The year's show also demonstrated the Grammys' recognition of how much electronic dance music has taken over pop.
Death has loomed over pop almost from the minute that pop began: rock'n'roll had been a mainstream phenomenon for barely two years when Buddy Holly and Richie Valens died in February 1959.
The driver pulled over, popped the trunk and discovered Mr. Carrington sitting cross-legged inside it, surrounded by the briefcases, waving his long arms and calling, "Helllooooo".
In the last few years, acts like Britney Spears and 'N Sync have taken over pop radio with impassioned vocals and syncopated rhythms.
After taking over pop radio, wedding dancefloors, school discos and everywhere in between, Pharrell Williams's mega-hit Happy has become the most downloaded track ever in the UK.
"I thought that art students were going to take over pop culture," he said.
If there's any left over, pop it into a glass and chill it for later.
An unnecessary and miscast voice-over pops up to deliver clichés ("And just when you think things can't possible get any worse... ......) in a voice as grating as a carnival barker's.
That so many female singers love Mr. Gordon's songs is inexplicable to critics who find his warmed-over pop style terribly cloying.
"Just when you think his life has been thoroughly raked over, up pops another lover.
