Pop singer Nick Lachey, one of more than a dozen celebrities and entertainers who showed up Saturday night at the GM Style event, said it best: “Detroit's the hot spot tonight.”
Lachey and the other stars strutted down a runway alongside 17 new GM vehicles and concept cars. The hot stars and hot cars filled a sprawling pavilion that was set up just east of the GM Renaissance Center. Even Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter made a surprise appearance, showing up on stage in his “Jay-Z Blue” GMC Yukon Denali. Jay-Z told reporters later he had spent more than a year working with GM's Global Color Studio to come up with his signature color.
More than 1,000 people attended the invitation-only event that helped rev up the city and its guests for the North American International Auto Show, opening to the public on Jan. 13.
For one night, Detroit looked like it had returned to the glory days as last year's Super Bowl host. Hollywood A-listers — from Vivica A. Fox to Christian Slater — marched down a red carpet area where throngs of media gathered.
The show kicked off to a clip of the Justin Timberlake hit “SexyBack,” a reminder that GM is trying to step up its image as a style leader.
Then it was Jimmy Kimmel's turn. The comedian who hosted his late-night “Jimmy Kimmel Live” show here last February at the Super Bowl, came back to host the GM show.
“In Hollywood where I live, the stars are the stars,” he said. “In Detroit, the cars are the stars.”
While the 17 GM vehicles and concepts were definitely shining on the runway, the stars weren't too shabby. Carmen Electra literally shimmied in a black and grey gown with silver beading running from the neckline to the mermaid hem.
Actress Cheryl Hines from HBO's “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” dazzled alongside a green-grey Chevrolet Sequel concept.
“Dancing with the Stars” standout Mario Lopez escorted (sadly, he didn't dance) an electric blue Chevrolet WTCC Ultra race car concept, and supermodel Petra Nemcova looked like a Grecian goddess in a white flowing gown escorting a futuristic white metallic Saab Aero X concept.
Wearing a smart beige Dolce & Gabanna suit, surfer Laird Hamilton twirled his tiny daughter down the runway, alongside a Hummer H3 open-top concept vehicle. His wife, model and volleyball player Gabrielle Reece, also steamed up the runway in a skin-tight gold micro mini knit by Donna Karan, escorting a Buick Enclave concept.
The night's most enthusiastic runway stars were “Dreamgirls” star Jennifer Hudson and “America's Next Top Model” winner CariDee English, who showed off her runway training from Tyra Banks with a dramatic model strut.
Detroit native Kristen Bell, who stars in the CW network's show “Veronica Mars,” said she walked the runway to support her hometown. Rapper and actor Nick Cannon; actress Ashley Scott from the CBS show “Jericho;” Danny Masterson from “That 70s Show,” and Minka Kelly from NBC's drama “Friday Night Lights,” rounded out the night's celebrity cast.
Glittery, form-fitting metallic gowns with mermaid hems were the night's biggest trend, along with platform metallic heels and bright red lipstick. On the men, it was ties loosely tied. But at the end of the night, the only model to get a standing ovation on the runway was the racy new Camaro Convertible concept
“I'm loving all of this,” said Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who showed up in a brown fedora and a three-piece tan suit, and enjoyed a front row seat at the show. “This puts us back in the spotlight.”
