The Grammys shake it

America has a new R&B queen -- a spectacular meteor named Beyonce, who helped put Janet Jackson on the back burner at last night's Grammy Awards. Beyonce won five Grammys, the most of any artist last night, followed by old-fashioned soul singer Luther Vandross, who won four, and hip-hop pacesetters OutKast, who took three, topped by the coveted album of the year for "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below."

Just before snagging the top prize, OutKast performed the album's biggest hit, "Hey Ya!" with its now-famous line, "Shake it like a Polaroid picture." And Grammy voters certainly shook away the cobwebs last night as they embraced new music with an intensity that helped turn this into one of the most exciting and watchable award shows in years.

OutKast, which also won for best rap album, literally sent a seismic charge through the industry by bringing up their deposed record label chief L.A. Reid to spice their celebration at the end. Take that, you corporate followers, they might as well have been saying.

Artists from R&B and rap dominated the Grammy nominations, so it figured they would be the ones to parade to the podium. And they would have had one more prize trophy if not for a surprise victory by British rockers Coldplay for record of the year. Coldplay took that for the hypnotic "Clocks" (the other four nominees were all in the R&B/hip-hop field and they apparently canceled each other out this time).

Coldplay leader Chris Martin dedicated the award to "Johnny Cash and to John Kerry, who will hopefully be your president someday."

Among the night's big losers was rapper 50 Cent, who despite having the year's biggest-selling album, went home empty-handed. The Goth-inflected rock group Evanescence took best new artist, an award 50 Cent was widely tipped to win.

Sentiment also played a heavy role in this year's awards -- with posthumous awards going to Johnny Cash, his wife June Carter Cash (two awards, including a shocker for best female country vocal performance in which she beat out Shania Twain and Martina McBride), Warren Zevon (two awards, one for his Bruce Springsteen-assisted tune, "Disorder in the House" ), Celia Cruz, and George Harrison.

Regardless, it was hard to overshadow the startling nature of Beyonce's victories. They stemmed from her first solo album, "Dangerously in Love," which she recorded after taking leave from her franchise group, Destiny's Child.

"This is unbelievable," Beyonce said to the audience at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, where the 46th annual Grammy Awards were held. The event went on minus Jackson, who was apparently disinvited by Grammy officials after her "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl, though Jackson's staff issued a statement saying that she was invited again over the weekend but declined to show up.

Justin Timberlake, the other half of her scandalous Super Bowl caper, was there for the show and won best male pop vocal performance and best pop vocal album for "Justified." He repeated that the Super Bowl incident was "unintentional" and he showed class by saying his Grammy acknowledgment was "officially the greatest moment of my life."

Beyonce began by winning four pretelecast Grammys, including best R&B song and best rap/sung collaboration for "Crazy In Love," which she shared with boyfriend Jay-Z, also featured on the track. She also earned added credibility for winning best R&B performance by a duo or group with vocals for her work with Vandross on "The Closer I Get to You," which helped bring Vandross to a young audience.

Vandross, who is recovering from a severe stroke and was unable to attend the awards, was honored with two other Grammys: best R&B album for "Dance With My Father," and best male R&B vocal performance for that album's title tune, a poignant song about his childhood.

Christina Aguilera showed her new clout by winning best female pop vocal performance for "Beautiful." And another group that continues to come into its own is No Doubt, the Gwen Stefani-fronted California band that won for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal for "Underneath It All," a rootsy reggae track. And two rock Grammys were won by Jack White of the White Stripes, including best rock song for "Seven Nation Army."

The Neptunes won for best producer and rapper Eminem won two Grammys for "Lose Yourself," though the song lost out as best song from a movie to the theme from "A Mighty Wind."

Bill Clinton shared a Grammy for best spoken word album for children, though his wife, Hillary, lost in the spoken word album category to pundit Al Franken. And the first award of the afternoon went to Johnny Cash for best short form video for "Hurt" (sharing it with director Mark Romanek), while his wife, June, won best traditional folk album for "Wildwood Flower." Zevon won best contemporary folk album for "The Wind," recorded as he was dying of lung cancer, and the late Harrison won best pop instrumental performance for "Marwa Blues."

Cambridge's Rounder Records scored big last night, as their artists won a collective four Grammys. "That's the most we've ever won," said co-owner Ken Irwin. The Rounder standout was bluegrass act Alison Krauss & Union Station, which won in the bluegrass category. And Krauss also surprised many observers by sharing (with local hero James Taylor) an award for best country collaboration with vocals for "How's the World Treating You." It beat out the heavily favored "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere" by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett.

Chelsea native Chick Corea took home a trophy for best jazz instrumental solo for "Matrix," while the Boston-identified cellist Yo-Yo Ma shared a Grammy for the classical crossover album "Obrigado Brazil."