Amy Winehouse Comes Out Of Rehab For Five Grammy Wins

The 50th annual Grammy Awards show was a coming out party for troubled British singer Amy Winehouse, who took five awards and performed two songs via satellite from a London studio. First, she was let out of the rehabilitation clinic she checked into recently for her performance; and second, she was exposed to a much wider audience who might have just previously heard of her through tabloid exploits instead of her dramatic musical talent.

Winehouse beat Feist to win best new artist and best female pop vocal performance, while "Rehab" was named song and record of the year, and Back To Black was declared best pop vocal album. Though Feist was shut out after receiving four nominations, and Nelly Furtado was zero for three, a few Canadians came away with awards.

Joni Mitchell's "One Week Last Summer" was named best pop instrumental performance and, while Mitchell didn't receive a trophy for it, Herbie Hancock's Mitchell tribute, River: The Joni Letters, was named both best contemporary jazz album and (stunningly) best album overall.

Michael Buble's Call Me Irresponsible won him the best traditional pop vocal album prize. And you classical music buffs may care that Brandon, Man. violinist James Ehnes and conductor Bramwell Tovey of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra were given the best instrumental soloist performance with orchestra honour for Barner/Korngold/Walton: Violin Concertos.

Kanye West led the way with eight nominations going into the Grammys, and he was the owner of four at the end of the night. He won for best rap solo performance for "Stronger", rap performance by a duo or group with vocals for his collaboration with Common on "Southside," rap song for "Good Life," and rap album for Graduation.

Here are some random thoughts, observations and questions from Sunday night's Grammy Awards telecast:

Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood and Rihanna all looked hot.There were a few noticeable whoops from the audience when Tom Hanks mentioned that four members of The Band were from Canada when he announced they were receiving a lifetime achievement award.The Cirque Du Soleil presentation of The Beatles' "A Day In The Life" was well-done, and the choir performance of the fab four's "Let It Be" was moving — much more than the extended multi-artist and choir Christian music segment.The online and text message competition to see who would perform with the orchestra accompanying the Foo Fighters was both unnecessary and too long.I'd rather listen to Daft Punk than Kanye West. Though West rapping and talking about his recently deceased mother was touching, shaving "MAMA" into the back of his head seemed more exploitative than a tribute.Is Beyonce's booty getting bigger?How much plastic surgery has Tina Turner had? What about Little Richard?When did Wagon Wheels become so small? (OK, that's a Grammy snack question.)I'd rather listen to John Paul Jones play bass for Led Zeppelin or listen to his production work for the Butthole Surfers than watch him conduct an orchestra performing the bridge of a Foo Fighters song.Feist's performance of "1234" wasn't as catchy as the album version.Kid Rock is no Louis Prima.Why were there two separate Alicia Keys performances? And which one of her collaborators seemed more alive, Frank Sinatra or John Mayer?Dave Stewart is Ringo Starr's bloated twin.The line of the night goes to Vince Gill, after being presented with the best country album Grammy by Starr: "I've just had an award given to me by a Beatle. Have you had that happen to you yet, Kanye?"It was a shrewd move by Grammy producers to keep Winehouse's performance until near the end, as it kept people like me who normally don't like awards shows watching. Winehouse looked and sounded much better than expected. She managed to get references to her jailed husband into each of her two songs as well as her acceptance speech, and she also earned brownie points for alluding to the massive weekend fire that overtook London's Camden Town and caused major damage to her favourite local pub, The Hawley Arms.Grammy boss Neil Portnow looks an awful lot like Canadian children's entertainer Fred Penner.In a musical moment before a rundown of musical figures who've died over the past year, recently deceased Canadian pianist Oscar Peterson had one of his songs performed by a guy with the singular name of Eldar. I'm not sure if he claims to come from France like Beldar did in Saturday Night Live's classic conehead sketches.After seeing John Fogerty live last summer and again on the Grammys, I can honestly state that he still rocks.Will Barack Obama's Grammy win help him secure the Democratic presidential nomination?Have any of you heard the album of the year? I didn't think so.

While all of the winners can be found on the Grammy website, here are some key ones:

Record Of The Year: Amy Winehouse — "Rehab"
Song Of The Year: Amy Winehouse — "Rehab"
Best New Artist: Amy Winehouse
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance: Amy Winehouse — "Rehab"
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance: Justin Timberlake — "What Goes Around… Comes Around"
Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals: Maroon 5 — "Makes Me Wonder"
Best Pop Instrumental Album: Beastie Boys — The Mix-Up
Best Pop Vocal Album: Amy Winehouse — Back To Black
Best Dance Recording: Justin Timberlake — "LoveStoned/I Think She Knows"
Best Electronic/Dance Album: The Chemical Brothers — We Are The Night
Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance: Bruce Springsteen — "Radio Nowhere"
Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals: The White Stripes — "Icky Thump"
Best Hard Rock Performance: Foo Fighters — "The Pretender"
Best Metal Performance: Slayer — "Final Six"
Best Rock Instrumental Performance: Bruce Springsteeen — "Once Upon A Time In The West"
Best Rock Song: Bruce Springsteen — "Radio Nowhere"
Best Rock Album: Foo Fighters — Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Best Alternative Music Album: The White Stripes — Icky Thump
Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album: Steve Earle — Washington Square Serenade
Best Reggae Album: Stephen Marley — Mind Control
Best Comedy Album: Flight Of The Conchords — The Distant Future
Best Recording Package: Bright Eyes — Cassadaga
Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical: Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Mark Ronson)
Best Short Form Music Video: Johnny Cash — "God's Gonna Cut You Down"
Best Long Form Music Video: Madonna — The Confessions Tour