It starts out with Gabriel being carried from the back of the auditorium to the stage via one of those chairs that's designed to be carried by several people (you know...this type of chair shows up in every bad Tarzan movie). Wearing a purple suit and ascot that would've made 80's era Prince blush, Gabriel sings, "Stand back!" as he's hoisted onstage. From there, he's joined by several silhouetted figures behind lighted screens pretending to be doing "steamy" things, like dirty dancing or ironing (except for one guy who's swinging a sledgehammer. Oops, wrong song).
He's also accompanied by a couple of Marilyn Monroe-types with permantly upturned skirts as they pretend to play saxophones, a bunch of other dancers, and a few folks from Cirque du Soleil. It's a kinda chotic scene, with dancers in the foreground, acrobats in back, and Gabriel stomping around everywhere in six-inch platform shoes. Gabriel's performance was a bit stiff, especially in comparison to his performace at the Brit Awards, but he sounded great and looked like he was having fun.
One amusing thing to note, the second the song closes when he's surrounded by the other dancers and acrobats sprawled at his feet, he takes a step back and stumbles for a second. We don't know for sure what happened since it was a waist-up shot, we stongly suspect he accidentally stepped on one of the dancers with those biiiiig shoes!
Afterward, Grammy host Gary Shandling was wheeled out onstage (by a guy in shorts) on a basic metal folding chair with wheels. Once he stood up, he said, "I don't have the budget Peter Gabriel has."
The tape with this show also included Phil Collins hosting the Billboard Awards. It was scary indeed, thank goodness for the technology that is fast-forwarding. There was one funny bit we knew to watch out for. Collins presented an award to U2 via satelite while they were at a pub (they couldn't make the actual show as they were on tour). While Phil was asking them questions, the boys in U2 took the time to rag on Mr. Collins. When Phil asked where their drummer was, Edge said something along the lines drummers get a little strange when they start singing.
When the grey haired bartender (named Pat. Remember that) served the band some drinks, Bono said, "Pat here is a big fan of your music, Phil. And so is all of our parents!" To which Pat piped, "I'm not that old!" To U2 and Pat, We Here at the Hill salute you!