What a difference a Grammy makes. The presence of Amy Winehouse's Herbie Hancock's albums in the top 10 of the Billboard Top 200 is a direct result of their huge Grammy wins last week. Selling 115,000 copies, Winehouse's Back to Black jumped from the No. 24 spot last week to the No. 2 spot this week. And Hancock's River: The Joni Letters, which won album of the year, made the crazy leap from No. 159 to No. 5.

There's a notable new release missing from the Billboard 200 — Michael Jackson's much-anticipated re-release of Thriller that hit stores last week. With 116,000 copies sold, it would have stolen the No. 2 spot from Amy Winehouse. Instead, it was relegated to Billboard's catologue chart, where re-releases go to die, apparently. Sony is very displeased, arguing that the new tracks on the Thriller album make it eligible for the main chart. Billboard says MJ gets no special treatment!

Billboard chart guru Geoff Mayfield tells us: "We were approached by Sony and Sony BMG to consider 'Thriller 25' as a current album. But we had to be consistent with hundreds, if not thousands, of reissues that have come to the market. There have actually been new issues of classic albums that include even more new material. We didn't just make the decision on our own. We contacted major retailers [like Wal-Mart and Best Buy], and that was the consensus."

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When I read that Aretha Franklin brought her own food to the Sony/BMG Grammy after-party, I thought it was a joke. Unfortunately, I don't think it is.

Instead of noshing on the chicken Caesar salad bites, mushroom tarts or mini-milkshakes offered at the Sony/BMG bash, Aretha Franklin (with Brandy) brought her own food, picking up hot dogs from Pink's takeout stand.

The Grammys. Nine times out of ten, one of the major category award winners leaves me scratching my head — as in Herbie Hancock's Album of the Year win over Kanye and Amy Winehouse, but whatever. They still won big, those two. And as for the Grammys, at least a few of the performances are usually pretty good. Beyonce and Tina! Loved it, and not just because I'm biased. It was really good, and Tina Turner's energy was endlessly impressive. Kanye's tribute to his mother was a tearjerker — I think I saw Carrie Underwood looking a little misty-eyed in the audience — and the aforementioned Morris Day/Rihanna collaboration entertaining. There were a lot of other good performances, but those were the standouts to me. Oh, and Amy Winehouse's satellite performance from London? She wasn't all there, in more ways than one.

After the jump, more pictures and a list of winners.

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Beyonce, who has never (see amazing video above — ignore G.W. Bush) made a secret of her adoration of Tina Turner, will perform on stage with the legend at this year's Grammys. That's the buzz, anyway. No wonder she was so willing to cross a potential WGA picket line.

• Not that we needed her validation or anything, but Whoopi Goldberg was pissed about this, too. [NB]

• "Clarence Thomas is not a sellout." Okay. But what is he, exactly? [Salon]

• The WGA decided it has bigger fish to fry than the Grammys and members will not picket. [E!]

• On MLK Day, Bill Cosby ripped into poor blacks for irresponsible behavior. What else is new? [CST]

• Barack Obama gets the endorsement of South Carolina's largest newspaper, the State. [LAT]

• Picket lines? Beyonce doesn't care about no stinkin' picket lines. [LAT]

• Officials at a Colorado school realized that it probably wasn't part of the dream to always send a segregated group to an annual MLK event. [CBS4]

• Hillary Clinton invokes MLK's legacy in Compton. The candidates need to stop "invoking" him, period. But with the holiday around the corner, it's probably unavoidable. [LAT]

• One would expect this sort of behavior from a German "gangster rapper." [PR-I]

• Racial strife in Ohio! [NYT]

Donda would be proud. Surely, Kanye West would trade in a million awards for a chance to have his mother by his side again, but the fact that he leads the Grammy pack with eight nominations, including album of the year, should definitely brighten his spirits. With six nominations, Amy Winehouse comes in second. One can only hope that she can actually make it to the awards.

Jay-Z and T-Pain (and his voice-altering software?) are close behind with five nominations each. And the Record of the Year battle will be between Rihanna's "Umbrella" and Beyonce's "Irreplacable," (among others). Check out the full list of nominations after the jump.

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