Life of the Party

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.

NBA All-Star Weekend
Thursday, Feb. 17

On Thursday, Feb. 17 LA Clipper Baron Davis with his foundation, Rising Start of America, challenged a few of his good friends to a race around a car obstacle course in the new Lexus CT 200h. The race, which took place across the street from the Staples center, drew quite a crowd of celebrities, athletes and big names to begin gearing up for the 2011 All-Star game. Lexus gave Davis’ foundation $1000 for each celebrity who participated. Attendees included: DJ Skee, John Salley, Hill Harper, Boris Kodjoe, Terrell Owens, April Ross, Cash Warren, Dule Hill, Michael Strahan, Tichina Arnold, Jesse Metcalfe and Jessica Alba.

The following day on Friday, February 18, LeBron James and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger threw fundraiser to benefit After School All-Stars which gives programs to underprivileged kids at Katsuya in LA. At the event, hoop heroes Chris Bosh and Lebron James were honored for their contributions to the charity. The two have donated large amounts of money to the charity based on their performance on the courts. Phillip Merk, CEO of Audemars Piguet and Francois-Henry Bennahmias, CEO of Audemars Piguet North America also presented a $2 million check to the foundation to go towards helping students. At this event, Arnold Schwarzenegger also unveiled his new watch, The Legacy Royal Oak Offshore timepiece, that he announced recently in Switzerland. Chris Brown and Tara Reid attended the event.

That same day, many of the stars geared up for the actual event with the BBVA NBA All-Star Celebrity game. Justin Bieber, Rob Kardashian, Zach Levi, Romeo Miller, Jalen Rose, Trey Songz, Swin Cash, RIck Fox and A.C. Green played for the West team. Magic Johnson was the head coach and Jimmy Kimmel was the general manager. Nick Cannon, Tamike Catchings, Common, Arne Duncan, Chriss Mullin, Scottie Pippen, Michael Rapaport, Mitch Richmond and Jason Sudeikis played for the East. Bill Walton was the head coach and Bill Simmons was the general manager. After a tough game back and forth between the two teams, the Eastern conference claimed the victory — while Bieber in the Western conference claimed a personal victory for himself as MVP of the game.

While there were many parties and events on the week following up to the All-Star game, on Sunday, February 20, the biggest party of the week was finally getting started. Nick Cannon hosted the pre-game show on the magenta carpet, sponsored by T-Mobile, as the stars began arriving to the game. Some of the celebrities and athletes that stopped by include Chris Bosh and LeBron James of the Miami Heat, Maria Menounos, Dwayne Wade, Deron Williams, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwight Howard, P. Diddy, Ellen Pompeo, Kellan Lutz, and Sara Ramirez. Keri Hilson got the party started with a variety of old and new songs while Bruno Mars energized the crowd with his Grammy-winning single, “Just The Way You Are.”

Later in the night, the stars headed over to the 2011 NBA All-Star Game, sponsored for the 5th time by the LA Clippers and Lakers, at the Staples Center in LA. Josh Grobin set the tone for the game with a solid performance of the national anthem. Celebrities that attended include Steven Tyler, Justin Bieber, Drake, Lil Wayne, John Legend, Christine Telgen, Dustin Hoffman, Jay-Z and Beyonce, Gene Simmons, Bruno Mars, Rupert Murdoch, and George Lopez. During the half-time show, Rihanna pumped up the crowd with a medley of her top hits and joined Kanye West to perform his new single, “All of the Lights.” At the end of the game, the Western conference, managed by San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popvich, won the game with a score of 148 to 143 — and Kobe Bryant was named MVP of the night for his 13th consecutive all-star selection.

Oscars

The star-studded night began with Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 19th annual Oscar viewing dinner and after party at the Pacific Design Center’s tented courtyard. Stars — many who were attending the awards ceremony later on or just wanted an opportunity to mingle with co-stars and friends during the event — attended the party. Guests included Prince, Matthew Morrison, Taye Diggs, Anne Heche, Steven Tyler, Smokey Robinson, Seal, Heidi Klum, Rufus Wainwright, Chaka Khan, Jamie Foxx, Emma Roberts, Chace Crawford, John Waters and Jane Lynch. Later on Glee stars Chris Colfer, Ashley Fink, Lea Michele and Cory Montheith showed up, as well as Kim Kardashian, Kelly and Sharon Osbourne, Betty White, Victoria Beckham and Miley Cyrus. The long list of star-studded guests enjoyed goat cheese soup, beets, marinated seared beef tenderloin, salad and apple tarte tatin for dinner and dessert. British band Florence and the Machine performed.

While many of the stars watched the Academy Awards from the courtyard at Elton John’s highly anticipated party, others eagerly headed over to the 83rd Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. There were many highlights of the night include Anne Hathaway’s and James Franco’s opening montage featuring clips from Inception and Kirk Douglas’ introduction to the award for Best Supporting Actress. Celine Dion also took the crowd’s breath away as she performed “Smile” during the ceremony’s “In Memoriam” segment to honor all those in the performing arts community that have passed away, and Billy Crystal, beloved Oscars host, gave a heart-warming tribute to Bob Hope. To brighten the mood, the Academy Awards also featured auto-tuned renditions of Harry Potter, Toy Story and Twilight, and fifth-graders from PS22 in Staten Island harmonized in their version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

As far as the awards are concerned, The King’s Speech and Inception dominated the ceremony, winning eight awards total out of the 24 categories. The King’s Speech received trophies for best picture, actor, directing and writing for an original screenplay while Inception captured the awards for sound editing, cinematography, sound mixing and visual effects. The Social Network came in third place winning three awards total for film editing, music (original score) and writing for an adapted screenplay. Honorable mentions go to Alice in Wonderland, Toy Story 3 and The Fighter, which each took home two awards.

After the ceremony, those who didn’t head back to the Pacific Design Center for the continuation of Elton John’s party, headed over to the Governor’s Ball, the official after party of the Academy Awards, within the Hollywood and Highland complex. For many stars, this was their first post-Oscars party stop for the night. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck planned out the menu, which consisted of salad, diver sole and lemon cheesecake, to compliment the night’s Copacabana theme. Christopher Nolan, Social Network stars Jesse Eisenberg and Armie Hammer, Jeff Bridges, Billy Crystal, Helen Mirren, Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Zachary Levi and Melissa Leo attended, as well as Natalie Portman, Russel Brand, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening and Justin Timberlake.

In addition to the Governor’s Ball, many of the stars also attended Vanity Fair’s Oscar’s party hosted by Graydon Carter at the West Hollywood Sunset Tower Hotel. Black and white photos of movie icons decorated the walls, framing a beautiful wooden dance floor for the celebrities in attendance to let loose. There seemed to be more pop stars at this event than movie stars, however. Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift, Moby, 50 Cent, Steve Tyler and Mick Jagger were a few of the musical artists who attended the party, while actors and actresses Emma Stone, Natalie Portman, Larry David, Kevin Spacey, Jimmy Kimmel, Charlize Theron, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Hudson, Hugh Jackman, Donald Trump, Michelle Williams, Amy Adams, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Rudd, Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, Anderson Cooper, Hillary Swank, Vanessa Hudgens, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Meryl Streep, Cameron Diaz, Kristen Davis, Nora Ephron and Sandra Bullock were also there. The stars enjoyed mini burgers and Moet champagne the entire night.