Grammy Weekend

GRAMMY

So the weekend saw some artistes making a clean sweep of their nominations. 

Highlights: 

Rihanna and Chris Brown, both nominated for awards and scheduled to perform, were absent after the Los Angeles Police Department announced that Brown — who is dating Rihanna — was the subject of an investigation into a felony domestic violence battery from Saturday night.

Brown turned himself into police late Sunday and was released after posting bail. Police booked the 19-year-old R&B singer on suspicion of making a criminal threat.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the big winners at the 51st annual Grammy Awards at Los Angeles' Staples Center, tallying five trophies, including album of the year for the Rounder project "Raising Sand" and record of the year for "Please Read The Letter."

U2 kicked off the broadcast by performing its new single, "Get on Your Boots." The first major award of the night, song of the year, went to Coldplay for "Viva La Vida," which the group performed as part of a medley that began with surprise guest Jay-Z rapping on "Lost." 

Whitney Houston made a surprise appearance to present Jennifer Hudson with the trophy for best R&B album for her self-titled Arista debut. Hudson, whose mother, brother and nephew were murdered in Chicago last fall, was overwhelmed by emotion as she accepted the Grammy. "I would like to thank my family in heaven and those who are here today," she said. The artist later performed "You Pulled Me Through" with the help of a choir.

Lil Wayne — who led the field with eight nominations — won three awards, including best rap album for "Tha Carter III," for which he literally hopped on stage to receive. (His tally came to fourGrammys if you count his inclusion on "Swagger Like Us," which won best rap performance by a duo or group.)

Coldplay also took home three awards, including best rock album for "Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends."