Best Brother-and-Sister Act

On the strength of his celebrity-centered anecdotes alone, Rufus Wainwright, who on May 9 roasted Ryan Adams and Jon Bon Jovi while giving equal time to self-deprecating stories involving Bob Dylan and Yoko Ono, ranks among the year's most entertaining showmen. But the tasty tales were just thin layers of frosting next to his lush balladry, during which his voice assumed a majestic richness absent from his catty conversational tone. Though he remained cool and composed -- even when he forgot the words, his pitch didn't suffer -- his sister, Martha, who delivered a stellar solo set before joining Rufus' band as a singer and guitarist, let her vocals crackle with emotion. Their harmonies balanced each other's strengths, as her uninhibited outbursts laid bare everything his studied, coy delivery worked so hard to conceal.