Five moments from the Grammys last night

1) Nicki Minaj arrived with the Pope

While it can probably be safely assumed that the old robed man who arrived at the Grammys on the arm of Nicki Minaj was not the actual Pope, it’s still worth noting that the rapper chose to bring a Pope to the ceremony. As a precursor to her (widely-criticised) ‘rap exorcism’ that came later in show – as she performed her latest single ‘Roman Holiday’ – Minaj brought a little piece of Catholic symbolism with her to the red carpet. Perhaps this was an effort to outshine Gaga’s “egg moment” of last year’s awards; if that’s the case, then it’s unfortunate that most reports of last night have used Gaga’s example to try to explain Nicki’s behaviour.

2) Rihanna performed with Coldplay

In one of the best performances of the night, Coldplay brought out famous singer Rihanna to help perform their duet ‘Princess of China’, before launching into ‘Paradise’, both songs from their latest album Mylo Xyloto .

3) Bon Iver won Best New Artist

Bon Iver, whose debut album was released in 2007, won ‘Best New Artist.’

4) Adele made an acceptance speech that included the word “snot”

In the most significant of her many acceptance speeches of the night, Adele brought an armful of slapstick British humour to the ceremony last night. During her speech for her ‘Best Album’ Grammy, Adele bellowed in her surprisingly un-melodic speaking voice “Mum – girl did good!” and apologised for her “snot” as she expressed her glee through surprised tears.

5) Everyone missed Whitney Houston

With the news of Whitney Houston’s tragic death on Saturday casting a grim shadow over the night, many artists tearfully paid homage to the late singer. Her legacy was looming large from the first moments of the ceremony, as LL Cool J opened the show by leading a prayer for Houston, and most notably, Jennifer Hudson was brought in to sing a powerful rendition of Whitney’s most-loved song, ‘I Will Always Love You.’