However, that's not to say there weren't some surprises in store. Macy Gray, who (in my opinion) was the best choice running against teen soloists and boy bands, did not win Best New Artist. Teen singer Christina Aguilera did. Somehow, Sheryl Crow managed to take home Best Female Rock Performance with her off-key cover version of Guns & Roses' "Sweet Child Of Mine." And Ricky Martin, the swivel-hipped former Menudo member who is falsely attributed with bringing Latin music to the world, didn't take home a single Grammy in spite of five nominations. So yes, there were a couple of surprises.
The television broadcast featured on-stage performances by three out of the five nominees for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Just before the presentation of this award, the show featured a lengthy segment on Latin music's current popularity. Both Marc Anthony and Ricky Martin gave rousing performances (with Martin dancing in a ring of fire. Miraculously, his tight, black leather pants were not burned off his body). It was a spectacular display, and it set the stage for Sting to lose this award in the face of the latest rage. Sting, it seemed, nominated along with Marc Anthony, Lou Bega, Andrea Bocelli, and Ricky Martin, was old hat.
As one of millions of television viewers, I found myself watching with half-hearted interest as the presenters (Mary J. Blige and 'N Sync) read off the nominees. "Who do you think it's going to be?" asked one of the youngsters, shaking his hips ever so slightly.
And the winner was...STING!
My interest suddenly became whole-hearted as I sat on the edge of a sofa cushion, watching as Trudie Styler, looking like Barbara Eden in "I Dream of Jeannie," grabbed her surprised husband, smothering his face with kisses. Sting, ever the gracious winner, honored the talent of the other nominees in his acceptance of the award.
"I want to thank my parents, because they gave me my voice," Sting said as his album Brand New Day approached platinum. "They're with God now, so they'll tell Him." Sting had lost both his parents in the early 1990s to cancer.
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