Williams was filling in for Nick Cannon, who at the last minute was unable to fill his role as emcee (yet Tweeted a photo of his and Mariah Carey's toddler son, Roc, "big pimpin in Italy!" on Tuesday afternoon). Williams told The Observer that her Memorial Day weekend took her from Atlantic City (for Beyonce's Big Post-Partum Concert) to Atlanta, where she got the call.

"So I went from Atlantic City, to Atlanta, to here today, hosting, performing, run-throughs, wardrobe fittings. Washed my hair today...hotel shampoo's good, you should use it!" she said, adding, "That was a lack-of-sleep comment."

The concert lured in the New York philanthropist crowd (along with fashion designers Donna Karan, Jason Wu and Joseph Altuzarra) with the ever popular and always tear-jerking combination of orchestras performing with pop stars.

The musical favorite of the night was, of course, the P.S. 22 Chorus—but isn’t bringing them in cheating, at this point? They began with a requisite tearjerker, covering Les Mis' "Castle on the Cloud," accompanied by the violist David Aaron Carpenter (who cemented his reputation as a young and cool violist by wearing a ruffled, sequined, untucked black shirt). The Chorus then broke into covers of "Somebody That I Used to Know" and "We Are Young," which provoked the first standing ovation of the night and more than a few adulatory "aww!"s.

John Legend opened with his song "If You're Out There" with the Salomé Chamber Orchestra. Later in the night, he introduced President Bill Clinton, who made a special guest appearance and kept the musical theme going in his opening cracks.

"When I graduated from high school, I had more musical scholarships than academic scholarships," the President said. "I took one of the academic scholarships and it's been downhill ever since."

The President's remarks focused on the eradication of hunger, but also noted obesity, one of his pet projects, and the trustworthiness of Lauren Bush Lauren, the founder of FEED. In fact, much of the night was devoted to lauding Lauren and celebrating FEED's fifth anniversary. The concert program featured a full-page ad for Lauren, in true yearbook-style, from the Lauren family: "We are proud to support your mission and passion...Ralph and Ricky, David, Andrew, Dylan and Paul."

Doting husband David Lauren showed The Observer a picture of Ms. Bush Lauren at yesterday's rehearsal on his iPhone, noting that much of their Memorial Day weekend was devoted to preparations. "She's very cool under pressure," he said.

Ms. Bush Lauren managed to make it through the night with only one joking mention of her famously palindromic name, from Christian Courtin-Clarins, the very French chairman of Clarins ("cla-raunssss"). But he also poked fun at his own Francophone pronunciations of English words: “I say ‘famine’ because if I say ‘hunger’ I won’t know if I’m ‘hungry’ or ‘angry.’”

FEED produces canvas bags and accessories that are sold to benefit the U.N. World Food Programme’s School Feeding program, with a modus operandi not unlike that of TOMS Shoes. (Philanthropy! Fashion! Canvas!)

“A lot of the big luxury brands are also getting into philanthropy,” Nina Garcia told The Observer during the pre-concert cocktail reception. “I have to hope that more and more of the designers and fashion companies will be involved. We have made a difference—we made a big difference when AIDS started. The fashion community really rallied and showed its strength.”

Event co-chair Diana Feldman flanked by honorees Nate Berkus and Geoffrey Bradfield. (Shaun Mader/PatrickMcMullan.com)

"I'm going to only take a few minutes of your time. So shut up!" 

Last night, at the St. Regis rooftop ballroom, Dame Barbara Taylor Bradford took the role of emcee to new levels of Britishness when the post-dinner chatter became too much. Such brusqueness may have raised a few eyebrows at other galas, but she is a Dame, and after all, this was to fight cancer. The room duly obeyed.

The cause was, for the most part, the focus of the American Cancer Society's inaugural Birthday Bash (in past years, called the "Celebration of Life," the name change heralding the Society's 100th birthday next year). The end of the spring gala season seemed to have left some guests a bit tired and chatty, with the auction drawing few bidders. But later requests for straight-up donations to the Society's Hope Lodge—no VIP Giants tickets included—was heeded by many. And the dance floor was full to the brim when the band played "Staying Alive," which we presume was in homage to Robin Gibb.

Diana Feldman, the Society's Chairman of Special Events, did some shushing of her own in her opening remarks, which also featured a not-too-shabby rendition of Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday." It was dedicated to the night's honorees—designers Nate Berkus and Geoffrey Bradfield—in lieu of Mr. President.

Bradfield, who received the night's Man of Achievement Award, arrived for cocktails in a bespoke Astor & Black suit. When The Observer asked Bradfield what his acolytes can expect from his book "The 21st Century Palace," out tomorrow, he grabbed our arm, beaming: "Magic."

Once called "The Billionaire's Designer" and coiner of the term "functional opulence," Bradfield was lauded as a loyal, loving friend by nearly every functionally opulent person the The Observer talked to.

"I met him the day he arrived here from South Africa," said Debbie Bancroft. "I was introduced to him by a writer for Tatler. He was the cutest thing I'd ever seen. I had a huge crush on him. I still do."

Some of his friends even wore all white in his honor. Barbara Tober, another co-chair of the benefit, layered two translucent white necklaces with her all-white pantsuit. One of the necklaces featured a cascade of what she called "wonderful soft stuff" that resembled, in the most elegant of ways, both mushroom caps and jellyfish.

Chiu-Ti Jansen, founder of China Happenings and publisher of the the Observer Media Group's YUE magazine, also wore white for Bradfield: a sleeveless 1960s costume couture gown, elbow-length satin gloves, and a tiara.

"Everyone says you can only wear white on your wedding, but I'm wearing white in honor of him."

The event called for "festive attire," which left some a bit perplexed.

"It's very difficult to know what 'festive' is," said Barbara de Portago, in mock frustration, to Feldman and Dame Bradford during cocktail hour. "Give me black tie or give me cocktail!"

Jean Shafiroff, another benefit co-chair, interpreted "festive" with a cobalt silk lace gown designed by Victor de Souza, but customized for Shafiroff. "This dress is on the Chic Index," she said, referring to the site which currently features Shafiroff in 12 separate posts, and pointing out her billowing train and bustle.

Nate Berkus arrived shortly before dinner, fresh on the heels of last week's announcement of his Target home decor line, due for release this fall. (He immediately signalled for a tequila with soda while snapping photos, eliciting laughter from Bradfield.) Berkus was honored with the night's Humanitarian Award for his charity work: in particular, for his redesign of one of the rooms in the Society's Hope Lodge, a free-of-charge residence for cancer patients and families who have to travel to New York for treatment.

And is he a fan of Bradfield's?

"I am. I think his work is incredibly refined. Design is a funny industry in that some people feel like they can't like others' work. I've never felt that way."

Later in the evening, Berkus poked fun at one item he and Bradfield do have in common, despite their divergent design styles.

"Geoffrey, I'm honored to be a co-recipient with you tonight. I'm even more honored that we wear the same suit size, as we were discussing. No decorators over 5' 8". That's just going to be the way it goes."