BACKSTAGE, THEY'RE ALL WAITING TO EXHALE.

Changing their tune: Best New Artist winner Hootie & the Blowfish surprised the crowd by performing "I'm Going Home" rather than the hit "Let Her Cry," as scheduled.

Singer/songwriter Darius Rucker said the group is tired of performing the better-known song and also wanted to pay tribute to Rucker's mother, who died recently.

"('I'm Going Home') means so much for us. I wrote it about someone real near and dear to me - my mom."

Yea, Quincy: Producer of the Year Kenny (Babyface) Edmunds, who put together the multimillion-selling "Waiting to Exhale" soundtrack, paid tribute to Quincy Jones backstage.

"He hung out with the jazz greats. That's something us young producers can never attain. To be friends (with him) and to work with him, that's enough for me."

On the spate of hit film soundtracks, Babyface said, "Soundtracks are a pretty nifty package you can put together now. It's an easy record to push, especially if you've got a good film."

Congrats, fellow countrymen: Best Country Album award winner Shania Twain was happy to see fellow Canadians Joni Mitchell and Alanis Morissette win Wednesday.

"I never considered the border before, and I don't now, but it makes me proud to see Joni and Alanis get up there," she said.

As for the new look of country music, Twain added: "Country music is still your grandpa's music, but it's also your daughter's music."

Whew: Gloria Estefan said she was relieved to win an award during the pretelecast ceremony. She won Best Tropical Latin Performance for "Abriendo Puertas."

"Now I can watch the telecast without either performing or being nervous about my category," she said.

Where am I?: Ramblin' Jack Elliott, the veteran singer who won Best Traditional Folk Album for "South Coast," apologized for his hoarse voice, explaining that he spent Tuesday night singing in a Mill Valley (Calif.) bar with Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir.

"Sorry my voice is rough. He kept me up way too late."

Elliott had not recorded an album for 26 years before "South Coast." He also hadn't watched the Grammys in nearly that many years, he said.

"I don't have TV where I live. I'm in shock about all this. But I feel like something nice is happening."

Clothes don't make the man: Coolio, who won Best Rap Solo Performance for "Gangsta's Paradise," wore a blue bandanna-print suit, spurring controversy because blue bandannas are often associated with street gangs. But the rapper said he wore the suit to convey the meaningless of dividing groups by colors.

"People make color mean something," he said. "But people can't think that way anymore."

In his acceptance speech, the father of seven kids from South Central Los Angeles mentioned a coming revolution, which he later explained is a spiritual revolution "where people forget about (race)."

"In L.A. County and the Valley, in every high school across the Southland, there are race riots - blacks and Latinos fighting each other. I don't understand," he said. "We're all in the same boat. It defeats everything everybody is trying to work for."

Coolio gave credit for his song's crossover success to the Walt Disney Co., which produced the movie "Dangerous Minds," in which the song appeared. Michelle Pfeiffer, star of the movie, performed in Coolio's video version of the song.

"I give all the credit to Disney. It was their insight and their money. And Michelle Pfeiffer being in the video - that was just a kick in the ass."

Who, me?: Behind her dark glasses, Annie Lennox appeared truly surprised at winning Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her song "No More 'I Love You's.' "

"I had no expectations. It's lovely when you can bring something home like a trophy." She also praised Grammy winners Alanis Morissette and Joni Mitchell.

"Joni is exemplary. There is no other female singer/songwriter like her. She's influenced so many people, myself included."

Of Morissette she said: "She's stunning. She looks like someone who can come through and not be wrecked by this industry."

She's real, folks: Producer Glen Ballard, who won Best Rock Album for Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill" and Best Rock Song for her "You Oughta Know," defended the collaboration between the two as genuine and criticized those who have suggested he "manufactured" the singer's style.

"There seems to be a tendency when (success) happens this fast to say it was manufactured," he said. "This was the least contrived thing. I've read stories that we concocted a plan to create an angry Alanis. It's not true."

Not biz as usual: Emmylou Harris, who won for Best Contemporary Folk Album for her "Wrecking Ball," said the work was a departure from her more familiar country records.

"I went completely out of the ballpark on this one. I'm just grateful they found a cateory for this record."

See you at the movies: Cesar Rojas of Los Lobos, which won Best Pop Instrumental for "Mariachi Suite," said the band can now be found writing song for films as well as for their own projects. Their material can be heard in the upcoming Keanu Reeves movie "Feeling Minnesota."

"We're very comfortable working on films. It gives us a chance to create on the spot, and it keeps us off the road a little bit, and it's nice to be at home."

Rojas added he was "deeply hurt" that a song the band wrote for the movie "Desperado" was rejected by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences because it was in Spanish.

"They said my song was unintelligible. This is Los Angeles. This is a completely bilingual city. They should have someone on the panel that speaks Spanish."

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Photo (1) "('I'm Going Home') means so much for us. I wrote it about someone real near and dear to me - my mom." Darius Rucker on surprise Hootie song (2) "Now I can watch the telecast without either performing or being nervous about my category." Gloria Estefan glad she received her award before the telecast (3) "They said my song was unintelligible. This is Los Angeles. This is a completely bilingual city. They should have someone on the panel that speaks Spanish." Cesar Rojas expressing disappointment at Oscar rejection of Los Lobos song written for "Desperado"