Well, this wekeend was full of red carpets, award ceremonies, and fabulous parties... not to mention a few surprises! This years Grammy weekend started with the MusiCares Annual Silent Auction & Person of the Year Award Ceremony on Friday, February 6th. This years Person of the Year was Niel Diamond. The Silent Auction raised over $500,000.00, most notably including Neil Diamond's old T-Bird, which was purchased by the Chairman of the Grammy Academy for $75,000.00. The event was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, and planned by none other than my fabulous aunt, Dana Tomarken, and was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. For the Award Ceremony, a plethora of headlining acts graced the stage by covering a song written or performed by Diamond, and gave their two cents on why Diamond was so worthy of this prestigious honor. Artists included Adele, Chris Cornell, Kid Rock, Faith Hill, Tim McGraw, The Foo Fighters, Terrance Blanchard, and many more. The best performance of the night was, by far, Jennifer Hudson, who belted out a sultry rendition of "Holly Holy" and recieved a standing ovation that only matched Neil's! My other favorite performance was Coldplay's charming keytar version of "I'm a Believer". Backstage, I was fortunate enough to meet Chris Martin (pictured above), who might I add, is a total sweetheart. In addition to being humble and charming, he donated a significant amount of dough to the MusiCares Foundation by shelling out $50,000.00 for a Britney Spears concert package. I hope little Apple likes Brit Brit or else someone is getting a bomb birthday present!
Another charming group I was lucky enough to meet were the Jonas Brothers. The cute little trio, all dapper in their three piece suits, were polite, kind, and honorable while they performed "Forever in Blue Jeans", a song they probably had never heard prior to the sound check. In any case, I was impressed with the tweeny boppers, for not only their personalities, but their musical talent and on-stage charisma. The ceremony wound down with a three song set by the recipient himself, coming to a close on the karaoke favorite "Sweet Caroline". Other celebrities spotted at the event were Camilla Belle, DJ AM, Bob Forest of Celebrity Rehab, David Spade, Sarah Silverman, and Rick Ruben.
Another exciting night this weekend was Clive Davis' pre-Grammy bash at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday night. Some of the artists in attendence were Kanye West, who gave an impromptu speech, Whitney Houston, who made a potential huge comeback, and Usher. As most of you heard, the drama didn't begin until after the party, when Chris Brown & Rhianna got in a physical altercation in Hancock Park, leaving a publicity nightmare and a broken Rhianna on the street. Poor Rhianna, who would have though Chris Brown could be capable of such menace!
Following Saturday nights events were the much anticipated Grammy Awards. Sunday evening's ceremony was filled with many memorable moments, both good and bad. Highlights included Blink 182's reunion, a very pregnant MIA killin it on-stage with Weezy, Jay Z, Kanye and T.I., the five Grammy's Allison Krauss and Robert Plant pulled off, and Jennifer Hudson's emotional performance. Low points included Katy Perry's morbid bi-curious performance, MIA's weird ladybug dress, and Kings of Leon getting robbed for Best Rock Album. And when Rhianna and Chris Brown didn't show up due to the incident from the night before, Justin Timberlake & Al Green turned it out with their collaboration on "Let's Stay Together". All in all, with all the drama, glamour, and hype, the show turned out to be a smashing success. My big shoutout goes to Dave Grohl, who backed the amazing Paul McCartney by returning to the drums after spending some time away from them since Nirvana's dispersion. Dave, you're musical talent never ceases to amaze me-- ROCK ON!
