Clive Davis’s dinner and show Saturday at the Beverly Hills Hotel was the must-attend pre-Grammy event.

Mr. Davis has been throwing the bash since the mid-1970s (and therefore has miles on Graydon Carter and his Vanity Fair/Oscar shindig). Mr. Davis uses the party to showcase new talent – this year it was Fantasia Barrino of “American Idol.” Not only did she get a red-carpet moment with Mr. Davis and Oscar nominee Jamie Foxx, she strutted her stuff onstage with Diana Ross and Chaka Khan (performing George Gershwin’s “Summertime”).

The chairman and chief executive of BMG Music North America, Mr. Davis, 73, sat with the scion of Atlantic Records, Ahmet Ertegun, and his wife Mica. The Erteguns made a major social splash in New York last month when they hosted a bash at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Other New Yorkers on the Grammy scene were Denise Rich and Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick.

Actors mixed with musicians. Thespians included Reese Witherspoon and husband Ryan Phillippe, Morgan Freeman, Robin Williams, and Sharon Stone.

Mr. Foxx performed a tribute to Ray Charles. Others gracing the stage were Maroon 5 (singing “This Love”), Alicia Keys, Carlos Santana, and Kanye West.

Dress was all over the map. The spiffed-up set included Usher, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, and, Janet Jackson, in a (relatively) demure pink dress. Vivica Fox’s dress featured a skirt of ostrich feathers. Those who dressed down included Gavin DeGraw, Mos Def, and Mary J. Blige.