The Grammys definitely proved to be ladies’ night with big wins from Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, and unforgettable performances by Lady Gaga and Pink.

Beyoncé hauled off with six Gramophones, including one for “Song of the Year.” Swift earned four awards, including the night’s top prize: “Album of the Year.” The awards were the first the 20-year-old has won in her career.

“I hope that you know how much this means to me … that we get to take this back to Nashville,” Swift exclaimed during her acceptance speech.  

And in a rare PDA moment for Bey, the former Destiny’s Child front woman acknowledged Jay-Z in her acceptance speech.

“I'd like to thank my family, including my husband,” Bey said about a stunned Hova. “I love you.”

But the Grammys are in large part “music’s biggest night” because of the performances that have music fans gathering around the water cooler the next day – or these days, Tweeting that night. This year was all about the duets and collaborations. 

Lady Gaga opened the 3 ½-hour show with “Poker Face.” After presumably being “burned” alive, Gaga brought out Elton John (on dueling pianos) to cover the stars’ “Speechless” and “Your Song.”

In a much anticipated performance, crooner Maxwell dazzled has largely female fan base with “Pretty Wings” before Roberta Flack joined him. The two covered “Where Is The Love?” a hit for Flack, and her former collaborator Donny Hathaway. 

A disappointing point in the evening came at the start of the Michael Jackson tribute. Usher, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood and Smokey Robinson did “Earth Song” proud, the first tribute to touch on MJ as a humanitarian. But if you were without 3-D glasses, the effects were quite distracting.

Missed the telecast? We’ve got you covered. 

Highs:

·         Rocker Pink revealed her softer side during “Glitter In The Air,” from her platinum-selling “Funhouse.” During her (very wet) aerial act, her live vocals remained flawless.

·         Andrea Bocelli and Mary J. Blige were pitch-perfect during their rendition of “Like A Bridge Over Troubled Water.” The duet was a tribute to Haiti, in the aftermath of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked the island nation last month.

·         The Black Eyed Peas showed that energy never dies with them. The group put a futuristic spin on “Imma Be” and “I Gotta Feeling,” complete with robots, spaceman and post-Armageddon costumes.

Lows:

·         Despite the well deserved honors, Beyoncé’s “If I Were A Boy” was quite disjointed. The songstress, in a leather/rhinestone dress, was surrounded by underused SWAT-style extras. Bey cuts in with an ode to Alanis Morrisette with her Grammy-winning debut single, “You Oughta Know.” The avant garde performance misses the mark big time.

·         Jamie Foxx and T-Pain do “Blame It” with an opera theme. Guitarist Slash and hip-hop legend Doug E. Fresh are grossly wasted among the disorder onstage.

·         Lil Wayne/Drake/Eminem/Travis Barker: The potential was there for an epic performance of Wayne’s “Drop The World” and Drizzy’s “Forever.” But with the noticeable absence of Kanye West and the FCC’s heavy hand on the censor button, the performance lost a lot of its edge.

Best of the night: Lady Gaga and Elton John.

Worst of the night: Beyoncé. (Sorry, single ladies.)

But what did you think? Do we have it all wrong? Weigh in, family.