and it sounded absolutely beautiful, giving me and the audience the chills.

Shortly after, Paul McCartney took home the award for Best Rock song for “Cut Me Some Slack.”

Taylor Swift took the stage and performed “All Too Well” from her album “Red.” The song was reminiscent of her old songs like “Teardrops on My Guitar.” Her vocals were decent, but when the beat picked up she started violently head-banging, which was extremely distracting.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’s first televised performance, Ringo Starr performed “Photograph” to a montage of old photos of him and the other three Beatles. Later, Paul McCartney and Ringo performed McCartney’s song “New” together. The performance was a great tribute to an influential band in music’s history and it was touching to see them reunite on stage.

Jamie Foxx introduced and presented Best Rap Collaboration after going off track to talk about his attraction to Beyoncé. Ironically, Jay-Z took home the Grammy for his collaboration with Justin Timberlake on “Holy Grail.”

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis dominated the awards in the rap genre, beating long-time rappers, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Kayne West and Drake.

One of the most interesting collaborations was Imagine Dragons with Kendrick Lamar. Initially, I thought that this pair would not work out and would end up sounding awful, but instead the performance was incredible. It brought up the energy in the room and the transition between “Radioactive” and “M.A.A.D. City” was flawless. The song made it to the iTunes top 10 during the performance.

Bruno Mars took Best Pop Vocal Album for “Unorthodox Jukebox” and after a multi-generation country performance with Willy Nelson and Blake Shelton, the Best Country Album went to Kasey Musgraves, who performed her song “Follow Your Arrow”, from her album “Same Trailer Different Park”.

After a few more performances and another win for Daft Punk with Record of the Year, Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis, who also won Best New Artist, performed their iconic song “Same Love” that ended, literally, with holy matrimony. The stage was set up like a church and during the song, Queen Latifa came out to marry 33 gay and straight couples in the audience. It was beautiful and unexpected, and perfectly captured the message of the song.

The 56th annual Grammys brought together the most popular artists of the year to form an eclectic, mediocre night of performances and awards. Let’s hope that next year’s Grammys don’t disappoint.