Theo Wargo/WireImage.com8:11 p.m.: Is Kanye West, who shushed the Grammys orchestra that tried to shush him, arrogant? "He has a reason to be," says rapper-producer T-Pain. "I appreciate him and his arrogance."
8:12 p.m.: Mr. T-Pain also likely appreciates that he won the Grammy he's holding for his collaboration with Mr. West, "Good Life."
8:12 p.m.: "I'm from Florida. We have pink cars," T-Pain says, by way of explaining his affinity for colorful things.
8:13 p.m.: Did we mention T-Pain is flashing silver teeth, carrying a silver cane and wearing a top hat that could pass for the Partridge family bus?
8:28p.m.: Josh Groban, a performer tonight with tenor Andrea Bocelli, is fielding a question when a buzz in the room causes him to turn to a TV and watch Herbie Hancock pick up the Grammy for Album of the Year. "Oh really?" says Groban, and he's not the only one surprised.
8:30 p.m.: I ask Groban, he of the devoted-female fan base, if he's ever performed for as many men as he did here at the Grammys. "It was cool to see men and women alike showing the love there tonight," he deadpans.
8:31 p.m.: During the pretelecast ceremony, country winner Carrie Underwood admitted she voted for herself. I ask if she voted for herself in every category or on a more selective basis. "I was only up for two [Grammys], but yeah," Underwood says, and not all that sheepishly, either. "I vote for myself often. I have no shame."
8:33 p.m.: Underwood's advice for American Idol's latest batch of contestants: "Don't take anything for granted." And if Clive Davis were here, I'm sure he'd add: "Don't make albums that Clive Davis doesn't want you to, Kelly Clarkson."
8:48 p.m.: Hey, does affable country star Vince Gill like Kanye West? Why, yes, he does. Not only that, Gill says, "I just enjoy his spunk."8:48 p.m.: Gill won his 19th career Grammy tonight for Best Country Album. And he wouldn't mind winning more. Says Gill: "I'll take as many as they want to give me."
8:50 p.m.: If there's anything more borderline surreal than Vince Gill crediting Kanye West with spunk, it's Vince Gill doing an Amy Winehouse imitation: "I loved her reaction [to winning]—'Ohhh.' "
8:51 p.m.: I ask Grammy president Neal Portnow about the abrupt cutaway from the Winehouse, um, speech. "It was a very emotional moment," Portnow says. "She came not seeming to be someone of a lot of words tonight, [and] we felt that she said the few things that she wanted to."
8:52 p.m.: And that, boys and girls, is what is known as "putting it delicately."
8:52 p.m.: Let "To my Blake incarcerated" ring throughout the land! Portnow says Ms. Winehouse's ramble will air in its entirety on the tape-delay broadcasts.
9:17 p.m.: How surprised was Herbie Hancock by Herbie Hancock winning Album of the Year? How does Kanye West feel about being accused of having spunk? How appreciative are the Foo Fighters that I didn't mess up their shot? We'll never know. In the great Grammys backstage tradition, several of the night's big winners have decided to take a pass on the Q&As. The pressroom is done.
9:18 p.m.: As Amy Winehouse said, "Ohhh..."
—Filed by Joal Ryan