Music’s biggest night was an explosion of epic performances and interesting category wins.

The show opened with a smoldering Beyoncé on a steamy stage, only to be joined later by her husband Jay-Z as they performed together her current single “Drunk In Love.” The duo was life-giving to watch, but I don’t know what was more entertaining: the unstoppable synergy between Bey and Jay or the frequent cuts to Taylor Swift aggressively dancing along in the audience.

Daft Punk took home Album of the Year and Record of the Year in sweeping fashion. Each acceptance speech was a bit strange to experience when a thousand-person audience lauded over a couple of robots, but a comeback like theirs couldn’t have culminated in any other way. The applause was deserved.

New Zealand newcomer Lorde walked away with an impressive two Grammys: Solo Pop Performance and Song of the Year. The 17-year-old singer also made her debut Grammy performance of her previously no.1 single “Royals,” which either spooked or enchanted the audience with her eccentric body language yet powerful vocals.

The genre categories wins were glorious. Vampire Weekend’s “Modern Vampires of the City”  won Best Alternative Music Album and Kacey Musgrave’s “Same Trailer, Different Park” won Best Country album, to name a few. The winner’s list was only marred by by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. Their debut album, “The Heist,” was a definite success, but their competition was better. Kendrick Lamar fans were surely disappointed to see him leave Grammy-less.

The surprise of the night came during Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ performance of “Same Love.” As Macklemore and Mary Lambert sang their anthem for equality, Queen Latifah literally officiated 33 marriages. Madonna pitched in her two cents too. Donning a white cowboy costume, she harmonized “Open Your Heart” with Lambert’s chorus, which surprisingly wasn’t as gaudy as it sounds.  What could have been a hot-mess was actually one of the most sincere moments on live television.

The show went rather predictably, and every performance entertained in its own way. Even when Katy Perry tried to pass off that haphazard bouncing and punching as some type of “choreography,” the show pressed on as strong as ever.