Grammys
Thursday, Feb. 11
On Thursday, Feb. 11 multi-platinum recording artist Usher kicked off the Grammy’s celebrations by performing at the Avalon in Los Angeles to promote Belvedere Vodka’s new RED special edition bottle. The event marked the global premiere of the product, which is a collaboration between Belvedere and Product(RED) to help those suffering with diseases. Through this partnership, 50 percent of the profit from the special edition bottle will go directly to the Global Fund, one of the leading organizations fighting against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria worldwide. The guest list included Estelle, Jay Sean, Jamie Foxx, Mya, Beth Ditto, Paris and Nicky Hilton, Chelsea Handler, Mark Ronson, Joe Jonas and Lil Wayne.
On Saturday Feb. 12, Clive Davis, known for throwing a pre-Grammy celebration more prestigious than the Grammy’s itself, took the Grammy’s festivities to new heights with his annual party at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. More than 900 people were invited to the posh sit down dinner to honor David Geffen, the founder of Asylum Records in 1970. The highlights of the star-studded night included R. Kelly’s rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner,” Jennifer Hudson’s duet with Barry Manilow, and Whitney Houston’s performance of the classics that made her famous. Later in the evening, Kanye West got sentimental during an impromptu speech to the crowd where he expressed his gratefulness and admiration of all the performers and executives in the room — and P. Diddy and Faith Evans performed a tribute to Notorious B.I.G and many other influential performers that have passed away throughout the years. A wide range of A-listers attended the event from music industry executives to major artists, including Jimmy Lovine, Lucian Grainge, Barry Weiss, LA Reid, Rihanna, Jamie Foxx, Keyshia, Chris Brown, Miley Cyrus and Cher. Russel Simmons, Djimon and Kimora Simmons also attended.
The Grammy’s yielded even more surprises to keep the celebration going. Lady Gaga arrived to the awards ceremony in a large egg until hatching from it a few minutes into the show to perform her new single “Born this Way.” After her bold and awe-inspiring performance, Gaga left with the award for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Esperanza Spalding also shocked the audience when she received the coveted award for Best New Artist instead of crowd-pleasers Justin Bieber and Drake. The real surprise, however, was when Arcade Fire, a relatively unknown indie rock band from Montreal, took home the award for Album of Year.
Lady Antebellum was another big winner, taking home awards for Song of the Year, Best Country Album and Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for her song and album, “Need You Now.”
Notable mentions go to Jay-Z and Alicia Keys for winning Best Rap Song and Best Rap Sung Collaboration for their chart-topper “Empire State of Mind” and Eminem for taking home Best Rap Album and Best Rap Solo Performance.
Other winners include Michael Buble, Usher, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Rihanna and La Roux.
Even though the Grammy’s were over, however, the parties kept going. After the awards ceremony, the stars headed over to Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope Records party hosted by Jho Low in the beautiful Beverly Hills hotel, L’Ermitage. The party took place in an Arabian style tent on the roof of the resort while Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre performed some of their greatest hits.The guest list included Leonardo DiCaprio and his model girlfriend Bar Refaeli, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Megan Fox, Jamie Foxx, Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Busta Ryhmes, Eminem, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Connolly and Jerry Bruckheimer. Low was seen flirting with Taiwanese superstar Elva Hsiao.
