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"As you read this, I&amp;#x27;m most likely either on my way to or at the Staples Center, home to the 56th Annual Grammy Awards on CBS. The venue has been a bustle of activity this week while the stars rehearse for the big show hosted by LL Cool J. Here&amp;#x27;s everything you need to know about what&amp;#x27;s happening this weekend&amp;amp;#8212;from the pre-parties to the performances to the gifting suites! We&amp;#x27;ll be updating as more presenters and performers are announced! UPDATE: I just got back from the Staples Center, where they are putting the finishing touches on the red carpet (here&amp;#x27;s a sneak peak below). The official Grammy after-party at the nearby L.A. Convention Center will have a Great Gatsby theme this year, and will be the largest after-party for any awards show. Meanwhile, new presenters and performers have been added (see below). Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney are slated to perform, but the Recording Academy is remaining mum on whether they&amp;#x27;ll be performing together. My best guess is yes, but it&amp;#x27;s still not confirmed (same with the Jay-Z and Beyonce collaboration rumors). What they have confirmed is another major rock-star, who I think you&amp;#x27;ll all like (see below)! Pre-Parties! Friday Night: Lady Gaga, James Taylor, the Dixie Chicks, Steven Tyler, and others will pay tribute to honoree Carole King at the MusiCares soiree, which goes for $1,500 a pop at the L.A. Convention Center. Saturday: The annual Roc Nation pre-Grammy Brunch presented by MAC Viva Glam takes place at a private estate in Beverly Hills during the day. MAC Viva Glam will also be hosting a uniquely custom Twitter program during the event and will be making a sizable donation to the MAC AIDS Fund. UPDATE: $25,000 was donated to the MAC AIDS Fund during the soiree, thanks to the amazing star power and involvement of Rihanna and John Demsey (Group President, the Estee Lauder Companies, which oversees MAC Cosmetics). Kudos you guys! Saturday Night: The most anticipated party gets under way&amp;amp;#8212;the Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton. This year will honor Universal Music Group chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge with the President&amp;#x27;s Merit Award. Grainge has signed or worked with some of the most talented artists in the industry, including ABBA, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Elton John, Eminem, Metallica, Katy Perry, Rihanna, U2, and Amy Winehouse. No one wants to disappoint Clive, so every musician (not to mention athletes, TV stars, and film actors) shows up. We&amp;#x27;ll be there with the video crew, so I can&amp;#x27;t wait to bring you all the insider coverage on Sunday! By the way, check out what happened on last year&amp;#x27;s carpet when I stumped the Foo Fighter&amp;#x27;s Dave Grohl in one of my favorite moments ever. The Gifting Suite! This year&amp;#x27;s gifting suite, presented by MTG (a Japanese manufacturer of innovative beauty goods) will feature $550 Max Martin luxury American-made shoes, the world&amp;#x27;s first Bluetooth gramophone for $349.99, a $1,250 Gibson guitar, Solstice sunglasses from the brand&amp;#x27;s new spring 2014 collection (retailing from $120 to $350), a $5,000 Best of Las Vegas Package complete with Boyz II Men tickets and more, a Kohler Moxie showerhead and wireless speaker for $199, and a $3,300 resort stay at Ocean Casa, an Imanta resort. (Yes, being a celeb sounds pretty good right about now!) Oh, and check this out&amp;amp;#8212;there&amp;#x27;s also Camiwraps, a stylish bra pocket that lets you hold your phone, money, and other items so you can go purse-less. At $25 each, I&amp;#x27;ll take a few of those please. At today&amp;#x27;s gifting suite there was a piano waterfall. Apparently THIS is what you get for the person who seems to already have everything. Wow. Grammy Grub Executive chef Joseph Martin and his team have created a truly A-list menu that features ahi tuna sandwiches, cedar plank salmon salad, Peking duo sandwiches, tropical fruit martinis, and more. Then there&amp;#x27;s the Grammy Old-Fashioned, a Hudson Manhattan rye whiskey garnished with a strip of candied bacon and served over a Grammy-shaped ice sphere. Dear lord! By the way, come Sunday night, there will be 1,200 bottles of wine, 8,500 pieces of sushi, 430 pounds of artisan cheese, 265 artisan salumi, 2,560 chocolate truffles, 1,540 pounds of chicken, 1,090 pounds of short ribs, 100 pounds of Dungeness crab, 240 pounds of shrimp, and 200 pounds of ahi tuna. Honestly, The Bachelor&amp;#x27;s Sean Lowe and Catherine Guidici should have just decided to hold their wedding there. I mean, I think there&amp;#x27;s plenty of food to go around. The 56 Annual Grammy Awards Presenters and Performers: This is actually going to be my first year attending the Grammys thanks to CoverGirl, so I can&amp;#x27;t wait to bring you guys all the insider details on Monday! Meanwhile, the Recording Academy is still releasing the names of the presenters and performers, so let me bring you up to speed. The Presenters: UPDATED: Julia Roberts, Jeremy Renner and Steve Coogan have just been added to present. Previously announced presenters include Marc Anthony, Black Sabbath, Zac Brown, Gloria Estefan, Anna Faris, Jamie Foxx, Ariana Grande, Neil Patrick Harris, Olivia Harrison, Anna Kendrick, Alicia Keys, Cindi Lauper, Jared Leto, Bruno Mars, Martina McBride, Miguel, Yoko Ono, Smokey Robinson, Ryan Seacrest, Steven Tyler, and others. The Performers: UPDATED: Madonna will now be taking the stage! Also announced: Taylor Swift and Keith Urban performing together. Kacey Musgraves is confirmed, while Beyonce and Jay-Z performing together is still a rumor. Previously announced collaborations include Sara Bareilles with Carole King, Pharrell Williams with Stevie Wonder, Kendrick Lamar with Imagine Dragons, Robin Thicke and Chicago, Willie Nelson and Blake Shelton, Lorde, Katy Perry, and others. The 56th Annual Grammy Awards airs Sunday on CBS at 8 P.M./7 P.M. CT. Who are you rooting for&amp;amp;#8212;and which performance are you most excited to see?"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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