Just updated my Ipod through Itunes, now getting Gray apple screen.

So, I plugged in my 160gb Ipod Classic into my computer, and was prompted by Itunes to download the latest update for the Ipod. I did so, and when it was finished said that the Ipod screen would reappear in Itunes shortly.

Never happened.

I then closed out of everything, turned off my computer, and then unplugged the Ipod from the USB port. I get the gray apple screen, it makes some noises, turns black, then repeats. Holding the buttons to restart it only turns the screen black, then back to the gray apple.

What happened, and can I fix this without having to reformat? The Ipod was working fine before this, and it's really unfortunate that installing an update from Apple might make me lose all of my content.

Thanks in advance for your help.