Chris Brown's return to the 54th annual Grammy Awards telecast drew criticism

As the reviews of last nights 54th annual Grammy awards ceremony trickle in from fans and professional critics alike, several themes have emerged amid the commentary: whether the Foo Fighters are relevant, whether Brian Wilson is competent, that Adele is elegant and, weirdly, that enough young people to merit mentioning dont know who Paul McCartney is. (Also, whether Nicki Minaj has gone entirely off the deep end, as indicated by her confusing Exorcist-themed performance.)

Matt Sayles/The Associated PressChris Brown performs during the 54th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles.

But both during the event itself and in its aftermath, one issue emerged as the hottest of buttons. Singers Chris Brown and Rihanna infamously missed the 2009 ceremony, after the former was arrested for felony assault on the latter the night before the event.

Brown is still on probation for the 2009 assault, and last night was his first appearance at a Grammy telecast since then. In a statement to the press. Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich said the Recording Academy was glad to have him back, and I think people deserve a second chance, you know.

NPR music critic Ann Powers, whose review of the event focused on social-media coverage, noted that her Twitter feed hurled their disgust at every glimpse of Brown. The listmaking site Buzzfeed also dipped into the Twitter universe to reveal a disturbing converse reality it posted screenshots of tweets from 25 female fans who all claimed to be amenable to the idea of being slapped around by Brown. (Whoa!) The Daily Beast reposted a list of tweets from celebrity accounts that averaged out sort of even some praised his performances, while others were incredulous that the events of three years ago seemed forgotten, or even forgiven.

Of course, theres no morality clause for Grammy performers. Fans online pointed out that plenty of awards recipients have been the subject of scandal, including spousal abuse: Phil Spector, Ike Turner and Bobby Brown have all won Grammys. One of my Facebook friends posted waggishly, Really surprised the Grammys decided to celebrate a man that beats women, like Glen Campbell. (Campbell was the subject of a musical tribute during the ceremony last night; his stormy relationship with Tanya Tucker included physical violence.)

Overall, though, critics and fans were not inclined to separate Browns personal misdeeds (it likely didnt help that the 2009 assault was on the eve of the Grammys, linking the two events rather dramatically in viewers minds; nor did it help that his victim is also a megastar) from his professional image. To bloggers like Oh No They Didnt, the Grammys flubbed a chance to take a serious and public stance against domestic violence. Spin called the amount of performance time allotted to Brown outrageously inappropriate (in italics!) In one of the most re-posted reviews of the day, the New Yorker called Brown, who won the Grammy for Best R&B Album, a woman-beating rage-broccoli who ended his performance by back-flipping off the stage, though sadly not off the earth.

Washington Post blogger Valerie Strauss wondered, in a post from earlier today, what message the show's embrace of Brown might send to young fans.

And some critics, like thejanedough.coms Amy Tennery, thought that Browns return to the Grammy stage was in particularly poor taste when considered in tandem with the other event that cast a pall over the celebration: the unexpected death the night before of Whitney Houston, who was herself a domestic violence survivor. It was hard not to think of the unfortunate connection while watching the show because Jennifer Hudsons tribute to Houston, an understated take on I Will Always Love You, was followed pretty much immediately by a high-energy dance performance from Brown.

The events producers, Tennery suggested, might have scheduled the proceedings with a bit more sensitivity.

Did it occur to no one, she wrote, that following the memorial performance for Houston a woman whose own husband was arrested in 2003 for allegedly striking her in the face and threatening that he was going to beat her ass with a performance that included a guy whos currently on probation for domestic violence maybe wasnt a such a great idea?

Would it have been that difficult to put more than a handful of minutes in between those two performances? Or, heck, even a few more years?

Readers and music fans, what do you think?

What did you ! think of Chris Brown's return to the Grammy telecast?