AceShowbiz - Singer Fantasia Barrino boycotted the Grammy Awards on Sunday, February 13 because she wasn't asked to be part of the Aretha Franklin tribute that opened the show. The former "American Idol" winner won her first Grammy for Best Female Vocal Performance but wasn't there to pick up the honor.

Barrino called in to BET's 106 & Park show on Monday, February 14 to explain her reasons for staying away from music's big night. She said, "They were honoring someone who is my idol, Aretha Franklin, and there is no way I could have sat there and not got the happy feet and wanting to jump on the mic because she is my favorite, so I felt like, you know, at the end of the day I should have been on that stage, so, I kind of did my own little thing last night."

But she was thrilled to win a Grammy after 11 nominations: "Actually I scared my daughter because I just bust out and started crying, and she thought something was wrong with me. You know it's been a long time coming."

Christina Aguilera, Yolanda Adams and Jennifer Hudson were among the divas who saluted an absent Franklin at the Grammys.