The 51st Grammy Awards were held Sunday, February 8th at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The night was filled with top performers like U2, Coldplay, Lil Wayne, Stevie Wonder, Katy Perry, Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl.

New artists performed with the old such as The Jonas Brothers with Stevie Wonder, a duo that was, well, unexpected.

"I was ultimately shocked when a band of the Disney brand performed with Stevie Wonder, a recognized legend across the globe. I was sorely disappointed that Wonder had to perform with a group that was so obviously below his caliber," said Rachel Webber, junior.

Justin Timberlake performed with Al Green, again another unexpected performance due to the domestic dispute between Chris Brown, who was supposed to perform, and Rihanna. Other artists joined together to sing, "Swagger Like Us" with Kanye West, T.I., Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and M.I.A.

This year’s biggest stars were Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. The artists won five well deserved awards for their collaborative album Raising Sand. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant won Record of the Year for "Please Read the Letter," Album of the Year for Raising Sand, Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Rich Woman," Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for "Killing the Blues," and Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album for Raising Sand.

The second biggest winner was Lil Wayne, nominated for four awards and winning all including Best Rap Album for Tha Carter III, Best Rap Solo Performance for "A Milli," Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Swagger Like Us"-Jay-Z& T.I. featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne, and Best Rap Song for "Lollipop." Lil Wayne will most likely continue his rise to fame, performing at Grammy’s in future years.

The third winner was alternative rock artist Coldplay, nominated for several awards but walked away with Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the same song, "Viva la Vida" as well as Best Rock Album for Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends. "Viva la Vida" became the band’s first number on the Billboard Hot 100 for its simple tune and sing-along chorus. I will admit, I sing along when this song comes on the radio.

Best New Artist of the year went to Adele, an English singer best known for her musical style as heartbroken soul. Of the list of new artists, Adele truly deserved her win. Her album peaked at #54 on the Billboard 200. Adele also won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her hit song "Chasing Pavements."

We get so wrapped up in the performances and anticipated wins of artists we see and hear all the time, that we forget about the smaller but equally admirable performers. The Juno soundtrack, earned the award for Compilations Soundtrack. It sold 65,000 copies. The Dark Knight’s score was awarded Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture. That wasn’t surprising, considering the movie itself won awards as well. Best Song Written for Motion Picture was "Down to Earth" from a personal favorite, Wall-E. Not only is the song a message for this generation and the next but has lyrics that will get stuck in your head, "we’re comin down to the ground, there’s no better place t go, we’ve got snow up on the mountains, we’ve got rivers down below."

The night was filled with expected and well deserved wins, but also filled with surprises. Not just the Chris Brown and Rihanna fiasco, but Blink 182 reunited at the Grammys to present an award.