Sitting in the audience at last night's Grammy's, CGG imagined that the minds of so many of the stars seated near us (JAY-Z, T.I., SNOOP DOGG) were preoccupied with Rihanna's well-being following her alleged assault by boyfriend CHRIS BROWN Her performance, scheduled to be the second of the evening, had been replaced a sudden last-minute duet by JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE and one of his idols, AL GREEN. And CHRIS BROWN, who was nominated for Best Performance by a Duo or Group with JORDIN SPARKS (which, btw, was in competition with RIHANNA and MAROON 5's duet) was also not in his seat.

Still, the show must go on. And despite the sad news involving the two young artists that many of the stars had just learned about as they made their way to Los Angeles' Staples Center, CGG is pleased to report that the Biggest Night in Music was one of the best we've attended in years.

Some of our favorite bits were when . . .

* WILL.I.AM -- who ruled YouTube last year with "Yes We Can", his star-studded tribute to the then-Democratic candidate -- went off the teleprompter to say, "Congratulations to PRESIDENT OBAMA."

* The ever-classy JORDIN SPARKS led a semi-standing ovation for ALLISON KRAUSS and ROBERT PLANT (above), who won Best Performance by a Duo or Group over her and CHRIS BROWN, who were nom'd for "No Air".

(BTW, JORDIN asked CGG to thank the voters who gave her high Do Scores, resulting in her inclusion on Do Something's Top 20 Most Inspiring Stars of 2008 list. She added that she'd spent the last few days in the studio writing for her new album and that she plans on doing more charity work soon: "It means so much to me to do things that help other people," she said.)

* Do Something's Key Change Grant winners (the program was co-sponsored by the Grammy Foundation) walked the red carpet with "T-Shirt" singer SHONTELLE. Like our five extraordinary young change-leaders, she's using music to make positive change. (Listen up for her just-out duet with AKON, "Stuck on Each Other".)

* COLDPLAY (above), and particularly CHRIS MARTIN (second from right), kindly talked and posed for camera-phone photos with every single young person who came up to their first-row seats in between commercial breaks.

* The usually potty-mouthed NOLA native LIL WAYNE accepted his Best Rap Album award with the short but powerful speech: "I want to thank God. Thank New Orleans. Thank these people right here. And [to his fans] thank all of you."

* SUGARLAND performed "Stay" -- a song in which JENNIFER NETTLES asks her cheating lover to leave her be and remain with the other woman. The heartbreaking lyrics and delivery brought unexpected tears to our eyes. Then she joined ADELE for the last chorus of "Chasing Pavements" and left us knowing we'd just seen the best performance of the night: Powerful women, powerful tunes -- you gotta love it!

* We spied SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY (above, performing during the show) in a tee with a pic of him and the BEATLES (the photo was taken by his late wife, LINDA). But here's the cool part: red clown noses were photo-shopped onto all of them! The tee, designed by his famous fashion-plate daughter STELLA, will be available for public consumption next month to benefit cancer-fighting org Comic Relief.

* COLDPLAY apologized to MCCARTNEY in the front row for their "recycled" Sgt. Peppers' military garb get-ups. (Hey, if they really wanted to go green, they could've asked SIR PAUL and RINGO to borrow the originals and showed up in real recycled duds: vintage. Maybe next year!)

* Ethiopian alternative artist and 2009 Grammy nominee KENNA told us "I like JAY-Z more for his water initiatives [with Africa] than anything else." When we asked, "So, you're an activist at heart?" KENNA replied: "A huge one. This year I'm gonna do something pretty impressive. A lot of people are involved, including ASHTON KUTCHER. It's about the world water crisis and bringing awareness to it. [ASHTON] and I got together a couple weeks ago to talk about it."

* The legendary duo ASHFORD & SIMPSON laughed as CGG serenaded them with a bit of "Solid as Barack". They told us that the satirical take on their 1980s hit "Solid as a Rock" actually pre-dates the hilarious Saturday Night Live skit. So who came up with it? They don't know, but we're dying to find out!

* Grammy President & CEO NEIL PORTNOW called upon our two-time Grammy-winning new Prez to create a cabinet position to recognize the importance of America's arts heritage and future. Because music is powerful stuff -- and last night's Grammy Awards certainly proved it!