Grammys: Five moments you might have missed

Adele and Beyonce were the undisputed stars of the 59th Grammy Awards, with dazzling performances, generous tributes and some gravity defying theatrics.

Adele opened the show with her hit Hello before taking a total of five awards, including album of the year for 25.

But the British singer seemed embarrassed to have won this last gong and suggested Beyonce's Lemonade was the more worthy contender – she even snapped the award in two and offered half to "the artist of my life".

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Beyonce, who announced last week she is expecting twins, lived up to the tribute, wowing audiences with a spectacular, digitally enhanced performance of Sandcastles and Love Drought, both from the album.

But while everyone was talking about the two stars, there were plenty of other strange, funny and important moments in the ceremony.

Here are just five.

Streamer makes history

Chance the Rapper made history as the first streaming-only artist to be nominated and win a Grammy, beating Kanye and Drake to win best rap album for Coloring Book. He also became the first black hip-hop star to win best new artist since Lauryn Hill in 1999. Chance used his moment on stage to petition the awards to include more streaming-only acts as official contenders in the future.

Red carpet ventriloquism

If there were an award for "most bizarre red carpet interview", Mike Posner would have won it. The Took a Pill in Ibiza singer insisted on speaking to interviewers through his collaborator Blackbear, whispering his answers to his sidekick, who would then answer. The two also indulged in some Joker-lookalike cosplay, sporting acid green hair to make the whole thing even creepier. The sight left many wondering what kind of pill Posner did take in Ibiza.

Rihanna's flask

The Grammys stretch for more than three and a half hours, not all of them scintillating. But Rihanna came up with novel way to keep things lively. The Bajan star sipped from a diamond-encrusted hip flask throughout the night, graciously offering it to those around her. The contents of the blinged-up vessel remain a mystery, but whatever was in it, it seemed to help the singer keep her spirits up as she danced and smiled enigmatically throughout the evening.

Things turned political

Politics made its presence felt throughout the awards: Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, made a call for unity, while Katie Perry performed in front of a projection of the US constitution. Rappers A Tribe Called Quest took things to another level with their black-power fist-pumping performance to protest the US travel ban, with Busta Rhymes referring to Donald Trump as "President Agent Orange" and different ethnicities walking down the aisles.

Transgender solidarity

Among several moments of solidarity with the transgender community, Orange is the New Black actor Laverne Cox called for audiences to google the name Gavin Grimm, the teenager at the centre of an upcoming Supreme Court case which will determine whether schools can force students to use toilets that match the gender on their birth certificate. The awards also saw a man and a transgender woman join the so-called "trophy girls" bringing the honours on stage. Portnow said: "To be honest, the idea of a 'trophy girl' has felt antiquated for some time now. The ability to present a trophy has nothing to do with one's gender."

Infographic by www.statista.com for TheWeek.co.uk.