Today is Grammy Day. I know that's just another award show for many of you. It's has all the elements of glitz and glamour -- fabulous red carpet, amazing performances, "holy sh**" moments. But the Grammy's are extra special to me and my girls... because we've been... seven times. No, not hanging outside the Staples Center just catching glimpses of artists. Not even in a nosebleed seat courtesy of some free radio giveaway. Nope, we've comfortably sat in the first 10 rows of the floor of the Grammys... seven times. As an ode to this amazing tradition, I'm flashing back today's blog with a recap from one of our latter years. It's a little glimpse into the magic. And it definitely was magical.
Drum
roll please! Our infamous Grammy Trip
(#7) has come to a close, and we have the usual (and some unusual) fabulous
stories to tell! Somehow this recap has
evolved to be more requested than Britney asking for a Red Bull and cigarettes.
We aim to please.
We’ll
start with the Grammy’s but be sure to read past just this day, because we had
lots of other celeb moments throughout our annual weekend.
Grammy Day
As
always, the primping for the show was hysterical. I envision Charlie Chaplin-like music playing
as we scurried around swapping jewelry, makeup, hair products – until we ended
up with six beautiful girls! We got SO
many compliments on our dresses this year. I’m sure because we were colorful and
coordinated as ever (blue, gold, red, black, purple…)
We
arrived exactly on time (12:30pm) to our “meeting” spot at the Shrine
Auditorium. We were roughly the 20th people in line. After about a 20-30 minute wait, the seat
fillers in charge (“SFIC”) herded us like cattle in shuttles to the Staples Center where we waited outside for an
hour or so. Luckily, it was very warm. So warm, actually, that we needed to
stand in the shade! Not much to complain
about for a February day! Also, we somehow made it to the FRONT of the line
once we were stationed at our waiting post outside the Staples Center.
This might seem like a long
time to stand and wait in a fabulous dress and shoes (i.e., must arrive by
12:30pm for a 5:00pm show start). No worries, through our years of experience,
we have learned that our feet pay the price for a fun day at the Grammy’s.
Therefore, we waited for hours in the cheapest flip-flops we could find and
carried our shoes, as well as some much-needed snacks, for a long day of
waiting in line. Once we got the word to go inside, we chunked our flip-flops
in the trash and made the switch to our heels (unless you’re Jessica, then you
actually wore them inside the auditorium, stuffed them under your seat when it
was time to start seat filling and then went back to the same seat after the
show to find they were still there). We
told you we are professionals J.
We
had a minor freak out when they shuffled us in to the Staples Center,
and we were pushed from the front to the BACK of the line. Of course, it wouldn’t be a normal Grammy day
without some seat filler drama. Naturally, J. Green and Jessica went to find
the “powers that be” to try to explain what had happened and to ensure our well-deserved
place as the first inside “the house,” (as they call it). The “powers that be”
tried to assure us that “it doesn’t matter” and “everyone will get inside.” However,
being the veteran seat fillers that we are, we knew this not to be totally true
and insisted on our timely entrance inside. Fortunately, we had a few SFIC who
recognized and liked us (and our shoes – we love Dabrina!), and they quickly
identified us to enter the show floor FIRST. PHEW.
The Show
Around
4:50 p.m. (show starts at 5:00 p.m.), they whisked us into some seats. As we
walked towards the front, we saw the show floor was CRAZY empty. Stori/Jessica
plopped on the 6th row, and I sat right behind them. There were entire rows directly behind us
that were completely open. INSANE!
The
moments from getting seated until the show starts are always TORTURE. Until the house lights go down and the show
is live, there is a chance of getting booted from the seat by a ticket holder. We literally count down the seconds to
showtime hoping we can stay in our seas.
During this time, we were able to see Chris Brown find his seat – solo.
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill waltzed straight up to the
first row. Faith really couldn’t be any more stunning--always an amazing sighting.
Jennifer Rabara spotted Nelly Furtado taking her seat (with her
blonde locks) and got a close up of her not-so-perfect complexion (nice to know
they aren’t 100% perfect!). Of course,
there’s the yearly sightings of Grammy veterans that actually get there on time
such as Ludacris and Bonnie Raitt.
FINALLY,
they dimmed the lights and started the show! Of course, Alicia Keys was just amazing (even better from a 6th row
seat!). TV didn’t do her green dress justice at all. Stunning!
Right after the show started, we caught a head of blonde hair sneaking
to her seat… It was Fergie! Just as
we start to pout realizing Josh Duhamel
(her hottie fiancé) isn’t with her for yet another year, he and his perfectly
coiffed hair sneaks in the seat next to her. He was even spotted nuzzling her
neck, which was almost enough to cause Jessica to hurl her clutch at Fergie’s
head in a rage of jealousy. Seriously, it was TOO CUTE.
At
this point, it’s hard to remember who came and went during particular points
during the show,, but here’s the run down:
Snoop Dogg took a seat right in
front of Stori (Jessica had already moved to row 3 next to a Grammy attorney). Snoop had possibly the largest man in America
as his body guard – which is not necessary since Snoop is skinnier than any of
us girls! Snoop really enjoyed the gospel set.
Speaking
of enjoying performances, Chris Brown
was totally diggin’ Carrie Underwood’s man hatin’ song. He was the only one
standing!
Directly
across the aisle from Stori was Delilah,
the real-life inspiration for the song, “Hey There Deliliah” by the Plain White T’s (they were there
too). She had her strappy Christian
Louboutin’s kicked off the entire time.
Corinne Bailey Rae was also just across
the aisle from us and right behind Jessica. She stayed for the entire show and
was especially enthralled by the Jerry Lewis performance. When she didn’t get
the win for Song of the Year, she turned to her friend, shrugged her shoulders,
and said “Oh, Well.”
Also
waltzing in sometime in the middle of the show was none other than Kid Rock, greasy hair and all. He
walked straight to the front and said “hi” to Tim/Faith and Chris Brown (so
random).
Another
group right across the aisle was Best New Artist nominees, Paramore. The lead singer definitely had bright pink hair and socks
with her shoes.
For part of the show, Miranda Lambert
was directly behind Nicole (with Blake
Shelton). Miranda is from the east Texas town, Lindale, and
Nicole couldn’t muster up the nerve to tell her that her bf is from Gilmer.
DANG!
Tom Hanks presented a lifetime
achievement award to The Band, then quickly took a front row seat with his
wife, Rita Wilson. They stayed the
whole time. Rita especially jammed to the Sgt. Pepper performance at the
end. Also, Hanks wore these crazy cool
glasses (black rimmed…) when people were performing. We ended up directly
behind them at the end of the show (natch), and we all rocked out to the Cirque
De’ Soleil finale.
J.
Rabara snagged an aisle seat directly in front of Berry Gordy, founder of
MoTown Records, right before the “Rhapsody in Blue” performance. Berry smiled at her and
made eye contact while they were presenting him with a Lifetime Achievement
award. He was quiet the flirt! And real random, he was seated next to Gayle King, Oprah’s BFF, and her date. Jennifer
got to listen to them talk about what Grammy after parties they planned on
attending that night. Even more random, Gayle wore sunglasses the entire show.
After
Rihanna’s performance, she glided up
an aisle right by us in her electric blue dress. She was just stunning in
person!
For
the sake of time and space (and sanity),
here are some quick bites on the rest of the folks we saw (in no particular
order):
- Jimmy Jam/wife and kids –
all sat right behind Stori and right next to Nicole. His wife was freakin’
gorgeous. She kept asking her kids
if they saw “Daddy talking to Barry Bonds,” who was apparently on
the other side of the auditorium.
Rough life.
- Jill Scott was three seats
away from Stori and MEGA rude to the seat filler in her seat. She said “Pardon
me” once and when he didn’t move it came out like, “PAR-DON ME.” Diva.
- Busta Rhymes – Stori kept
his seat warm for a commercial break
- Usher and new wife Tameka Foster had a front row aisle seat, directly diagonal from Jessica’s third
row aisle seat. She was very pretty, but looked old in person. Her ring
was CRAZY big, talk about some bling!
- The Rock-a-fella crew (Beyonce, Jay Z,
Rhianna, Ne-Yo) were all at the show as well. Beyonce and
Rhianna were so beautiful in person. Chris Brown did come over to give
Rhianna a hug and a kiss and congratulate her for her win for “Umbrella.”
Hmmm, wonder if those rumors about them dating are true?
- During Brad Paisley’s performance, Carrie Underwood was standing up and really getting into it. So much so that she was
yelling at the audience to get up, but nobody did L
- Grammy Lawyer – Jess sat next
to this guy for much of the show and he proceeded to tell her who won all
the categories before it happened!
- Keyshia Cole sat right
across the aisle from us.
- T-Pain we couldn’t miss because he had
the most ridiculous colorful top-hat on!
- Record mogul Clive Davis sat right across the aisle from
J.Rabara. He stayed the whole show, yet seemed to sleep through
over half the performances. When he was awake, he did talk to EVERYONE
within close proximity to him.It’s weird seeing an 80-some-odd-year-old white
guy walk up and have a conversation with Snoop Dogg.
- Will.i.am walked right up
the aisle from us. When he performed, Nicole, Stori & Jess were in the
second row, so they turned around to watch him rap. J.Rabara was about 2
rows from the stage where he performed. He made eyes/gestures at a hot
girl sitting right next to Gayle King so she laughed it up with Gayle
& the girl during the performance. We could all see the lyrics on the
teleprompter, so we sang along J.
- Kanye West was sitting
right next to Tom Hanks/Rita Wilson. We got an up-close shot of him when
they were giving out the Album of the Year award (which he lost to Herbie
Hancock). He went into major prayer mode, though I think it was (like most
of his actions) an act.
- Nicole, Stori, and Jessica ended up in The
Beatles seats at the end of the show (next to Yoko Ono). By the end of the show, you’ve seen so many amazing people it
doesn’t seem weird to ask, “Hey, have the Beatles left yet? Cool” and take
their seat. The Staples Center
staff/random assistants were waiting on Yoko hand and foot and kept
bringing her coffee/cream in a Styrofoam cup. When the show ended,
J.Rabara joined us on the aisle and totally helped Yoko out into the
center aisle (“she touched Yoko Ono!”).
- Speaking of
being anxious for the final award, in the row behind us, Foo Fighters waited anxiously for
their name to be called. The drummer even had his feet in his chair with
his knees to his chest.
- Other sightings:
Tia Carrere, Akon, Daughtry, Jamie Foxx’s brother (remember last year,
Jess steared clear this time),
Ringo Starr, L.A. Reid, and Quincy Jones.
Other L.A. Notables
Here
are some quick hits about some of our other L.A. sightings:
- While we were waiting
for our table at The Ivy
(definitely did NOT get kicked out this time), we saw Whitney
Port
from The Hills (you know her as LC’s buddy at Teen Vogue – the successful
one). She could totally use a sandwich.
- Driving down Santa Monica Blvd,
we spotted a circa 1999 white Honda which was being driven by someone of
Asian decent. It was HIRO NAKAMURA, from the show Heroes!
- Tried to get
into the brand new bar, Villa. No dice on Friday, but had an open
invite the rest of the weekend by the manager. They kindly put our name on
the list at Opera, instead.
- Fake Britney at Opera was classic. Ask
for a picture.
- ZERO celebs on Robertson
Ave. or Rodeo Dr.
on Saturday… BOO!!!!
- Ate at Ketchup on Saturday night and saw
a look-alike for Vince Neil
(Motley Crue). Strangely enough, he was also at the Grammys… Who is he??
- We had plans on
Saturday night to go to Goa. Plans
quickly changed when the owners of Les Deux invited us to go there instead.
Seriously, we were totally approached by the CEO and Founder of the Dolce
Group at Ketchup and personally invited to Les Deux. It was just like a
movie; the velvet rope was lifted for us and we walked straight past a
huge line of hopeful club goers trying to get in and got free drinks, as
well!
- At Les Deux, we
saw Hillary and Haylee Duff, Beverly Mitchell (7th Heaven), Channing Tatum (Step Up, She’s The Man), Jenna Dewan (Step Up, The Grudge), Paula Abdul (OMG tiny!), Paula’s BF and part-owner of Les
Deux, JT Torregiani, Mike Malin (Mike “Boogie” from Big
Brother) – another part-owner of Dolce Group (Les Deux, Ketchup, etc)- ask
Stori for a pic. We literally chased him through the club.
It
was another great year, and we had the pleasure of exposing another newbie to
this now infamous girls’ trip we’ve created.
Jessica’s sister, Jayne, saw the glitz, glamour (and not so glamorous) Hollywood experience. She was great!
The
on-going joke is “this year is our last year.” However, I think we say that to
ensure we have the best trip ever. Seven
years going and we haven’t stopped yet.
Until next time…