Vanessa Carlton performed with strings, ornate piano noodling, and a pretentious, affected voice. She is the anti-Norah, and should be consigned to oblivion. Sorry.

John Mayer performed his quirky, young-Dave Matthews thing and proved himself a real talent, one I am not particularly fond of, but a talent nonetheless. Regardless of my personal taste, it is extremely encouraging to see yet another young career artist doing his own thing, finding a large audience. Go, Johnny, go.

Sometimes it takes hearing an artist in the midst of his peers to remind you how good he (or she) is: when James Taylor sang "Sweet Baby James," backed by Yo-Yo Ma on cello, the uniqueness of his large, genteel backwoods, hickory and honey voice was almost startling in its familiar goodness, reassuringly connecting with a receptor deep within the collective brain. Taylor's is the kind of presence we periodically return to whenever he plays himself particularly well, as he does on his latest October Road. We need such rocks in the storm.

There was some silliness with Kim Cattrall and P. Puffy Diddy Daddy exchanging single entendres regarding male performance, and Eminem won Best Rap Album - no complaint there, the dude is a 100% serious artist who has grown into his role and transcended the race question with his talent, diligence and respect for his forebears. I still find his nasal, singsongy voice somewhat irritating, but when he is catchy he is unstoppable. I am always happy to be proved wrong when I dismiss someone prematurely, as I surely did with Eminem. Sorry Marshall.

After that snappy Saturn car ad with Alphaville's piercingly insistent "Forever Young" - I always loved that song and "Big In Japan" from the same album - it was back to the wars and the Dixie Chicks performing Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide." Whoa, they blow Stevie Nicks' version away, especially after Stevie's voice descended into a cocaine gravel pit.

Little Natalie Maines, daughter of producer/steel guitar legend Lloyd Maines, is a mighty fine lead singer, and the bluegrass-based musicianship and sparkling harmonies provided by the statuesque bookends of sisters Emily Robison and Martie Seidel make the Chicks something real and special. Another surprise pop success grounded in actual artistic soil, not just the air and water vapors of marketing. The Chicks' Home wins Best Country Album.

And that's a good place to take a break.

Please see Part 2 here.