Amy Winehouse is the Best and the Worst of the 2008 Grammy Awards

Troubled British soul singer Amy Winehouse took the top honors at the 50^th Annual Grammy Awards held on February 10^th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Winehouse won five of the six awards she was nominated for. The singer won the awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year for the song "Rehab." She also was awarded best pop vocal performance and best pop vocal album for the album Back to Black. The Best New Artist award also went to Winehouse, who was unable to attend to ceremony after her request for a US Visa was denied earlier this week.

Kanye West won four trophies. During the televised portion, West took home the award for Best Rap Album for his album Graduation. During his acceptance, the never humble artist boasted about his amazingness and scolded the show for starting the music before he finished his acceptance speech in which he gave tribute to her mother. In addition, West also won for best rap performance for "Stronger," best rap duo or group performance for "Southside" featuring rapper Common, and best rap song for "Good Life."

West's performance exemplified why he deserved the accolades he received. He performed "Stronger" in an elaborate stage production complete with a pitch black stage, smoke, and neon lights. Afterwards he performed an emotional tribute to his mother, Dr. Donda West who died suddenly late last November. He performed a remixed version of "Hey Mama" with an image of an angelic figure in the background. He also had the word "mama" shaved into his head.

After opening the ceremony with a beautiful duet of "Learnin' the Blues" with a video image of the late great Frank Sinatra, Alicia Keys took home the first televised award of the night. Keys beat out Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Fantasia Barrino and newcomer Chrisette Michelle for Best Female R&B Performance for the song "No One." She later performed the song in a high energy duet with John Mayer.