THE GRAMMYS: Luther Vandross and Coldplay stole some of hip-hop's thunder at the Grammys in Los Angeles, but rap funksters OutKast still won album of the year for Speakerboxxx-The Love Below, and Beyonce took home a record-tying five trophies.
Despite a tightly scripted show devoid of outrageousness or spontaneity, Janet Jackson's Super Bowl breast flash at the hands of dance partner Justin Timberlake remained the major subplot.
CBS and Jackson offered conflicting reports about why she was not at the show, which was televised on a five-minute delay to avoid anything like the Super Bowl incident. CBS need not have worried - the already staid Grammys were even more conservative than usual.
Curses or cleavage were in short supply, with the exception of Christina Aguilera's dangerously low-cut pink dress.
"I know it's been a rough week on everybody," said Timberlake, stifling a self-deprecating laugh while accepting the best male pop vocal performance award for Cry Me a River.
Vandross, recovering from a stroke, won for best song, best R&B album and best male R&B performance for Dance With My Father and best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals for The Closer I Get to You, a remake he did with Beyonce.
It was the evening's most sentimental victory - the R&B crooner's first win in a major category in his 20-year-plus career. He was unable to attend, but sent a videotaped message: "I want to thank everyone for your love and support. And remember, when I say goodbye it's never for long, because" - and he sang a line from one of his many hits - "I believe in the power of love."
Beyonce turned out to be the queen of the ball, tying a record for female artists with her five awards. But she won none of the top categories of song, record or album of the year.
Rockers Evanescence won best new artist in an upset over rapper 50 Cent - who briefly walked onstage as Evanescence accepted their award.
Rock singer Warren Zevon, who rushed to complete a final album before his death last September, won two awards. June Carter Cash won two posthumous awards, and her husband Johnny Cash and former Beatle George Harrison were also honoured after their deaths.