What an amazing evening! The 2012 edition of VH1 DIVAS was chock full of unforgettable moments, ones that you can fortunately watch over-and-over again thanks to the miracle of streaming video. However, for all the show-stopping performances that you saw on VH1 tonight during the broadcast, there were a plethora of precious moments you weren’t privy to that happened backstage and off-camera. To that end, we had some VH1 insiders strategically placed all around the Shrine Auditorium tonight keeping their eyes, ears and camera lenses open all night long for those special moments that our TV cameras weren’t able to capture. And, seeing that it’s the holidays and all, the giving spirit is coursing through our veins and we thought we’d share some of the highlights with you.
So now, without further ado, here are the Top 16 Things That You Didn’t See On TV During VH1 DIVAS:
1. American Idol alumnus Adam Lambert ran out to greet the original Idol, Kelly Clarkson, and the two shared a warm hug just minutes before show time backstage. Adam did a little turn showing off his duds.
2. Speaking of the newly engaged Kelly Clarkson, she showed off her sparkly yellow canary diamond ring to a friend a few moments before she performed “Catch My Breath.” We overheard her saying “He did so good, didn’t he?” and “I was freaking out when he went down on one knee and all.” A clearly emotional Kelly also admitted on her way off-stage that “I can’t believe I almost totally cried on television!”
3. Moments before she hit the stage, Ciara was carried piggyback style by her bodyguard and then ran into her position, laughing the entire way. After blowing everyone away with her amazing medley of “Billie Jean” and “Got Me Good,” she danced with utter glee backstage after her performance. After being congratulated by L.A. Reid (at right) and participating in a quick cheer circle with her crew, she told her friends that “All I wanna do now is go out and have a delicious meal!”
4) Keri Hilson arrived backstage wearing a Ritz Carlton robe. How does she manage to look so glamorous while wearing a bathrobe, anyway?
5. Miley Cyrus, whose performance of “Rebel Yell” was arguably the most buzzed about performance of the night, gave a hug to Demi Lovato right before Lovato performed “Give Your Heart A Break.” Miley then proceeded to dance to Lovato’s smash single. When Miley finally came off stage, her mom Tish was there to give her a big embrace and kiss on the cheek.
6. As long as we’re slinging some goss about Miley, guess what? Her and NeNe Leakes are brand new besties! Miley is totally obsessed with the Real Housewives star (Ed. Note – Who isn’t?), and yelled out “That’s NeNe! She’s my soul!” right before NeNe went on stage to introduce her.
7. Okay, one last Miley thing. Our friend @jakeweinraub took this incredible picture of Milers when she started crowd surfing during “Rebel Yell.” How amazing is this picture?!? No wonder the second she came off stage, she screamed “YEAH BITCHES!!!!”
8. Brandy introduced tonight’s exuberant Whitney Houston tribute, but as soon as she stepped off stage, she made sure she got the best seat in the house. She stood just off to the side of the stage applauding for the entire performance, cheering “They done stole the show, honey!” loudly as soon as the number wrapped.
9. Since we’re talking Brandy, here’s a snap of her and Jordin Sparks conversing backstage. Brandy called Jordin “beautiful,” and the feeling looked to be mutual as they were near tears while gushing about how gorgeous they both looked. They promised to talk at the party hosted by Jordin later.
10. You guys, we can’t resist sharing one more Brandy deet. Here she is with Adam Lambert, a quick conversation in which she called him “her baby” and adorably pinched his cheeks.
11. Um, did you know that Buckethead and Bootsy Collins were friends? Neither did we! This feels monumental in many regards.
12. We would be remiss if we didn’t mention what an absolute sweetheart that Adam Lambert is. Here, he poses for a quick picture with his “Ray Of Light” dancers just seconds before he went on stage. Adam was lovely to his dancers, making jokes and dancing dirty with them to keep everyone loose before the big performance. Additionally, you would not believe how incredibly polite he was to this sound guy while asking him to adjust the volume levels of his ear pieces. What a great guy!
13. Iggy Azalea made a lot of friends tonight, especially after she changed into her party dress. She struck up a great conversation with Bootsy Collins, too, one in which Bootsy congratulated her on her performance and gave her some career-centric words of wisdom.
14. Here’s a direct quote from one of our sources, who shall go unnamed: “Stacy Keibler looking gorgeous … sickeningly gorgeous. Stacy is a million feet tall.” (She’s the one on the left of this photo, talking to Jenna Dewan-Tatum and Ellie Kemper.)
15. Every party needs their Ladies Men. Tonight, the competition boiled down to two gentlemen. Not surprisingly, those gents were L.A. Reid (who, we’re told, was “literally there when EVERYONE finished a performance,” escorting all the lovely ladies from side stage to the door and being especially congratulatory to Ciara) and Pitbull (who made sure to hug DJ Havana Brown after the show). Play on, playas!
16. This was kind of hard to see during the red carpet, but we have never laid eyes on a train QUITE like the one that Kelly Rowland was wearing tonight.
Well, everyone, those are all the secrets that we have to share. Or, at least, all the ones that we’re allowed to share. After all, now it’s time for the afterparty!
[Photo Credits: Felicia Daniels, Dan Sacher, Michael Scogin, @jakeweinraub, Pegah Rashti, Sam Blake Hofstetter]
