Pop songstress Miley Cyrus won the Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance for "Flowers" and then proceeded to give her first televised performance of the hit - which was the most-streamed song in a week on Spotify when it debuted.
Cyrus is doing it for herself at The Grammys.
Cyrus, seemingly caught off guard when presenter Mariah Carey called out her name, stepped up to the podium, accepted and air-kissed the songstress.
"This MC is going to stand by this MC," Cyrus said.
After making an apology for getting caught in the rain, Cyrus admitted she was concerned she was going to miss the moment. "I could have missed the award, that's fine. But not Mariah Carey," she exclaimed from the stage at Crypto.com Arena.
She wanted Carey to stand near her as she gave her acceptance speech, and proceeded to tell a story that "sums up this moment."
Cyrus said there once was a boy who wanted a butterfly for his birthday. (Butterly was the name of Carey's sixth album)
"So his parents gave him a butterfly net and he was so excited. He just went outside, out in the sun, and started swinging and swinging," Cyrus said.
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But the boy had no luck. "He sat down on the ground he finally let go and he surrendered and he was okay that he wasn't going to capture this beautiful butterfly."
"And right when he did is when the butterfly came and landed right on the tip of his nose."
Cyrus concluded, "This song 'Flowers' is my butterfly. Thank you."
Miley can't believe who was backstage - it's (always) Flavor Flav!
Shortly after, Cyrus gave a live performance of "Flowers" and strutted out in a bejeweled, slinky outfit with fringe skirt, reminiscent of the late Tina Turner, someone she noted was one of her idols. The outfit was actually designed by none other than Bob Mackie, who created some of Turner's most iconic looks.
Cyrus proceeded to give a biting rendition of her smash hit and slipped in a line during the song proclaiming: "I just won my first Grammy!"
After getting the audience (and of course, Taylor Swift!) on their feet, she took a quick beat and ripped off a few roaring lyrics with "Proud Mary" as a backing track and gave an impressive mic stand drop at the end.
SZA, who went into the night the leading contender with nine nominations, picked up a pair of Grammys at the afternoon pre-telecast ceremony, at which more than 70 of the Grammys’ 94 awards were distributed. SZA’s SOS picked up Best Urban Contemporary Album, while SZA also won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, for her “Ghost in the Machine” collaboration with Phoebe Bridgers. Bridgers was glimpsed later in the afternoon, when Boygenius, her supergroup with Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker, won a quick-fire trio of awards for Best Rock Performance, best Rock Song, and Best Alternative Music Album.
Killer Mike was also a triple winner in the afternoon, with the Atlanta hip-hop veteran picking up statuettes for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Performance, and Best Rap Song.
Swift still has a chance to make history with an Album of the Year nomination for her LP Midnights: should she take home the award, she will become the first artist in history to win the Grammys’ top honor four times, having previously won for Fearless, 1989 and Folklore. Her current three Album of the Year trophies leave her tied with Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon and Frank Sinatra.
