MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The Grammys were last night. Millions tuned in to see who won and who didn't and, of course, the most important thing, who wore what. This year, CBS sent out a memo outlining the expected dress code banning - and, forgive me, but I'm quoting here, "bare, fleshy under-curves of the buttocks and butt crack and puffy, bare-skinned exposure," among other things.
While most attendees adhered to those rules, a few still pushed the envelope. Here is a clip of Jennifer Lopez and artist Pitbull talking about her high split dress that barely made the cut.
(SOUNDBITE OF GRAMMY AWARDS BROADCAST)
JENNIFER LOPEZ: So, as you can see, I read the memo.
PITBULL: No, mama. You are (foreign language spoken). You look beautiful. You look gorgeous and you inspired the memo. That's the difference.
LOPEZ: Yikes. Maybe.
MARTIN: Fashion wasn't the only excitement. Justin Timberlake made his much-anticipated comeback. He performed his new single, "Suit and Tie," for the Grammy audience. One of the biggest surprises of the night came when rapper Jay-Z joined him on stage.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE: Get out that (unintelligible).
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SUIT AND TIE")
JAY-Z: (Singing) All black at the white show. White shoes at the black show. Yeah. (Unintelligible) show. (Unintelligible) best of the best.
TIMBERLAKE: (Singing) Yeah.
JAY-Z: (Singing) (Unintelligible).
MARTIN: Now, to the winners. Among them were the groups, Fun and Mumford and Sons, singer Frank Ocean took home the Grammys for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best Rap Sung Collaboration. Last year, the singer made big waves, both for his innovative style and for disclosing that he had had an intimate relationship with a man. It was considered a groundbreaking moment for hip-hop, but his live performance of the song, "Forrest Gump," underwhelmed. In social media chatter, some said he was actually off tune.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "FORREST GUMP")
FRANK OCEAN: (Singing) I know you wouldn't hurt a beetle, but you're so buff and so strong. I'm nervous, Forrest. Forrest Gump, my fingertips and my lips will burn from the cigarettes. Forrest Gump, you read my mind, boy.
MARTIN: Singer Miguel also took home the Grammy for Best R&B Song. We hope you heard Miguel on this program previously, so let's congratulate him and here's a clip of him performing his Grammy-winning song, "Adorn."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ADORN")
MIGUEL: (Singing) Baby, these lips can't wait to taste your skin. Baby, no one else, and these eyes - they can't wait to see your...
MARTIN: And we'll leave you with more music from Miguel.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ADORN")
MIGUEL: (Singing) These lips can't wait to taste your skin. Baby, no, no. And these eyes can't wait to see your grin.
MARTIN: Coming up, it's almost February 14th and love is in the air, or not.
STEVEN PETROW: To those people who still - even being romantic - just give up.
MARTIN: From first dates to true love to escaping the friend zone, we're talking about how to mind your manners in the love department. Your Valentine's Day etiquette questions with our etiquette experts. That's coming up next on TELL ME MORE from NPR News. I'm Michel Martin.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ADORN")
MIGUEL: (Singing) Baby, these fists will always protect you. Lady, and this mind will never neglect you. Yeah, baby. And if they trying to break us down, don't let that affect us. No, baby. You just got to let my love - let my love - let my love adorn you. Let it just adorn you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
MARTIN: Has a focus on girls' achievement pushed boys to the back of the class? On most standardized tests, on average, boys scored just as well if not better than girls, but they're far less likely than girls to take advanced classes and get good grades. So what's going on? We'll ask our roundtable of parents and someone who's been writing about this for years. That's next time on TELL ME MORE.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
