SHOW BITS

Dealing and dissing at the Grammys

[February 11, 2013]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Show Bits brings you the 55th annual Grammy Awards through the eyes of Associated Press journalists. Follow them on Twitter where available with the handles listed after each item.

RICK ROSS WORKS IT

Rick Ross is a businessman as much as he is a rapper.

"There's a lot of networking to be done here," he said on the red carpet at Sunday's Grammy Awards, adding he had already done "three or four deals."

Ross likes how his genre has taken what he sees as its rightful place at the annual ceremony.

"I feel like hip hop is most definitely more present at the Grammys," he said, noting the presence of what he called such "underground legends" as Nas.

--Beth Harris
http://twitter.com/bethharrisap

THE BROWN-OCEAN STANDOFF

Chris Brown clapped -- but didn't stand -when Frank Ocean beat him for the urban contemporary album Grammy.

The standing ovation snub between the pair, who brawled last month over a parking space at a West Hollywood studio, was clearly captured in a screenshot posted on Twitter by the site BuzzFeed.

The image shows Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban, Jennifer Lopez, Adele and several others on their feet while Brown remains seated.

BuzzFeed's photo of Brown's diss was retweeted hundreds of times just a few minutes after it was posted.

--Derrik J. Lang
http://twitter.com/derrikjlang

SKIRTING THE GRAMMY DRESS CODE

Kelly Rowland, in a revealing long black dress, says she just barely skirted this year's Grammy dress code. Sort of.

"I almost broke the code," the R&B singer joked backstage Sunday.

"If I turn to the side I might," she added to laughter.

Rowland was referring to the memo that CBS, the show's broadcaster, put out this week asking that participants make sure "buttocks and female breasts are adequately covered."

Rowland's Georges Chakra dress had portions that are see-through.

--Mesfin Fekadu
http://twitter.com/MusicMesfin

ADELE: NO TIME TO BE COOL

Adele says she's been so busy singing nursery rhymes to her new baby son that "I don't really remember what's cool and what's not."

Still, she was cool enough to add another Grammy to last year's six-award sweep when she won Sunday night for pop vocal performance for "Set Fire to the Rain (Live)."

That may have to hold her for a while.

She's set to perform her Golden Globe-winning song from the James Bond film "Skyfall" at the Oscars in a couple weeks, and says she's been so busy she's had little time to work on her new album.

"I'm not very far along at all," Adele confessed backstage at the Grammy Awards. "I've been out of the loop really."

--Sandy Cohen
http://twitter.com/APSandy

QUICKQUOTE: NATE RUESS

"I don't know what I was thinking writing the chorus for this song. If this is in HD, everybody can see our faces, and we are not very young." -- fun. lead singer Nate Ruess as the band accepted the song of the year Grammy for "We Are Young."

--Sandy Cohen
http://twitter.com/APSandy

GRAMMYS DON'T WAIT FOR ANYONE

The Grammy Awards show started at 8 p.m. EST. Not at 8:05 or 8:07 or 8:10

The late-arriving celebrity crowd quickly learned that fact when they were kept in a vestibule with all the regular folks until the first commercial break. Only then were they allowed to take their seats.

That meant Drake, Jenna Jameson and Tito Ortiz had to cool their heels while Taylor Swift opened the show with her exuberant performance of "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."

The waiting continued as host LL Cool J greeted the audience and on through Ed Sheeran and Elton John's performance.

The stars' handlers did manage to move them to the front of the line that was waiting to get in.

--Nekesa Mumbi Moody
http://twitter.com/nekesamumbi

TAYLOR SETS TWEETERS ATWITTER

Did Taylor Swift just launch World War III?

After Swift broke into a faux British accent during her Grammy-opening performance, several One Direction fans took to Twitter to voice their disdain at the apparent dig at one of the singer's former flames, One Direction member (and native Brit) Harry Styles.

The English-accented flourish came when Swift started speaking in the middle of an "Alice in Wonderland"-like performance of her Grammy-nominated song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."

Reaction was swift.

"Did Taylor Swift just do an English accent?" director Judd Apatow tweeted immediately after it happened.

--Derrik J. Lang
http://twitter.com/derrikjlang

QUICKQUOTE: BONNIE RAITT

"I was up against all these guys who had much bigger records and a bigger splash. It makes an old girl feel good." -- 63-year-old singer-songwriter Bonnie Raitt, who earned her 10th career Grammy in the best Americana album category for "Slipstream," beating out a field that included Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers and The Avett Brothers.

--Beth Harris
http://twitter.com/bethharrisap

QUICKQUOTE: TAYLOR SWIFT

"So he calls me up and he's like, 'I still love you.' And I'm like, 'I'm sorry, I'm busy opening up the Grammys.'" -- Taylor Swift, during her show-opening performance of her Grammy-nominated song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."

--Anthony McCartney
http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

KIMBRA WAS THE CHARM

After Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" won the Grammy for best pop duo/group performance, he revealed that Kimbra wasn't his first, or even his second, choice for the song.

He had already gone through two female singers for the track and was waiting on another vocalist when "she called out."

"I built so much expectation with that vocalist that I was feeling a little crushed," he said backstage after collecting the Grammy.

It came down to Kimbra to sing on the song that was recorded in her apartment. It was last year's biggest hit.

As for the unnamed singer, Gotye said she makes wonderful music on her own and "shouldn't be mad."

Gotye also won the Grammy for best alternative music album for "Making Mirrors."

--Mesfin Fekadu
http://twitter.com/MusicMesfin

QUICKQUOTE: FRANK OCEAN

"I have to perform tonight so the wheels are constantly spinning. You can't really just sit in your seat and take it all in." Frank Ocean on his expectations for the Grammy Awards.

--Beth Harris
http://twitter.com/bethharrisap

QUICKQUOTE: FLORENCE WELCH

"I have to keep brushing mine down." -- Florence Welch on the green sequins on her Grammy Awards dress.

--Anthony McCartney
http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

DRESSING ROOM MATES

Kelly Clarkson is in good company backstage at the Grammys.

The original "American Idol" champion, who's performing at Sunday's ceremony, posted a photo to Instagram of her dressing room door, which featured the names of her roommates: Alicia Keys and Miranda Lambert.

"Our dressing room rules!" wrote the "Stronger" singer.

Clarkson later uploaded photos of her glam squad curling her hair, as well as a close-up of her glittery custom nail polish.

"Should we call it 'Stronger'?" she asked.

--Derrik J. Lang
http://twitter.com/derrikjlang

QUICKQUOTE: FRANK OCEAN

"It would mean my name changes in the press forever." -- Frank Ocean, speaking on the red carpet about what winning a Grammy would mean to him.

--Nekesa Mumbi Moody
http://twitter.com/nekesamumbi

QUICKQUOTE: JOHN PAUL WHITE

"I think it's appropriate that Taylor thanks us. We've been carrying her for a while and it's getting a little tiring," John Paul White of the Civil Wars, who won a Grammy for the song "Safe & Sound" from "The Hunger Games," which he co-wrote with Taylor Swift.

--Sandy Cohen
http://twitter.com/APSandy

ESPERANZA SPALDING LEARNED LESSON WELL

Last year's best new artist, Esperanza Spalding, is back winning Grammys again this year -- with a little help from the music teacher who began training her when she was 8.

The jazz star and her teacher, Thara Memory, claimed the award for best instrumental arrangements accompanying vocalist(s) for "City of Roses" at Sunday's Grammy pre-telecast.

Spalding escorted Memory to the stage to accept the award and was moved when speaking about their student-teacher relationship. She also noted the "City of Roses" composition features some of Memory's 16-year-old students.

Spalding also won a Grammy Sunday for best jazz vocal album for "Radio Music Society."

--Mesfin Fekadu
http://twitter.com/MusicMesfin

[Associated Press]

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