Fruit loopy Proof that dreams indeed come true: "I always wanted to descend from the ceiling in a banana into a fruit bowl of androgynous dancers," Katy Perry said backstage after doing precisely that.
American idols? The duo of Miley Cyrus, 16, and Taylor Swift, 19, performing the latter's "Fifteen," was, um, really pitchy.
Motor(town) mouth Jamie Foxx amazingly channeled the voice of the late Levi Stubbs while doing a Four Tops tribute with Smokey Robinson, Ne-Yo and the sole living Top, Duke Fakir. What's next for the star of "Dreamgirls" and "Ray"? "The Motown Story"?
Slippery Rock Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson fell flat in a brief stand-up bit. Lamest line: Dubbing Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl "The Beatle Fighters."
Family tree In the pre-telecast, actor Blair Underwood, right, announced Carrie Underwood as the winner of best female country vocal performance for "Last Name." "It goes to my cousin," he said. "We're from the same tribe."
She's got legs After U2 sang its new single "Get on Your Boots" to open the evening, Bono introduced an unadvertised, long-MIA Whitney Houston. She revealed some leg in her slitted gown and cooed, "I knew I should have worn my boots." Ba-da-bing.
