Lopez a tough act to follow; O'Donnell a tough act to like

The 42nd Grammy Awards proved it's tough on a three-hour award show when the most memorable moment of the evening happens within the first five minutes of the broadcast. <br>The award for the most

Thursday, February 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The 42nd Grammy Awards proved it's tough on a three-hour award show when the most memorable moment of the evening happens within the first five minutes of the broadcast.
The award for the most memorable moment of Wednesday night's live telecast from Los Angeles goes to Jennifer Lopez' skin-baring dress. She was paired with David Duchovny as the program's first presenters, an appropriate arrangement since how the meager strips of Ms. Lopez's outfit stayed in place was a mystery worthy of an X-Files episode.

From there, it was - sorry to say - all downhill. In both of the most important categories of award-show entertainment - commercials and acceptance speeches - this year's Grammys was mostly industry-standard tedium with a few bright spots. With so many pop musicians on parade, the Grammys can be a gold mine of fashion and behavioral outrages. But, alas, the most outrageous presence this time was the show's host, Rosie O'Donnell.

The talk-show queen came out and blew through an opening monologue so cranky and uncomprehending, you could hear crickets chirping in the spaces where laughs would otherwise be. As she made David Crosby jokes, the camera cut to a grimacing Melissa Etheridge.

Later in the show, when Ms. O'Donnell made fun of Shirley Manson's name while introducing her, Ms. Manson walked to the podium shaking her head in (at least) disbelief. All night, Ms. O'Donnell kept the cheap shots and clueless quips coming. After Kid Rock's bombastic performance, she sounded like every teenager's grandmother, complaining about the racket.

In a total reversal of the usual award-show formula, the strongest sequences of the Grammy Awards occurred in the production numbers. It's a good thing, too, since with 16 performances, the program often seemed like a superstar concert with a few awards sprinkled in between songs. Most over-the-top theatrics of the night came courtesy of Ricky Martin, in a production featuring a thong-wearing flame spinner and a climactic ring of fire.

If you tuned in hoping to catch some Super Bowl-style event advertising, well then, tough luck. The closest thing to commercial-break entertainment that viewers got was a series of Heineken ads spinning off the theme "It's all about the beer." They may be the funniest beer commercials not involving talking lizards currently on television.

Despite the breast-baring ensembles of a few look-at-me starlets, Grammy fashions this year were more fizzle than sizzle. For the most part, the show looked like one big Banana Republic shoot - only with a lot more guys in leather pants.