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After the weeks of dreary failures and never-ending emphasis on the bad rather than the good, American Idol at last presents two hours of actual music-making. First up is the sing-off between the twelve girls, and some of them were outstanding.

Ellen DeGeneres struggled to find the right words at times but the overall impression was that Ellen had a good ear for excellent music-making. A promising start by the new judge, and she supplied the "hottest" quote of the show.

Lilly Scott (left) presented the most quirky and appealing song of the show.

Randy Jackson kept his feet on the ground and provided the most balanced musical critiques, as usual.

Simon Cowell continued to give some of the contestants a harsh reality check, able to summarise both the musical and business issues in a few sentences. He is often not popular but is usually right. And, at last, seems to have lost his anti-girl bias of the past two years.

Michelle Delamor (right) was the most convincing and striking performer of the show.

Kara DioGuardi continued sniping at the good singers, however, showing she is still so jealous of girls with great vocal skills.

Here, then, is our exclusive scorecard on the first real chance to hear and compare the contestants for American Idol Season 9, 2010.

Just in case you had any lingering doubts about the dominant talent of the girls and women in the music industry, the 2010 Grammy Awards were a huge recognition of everything we’ve been saying regularly for the past two years. Just to be explicit so there is no confusion - Girls Rock and Girls Rule!!

Beyonce received 6 of the 10 Grammys she was nominated for, while Taylor Swift won four and Lady GaGa scored two. For singles and albums the girls stole the show. The list is long - yay! - and I’m sure you don’t need explanations of each award, so here’s the summary. Of note, of course, are the awards won by the girls in the Best Album and Best Song categories where they beat off any of the male contenders.

First up, the incredible vocal and performance talents of Beyonce Knowles:

• Best Contemporary R&B Album: I Am… Sasha Fierce — Beyonce
• Best Female R&B Vocal Performance: Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) — Beyonce
• Best Female Pop Vocal Performance: Halo — Beyonce
• Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: At Last — Beyonce
• Two songwriter awards: Song of the Year and Best R&B Song for Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) — Thaddis Harrell, Beyonce Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart (performed by Beyonce)

Equally hard-working and just as gracious and elegant in personal appearances as Beyonce is the Nashville princess, Taylor Swift:

• Album of the Year: Fearless — Taylor Swift
• Best Country Album: Fearless — Taylor Swift
• Best Female Country Vocal Performance: White Horse — Taylor Swift
• Best Country Song: White Horse — Liz Rose & Taylor Swift, songwriters (Taylor Swift)

So having gathered the albums and singles of the main categories into the Beyonce and Swift arms, the stellar energy that is GaGa was honored with two strong categories:

• Best Dance Recording: Poker Face — Lady Gaga
• Best Electronic/Dance Album: The Fame — Lady Gaga

The Grammy Awards 2010 - a great night for the ladies? You bet!