Chris Daughtry
Frazer Harrison/AMA/Getty Images for AMA
Co-hosted by emcee Jimmy Kimmel, the VIP bash was held atop a parking structure in downtown Los Angeles. When Kimmel got word that Daughtry and his entourage were being denied entry, he rushed to security to set things right.
Once inside, Daughtry hung out mostly with his wife while enjoying gourmet food catered by Wolfgang Puck's Cut steakhouse.
Favorite female Soul/R&B winner Rihanna, wearing a brown, floor-length Zac Posen gown, eschewed the fancy fare for a glass full of French fries, which she carried around as she told PEOPLE that Chris Brown's performance was one of the night's best.
"He was fun, energetic. Definitely entertaining! He had one of those performances that you remember, like a Michael Jackson performance," she said. "It was great."
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Of course, the Dancing with the Stars contingent was out in force, at one point boogeying down to Britney Spears's "Gimme More" beneath a heat lamp outside the tent in the smoking section. Fans besieged Helio Castroneves, professing their admiration and he thanked them and asked them to please keep voting for him.
