The Grammy Awards are known for their amazing performances, the crowning of upcoming artists. and of course, the awkwardly cutoff speeches. The 57th annual Grammys on Sunday, February 8th was no exception.

Sam Smith was the biggest winner of the night, raking in four awards. He has recently become popular due to his emotionally driven vocal skills, and he won Record of the Year with “Stay with Me.” His second speech was motivating as he ended it by saying that he had been making music for a long time, but only after he began to be himself did it actually sound good. After thanking his producers and family, he also had to thank his ex-boyfriend for breaking his heart and giving him the four Grammys.

When the nominees for album of the year were announced, I thought anybody had a chance except for Beck. However, I could not have been more wrong. Almost everyone was surprised by his win, and “Kanye West almost pulled a Kanye West” when he went on stage with Beck, looking like he was about to steal the mic. Luckily it was just a joke, but Kanye was truly unhappy with the decision.

As usual, there were many memorable performances. Pharrell’s twist on his hit “Happy” was fun to hear, along with “Four Five Seconds” by Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney.

The show completely stopped when a woman delivered a powerful spoken-word poem about her own experiences of domestic violence. It was followed by a performance by Katy Perry that dragged on a little too long, but continued the same important message. President Obama also made use of the platform to deliver a prerecorded speech against domestic violence. It has been a hot issue since the bone-chilling Super Bowl commercial, and so much attention and support will hopefully help people who are living in dangerous situations.

Beyonce closed the show with a beautiful rendition of “Take My Hand, Precious Lord.” This has been the first time since 1990 that the Grammys has not televised the Rap/Hip Hop section, which has angered many. Directors may have cut it since almost none of the winners were present, but that is not a valid reason to disregard such a mainstream genre. With so much backlash, the Grammy Awards may bring it back for next year. Overall, it was a captivating ceremony with some funny moments and surprising winners, for better or for worse.