At the same time that his uptempo singing swung out with a new defiance, Mr. Sinatra's ballad performances (except for the softly crooned music he recorded with Antonio Carlos Jobim) tended to be stentorian and often deeply brooding.

In addition to his up-tempo prowess, he could express himself deeply in a ballad performance.

Along with "Your Song," which Mr. John dedicated to the audience, it was the evening's most winning ballad performance.

Some fine ballad performances in his oeuvre are testament to an exceptional sense of intonation and melodic symmetry, powerful lyrical expressiveness, and mastery both of the blues and the bebop vernacular that can now be described as, in its own way, "classical."

The Onyx Zone displayed a ballad performance with acrobats.

Its new release, "The Third Quartet," includes a waltz, a bossa nova and some bracing post-bop churners, along with ballad performances that convey both the intricacy of chamber music and the patient pliability of folk songs.

Stewart Mason from Allmusic shared Holden's opinion, and described "Oh Father" as "[Madonna's] finest ballad performance ever".

Phillips cited "Lookin' Back with You" as one of the strongest lyrics that Morgan had written, and noted his "almost-power ballad" performance on "Love Remembers."

There were also relaxed, Olympian ballad performances by Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan, winners of Lifetime Achievement Awards.