Grammys 2010: Lady Gaga Unleashes the Monster with Elton John

At last night’s Grammy Awards, Lady Gaga set the tone of the evening, by opening the awards ceremony with a medley of “Poker Face” and “Speechless,” the latter of which also included a duet with none other than Sir Elton John. There were monsters, there were steaming furnaces and there were, of course, outlandish fashion – it was, in short, an usually eccentric and incredibly entertaining Gaga performance, as Los Angeles Times’ The Envelope can confirm.

Some say that the opening act was the only reason why anyone should have watched the Grammys the other night. Most, of course, disagree, saying Pink and Beyonce and others also put on extraordinary performances. However, as far as the shock factor and theatricality go, it’s rather clear by now that Gaga doesn’t really know a rival. What’s even more surprising is that Elton John actually played along and, bar being thrown down one fiery furnace, he adopted even Gaga’s style of dress and choice for makeup.

“Lady Gaga’s duet with Elton John opened the telecast with a massive collage with so many shards and snatches of pop culture that people were left, well, gaga. Inside the venue, the closer you sat to the rafters, the louder the response to the greasepaint-and-glitter performance that seemed to pull from the lineages of David Bowie, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Queen and, well, Elton John,” The Envelope writes of the electrical performance.

“While Gaga was impassive through most of her set, an art-house kewpie, as she left the stage she was grinning broadly, clearly a bit star-struck by her elder duet partner, who was also the co-pilot for rapper Eminem, another ear-catching newcomer, in his big Grammy moment at the other end of this decade,” the same publication further notes. Of course, as is customary and was to be expected, each artist paid tribute to the other during the performance.

Oddly enough, despite being in the run with 5 nominations, Gaga did not bring home the big awards, but only won Best Electronic / Dance Album for “The Fame” and Best Dance Recording for “Poker Face,” which she graciously dedicated to her fans, her “little monsters” as she calls them. Below is Gaga and Elton John’s opening act for the 2010 Grammys. Enjoy.