<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1141" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT size=2> <DIV class=storyheadline>Here the U.S. is about to launch a stupid, illegal, immoral, unnecessary, and internationally unpopular war, and what do some of leading lights of the culture industry, the musicians, do with the platform handed to them in the form of the Grammy Awards? Almost nothing at all.</DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline> </DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline>There was a lot of hand-wringing before the Grammy Awards, that all the musicians would embarrass CBS by spouting off about the war. Except for the few tame (and lame) examples below, almost none of them did. Bruce Springstein, Elvis Costello, all the supposedly "political" folks -- not a peep. (Bruce and Elvis *were* part of a group that performed a version of the Clash's vaguely anti-war song, "London Calling," but they didn't say anything to connect it to Iraq. I'm sure most watching don' t know the song, and didn't make the connection.) </DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline> </DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline>Did I miss something? I'm hoping I'm wrong and that there were attempts to voice dissent, but CBS abruptly shifted the camera angle. At least Bob Dylan had the guts to snarl though "Masters of War" at the Grammys happening during the first Gulf War.</DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline> </DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline>USA Today reports that in ceremonies before the prime-time show, incoherent blowhard Bono went out of his way to be nice to Bush: "We do not want to make a martyr out of Saddam Hussein," he said. But he added: "It's not the '60s. We have complex problems. We need new solutions." Huh?</DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline> </DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline>Totally pathetic. So much for the tradition of protest music and musicians ...</DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline> <DIV class=storyheadline> </DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline> </DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline> </DIV> <DIV class=storyheadline><FONT size=3>Vignettes From the Grammy Awards</FONT> </DIV> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=440 border=0> <TBODY> <TR vAlign=center> <TD width="40%"> <DIV class=recenttimedate><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV></TD> <TD noWrap align=right width="60%"><FONT size=2></FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <P><FONT size=-1><I>By CHRISTY LEMIRE, AP Entertainment Writer</I></FONT> <P>NEW YORK - <FONT face=arial size=-1>Despite concerns that the Grammy Awards would become a forum for anti-war sentiment, most political messages were muted. </FONT> <P> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="1%" align=left border=0> <TBODY> <TR vAlign=top> <TD width="99%"></TD> <TD width=5> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><FONT face=arial size=-1> <P>"NO WAR" was written in silver letters on Sheryl Crow (<A href="http://rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_mu/inlinks/*http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/celeb/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22Sheryl%20Crow%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw">news</A>)'s guitar strap as she performed, although her hair usually covered up most of the "NO." Bonnie Raitt (<A href="http://rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_mu/inlinks/*http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/celeb/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22Bonnie%20Raitt%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw">news</A>) slipped in a four-word message, "let's build some peace," before handing out an award. And No Doubt's Gwen Stefani (<A href="http://rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_mu/inlinks/*http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/celeb/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22Gwen%20Stefani%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw">news</A>) wore a halter top emblazoned with the word, "love," and combat fatigue hot pants. <P> <P>"I hope we all are in agreeance that this war should go away as soon as possible," said Limp Bizkit lead singer Fred Durst, before he gave out an award. <P> <P>Wayne Coyne from the rock band Flaming Lips wore a blue bandage below his right eye that he said was a statement against a possible war with Iraq, but he never made it on television to show it off. <P> <P>"This is my silent way of talking about peace. No black eye," he said. <P> <P>Even Norah Jones (<A href="http://rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_mu/inlinks/*http://rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/celeb/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22Norah%20Jones%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw">news</A>), the demure pop-jazz debutante whose music swept all eight awards for which it was nominated, made a passing political reference while accepting the Grammy for album of the year. <P> <P>"I just want to say, at a time in the world that's really weird, I feel really blessed," Jones said. </P></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>