Get Shorty: A Tribute to Top Tweeters

“I really have no idea what was going on tonight.”

Quick, can you guess which awards show host admitted this onstage before the night’s festivities were even over? No, it wasn’t Oscars emcee James Franco. (Good guess though.) Hint: I’ll give you 140 characters.

That’s right, it was comedian and tweeter Aasif Mandvi, on loan from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, about two hours into a night honoring social media’s most creative, prolific, and downright “weird” – their word, not mine – at Twitter’s 3^rd Annual Shorty Awards, held Monday at The Times Center.

Indeed, with finalists feted in such categories as Travel, Location of the Year, Real-Time Photo of the Year, and Best Viral Campaign, this was one awards show that was truly all over the map. Voted on by a committee of 15 entertainers and social media experts, following a submission of 750,000 Tweeted nominees, the Shorty Awards included their fair share of bold-faced winners, including the Twitter accounts of Neil Patrick Harris (Actor), Castle’s Stana Katic (Actress), the Jonas Brothers (Music), and Conan O’Brien (Lifetime Achievement). Though none of them were on hand to accept, presenters included Kiefer Sutherland, Anne Meara & Jerry Stiller, and Jim Gaffigan, who presented trophies in the food categories as a “comedian, actor, and bacon enthusiast.”

In between the slew of more than 40 (!) awards, a song by punk cabaret performer Amanda Palmer highlighted the past year’s most amusing tweets, from the likes of notorious Twitter fiends Kanye West, John Mayer and Charlie Sheen. And though the show limited speeches to a breezy 140 characters, there was still time to award not one but two mayors – both of the governmental and Foursquare variety (Newark’s Cory Booker and SoHo Delicatessen’s Baratunde Thurston, respectively).

Thankfully not lost in the shuffle of acceptance speeches and pleas for followers was the underlying message of connection and progress promised by Twitter. Teachers, journalists, and nurses alike were all acknowledged for the work they do in bridging their communities across continents, while The Trevor Project received two awards for its commitment to aiding gay youth through social media outreach. And that was a cause everyone at the Shorty Awards could get behind, no matter who was #winning.

—ANDREW ROSENTHAL



Quincy at 75!

Quincy Jones, or Q, as he's known to his friends, celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday by accepting the Pied Piper award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers last night. Calling himself "the happiest seventy-five-year-old on the planet," Jones watched with admiration and glee as performer after performer took the stage to pay him tribute. Among the acts rocking the Nokia Theater were Ashford & Simpson, Lesley Gore, Gloria Estefan, Roberta Flack, Al Jarreau, Savion Glover and Tony Bennett. Although Gore sang "It's My Party," last night was clearly all about Q--a well-deserved celebration of a prolific career. Following the fete, a select group of guests decamped to the Carlyle Hotel for a private surprise birthday party for the night's honoree. Look for coverage of that gathering in next week's People magazine.

Rock World Pays Homage to Madonna

Iggy Pop singing Madonna's "Burnin' Up"? If you missed it during last night's induction ceremony for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, consider yourself among the fortunate. The aging rocker (who's 60, but has still got abs of steel—and he went shirtless to prove it) covered both that early Madonna hit as well as her more recent pop pleasure "Ray of Light." The wild performances (which amounted to much yelling and squirming on Pop's part and looks of mostly stunned silence on the Material Girl's part) followed Madonna's receipt of her award, which was presented by Justin Timberlake. The former *NSYNC heartthrob, who is producing her soon-to-be-released album Hard Candy, gave a gushing tribute to the mistress of reinvention, going back into the record-review archives to turn up that famed critique of Madonna's circa-1983 voice, which called it "Minnie Mouse on helium." But she's come a long way since then and her inclusion in the Hall of Fame (in her first year of eligibility no less) is well-deserved. Among the other acts to be enshrined in the Cleveland temple to all things rock were John (not Cougar) Mellencamp, The Sound of Philadelphia's Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble; The Ventures (of "Hawaii Five-O" fame); The David Clark Five; Leonard Cohen; and Little Walter. Held at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, on Park Avenue, the night attracted a bevy of boldface names, including Billy and Katie Lee Joel, Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Ed Burns and Christy Turlington, Richard Belzer, two Saturday Night Live "Weekend Update" veterans, Chevy Chase and Seth Meyers, a radiant Patti LaBelle, Damien Rice and Tracy Pollan and Michael J. Fox. Next year's ceremony will take place in Cleveland, but for 2008, anyway, it was all about New York. Fitting, considering that this is the city that gave Madonna her start. %%showphotos [setid=72157604097211551]%%

Anderson Cooper Threatens to Perform ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’

...he did not (thank goodness). But there was no absence of gushing about amazing role models last night at a star-studded event called CNN Heroes, broadcast from the American Museum of Natural History and hosted by Cooper and Christiane Amanpour. The live telecast put the spotlight on an array of men and women from around the world. Most of them are not household names, but each is a star in his or her own right. Among the finalists and honorees: Army Sergeant Major James McDowell, who launched a highly successful program to encourage Afghani farmers to grow saffron rather than the poppy that is used for opium production. Steve Peifer, an educator in Kenya who realized that the key to getting children to attend local schools is to provide them with food in addition to classroom instruction. Kayla Cornale, a teen who devised a way to communicate with an autistic cousin through music, paving the way for a whole new approach to teaching individuals stricken with the disorder. Florence Cassassuce, a Mexican inventor who created a bucket that can purify water....four minutes will create safe drinking water for several days' worth. Throughout the broadcast, Amanpour wandered the perimiter of the museum (in sub-freezing temps) and later, the interior, as well, quoting Teddy Roosevelt and doing live shots with dinosaur models in the background. Cooper handily took center stage, emceeing the program and introducing the celebrity presenters, who included Tyra Banks, Mira Sorvino, Glenn Close, Jimmy Smits, Harry Connick, Jr. and Rosario Dawson. In a particularly awkward moment, the one notable who was left to introduce herself was Sarah Ferguson, the Dutchess of York. Fergie went on to flout the now-verbotten convention of opening an envelope with the prouncement "and the WINNER is....!" as she announced the name of Pat Pedraja, a twelve-year-old boy with leukemia who started a nationwide campaign to encourage bone-marrow donor registries. Pedraja had garnered the most votes in a viewers' choice poll. A special award was also presented posthumously to the late actor Christopher Reeve and his wife, Dana, for their advocacy of paraylsis research. Alexandra and Matthew Reeve, daughter and son of Reeve, accepted on their father's behalf. Lively musical performances were provided by Norah Jones and Wyclef Jean, Mary J. Blige and Sheryl Crowe. After the presentation, which wrapped at 11:30, audience members mingled with honorees, including subway hero, Wesley Autrey. Most of the celebs seemed to have hightailed it home rather than stick around in the house that Teddy Roosevelt built, but the one notable exception—to his credit—was Showbiz Tonight's A.J. Hammer. His entertainment-industry credentials aside, Hammer did not pick up Cooper's idea and channel Bette Midler. The program will be rebroadcast this Saturday and Sunday evenings at 8:00 EST. For more, visit the CNN Heroes site. %%showphotos [setid=72157603397229744]%%

The 2007 James Beard Awards

The twentieth annual James Beard Awards were held at Lincoln Center this evening, in what was surely the ceremony's glitziest outing to date. The event, named in honor of the late culinary pioneer James Beard, recognizes the best and brightest in American cooking and, as usual, Manhattan restaurants dominated. Among the New York chefs and eateries that took home medals: Rising Star Chef of the Year: David Chang (Momofuku Noodle Bar) Best New Restaurant: L'Atelier de Jöel Robuchon (Four Seasons Hotel) Best Restaurant Design: Xing Outstanding Pastry Chef of the Year: Michael Laiskonis (Le Bernadin) But it wasn't a complete sweep for the Big Apple. Chicago's Frontera Grill was named Outstanding Restaurant of the Year and Michel Richard (of Michel Richard Citronelle of Washington, D.C.), received the Outstanding Chef of the Year award. One of my favorite memories from the night was the double victory by brother-scribes Matt and Ted Lee. Shortly after their win in the Food of the Americas category for The Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook--their first-ever Beard Award-- I asked Matt where their storied career might take them next. "It'll be all downhill from here," he answered in characteristic self-deprecating fashion. Not ten minutes later, the brothers had to make a mad dash out of the press room and onto the awards stage to accept a (clearly unexpected) second medal, this one for Cookbook of the Year. A visibly shaken Ted was so excited that he swayed back and forth as he made his acceptance speech, causing the two medals on his chest to clank noisly next to the microphone. Brother Matt finally reached across Ted's torso and clamped the medals together, effectively silencing the din. This is what brothers are for. Take it from me. I have two of them myself. Following the black-tie awards ceremony, presided over by a mighty perky Hannah Storm, of The Early Show, attendees fanned out for the gala cocktail reception, with cuisine by chefs including Marcus Samuelsson (herring-potato salad and cured salmon with burnt leek nougatine); Fabio Trabocchi (slow-braised veal cheeks with osso bucco jus and alba hazelnuts); Traci Des Jardins (Sonoma rabbit escabèche with fava bean crostini); and Allison Vines-Rushing (banana pudding brûlée with cat's tongue cookies). In years past, the crowded reception (held in a ballroom at the Marriott Marquis) has often felt more like a melee than a soiree. This time, however, the scene was refined and elegant. A new standard has been set for the James Beard Awards and not a soul was complaining. %%showphotos [setid=72157603230252964]%%