With so much of this year's Grammy telecast getting taken up by performances that are related to the 50th anniversary of the awards instead of the winners of 2007, there will be more pre-show awards than usual.
Luckily, the Grammys are streaming them online for the first time, allowing us to catch cute acceptance speeches from Duncan Sheik ("After being described as a Grammy nominee for 10 years, I think I like the new designation better") for winning best musical show album for "Spring Awakening" and Patti Austin ("You can tell I'm in shock, I'm wearing Crocs") for winning best jazz vocal album.
Among the early winners, Barack Obama beat out two former presidents -- Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter -- as well as Maya Angelou and Alan Alda for best spoken word album. And some Long Islanders got some Grammy love second hand, as a Benny Benassi remix of Public Enemy's "Bring the Noise" won best remixed recording, non-classical, and the Turtle Island Quartet's "A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane" won best classical crossover album, beating out Massapequa native Brian Setzer's "Wolfgang's Big Night Out."