My thoughts on the Birthday Bash, based on listening to the show and looking at various photos posted by the guests online (in no specific order, but just as they pop into my head) are:
1. Jewel, Jenny McCarthy and Maria Menounos looked beautiful. Sarah Silverman also looked really good;
2. I think the David Letterman interview was very interesting, but it brought the momentum down a few notches. It would have played better in the studio. Up to that point the mood was festive and fast-paced, but apparently the audience in the Ballroom was tuning out when Dave and Howard were talking;
3. Where was Stern Mega Fan David Arquette? Very odd that he wasn't there;
4. I wish that Artie had made a surprise appearance -- even via video. This year it will be 5 years --
- since he last appeared on the show, even though he was officially fired in 2010. I think it would have been awesome, and touching, to see him there in some way;
5. Being a huge
Breaking Bad geek I was beyond thrilled that Bryan Cranston was there!;
6. I will always love Jon Bon Jovi and Steven Tyler, but my favorite musical performances of the night were John Mayer (with whom I am normally not all that impressed, but I thought he was fantastic), Adam Levine (great song choice that really showed off his talent) and Dave Grohl (I think he is so talented and I love that he did the second song specifically because he remembered that it reminded Howard of his dad);
7. I thought that Jeff Ross and Joan Rivers were hilarious;
8. Since Robin revealed her cancer story to the world last year (even though most folks guessed it before that), that explained why she was never in the studio. However, now that she is supposedly all better/in remission (she looked fine at the Bash -- not sick), why is she never in the studio now?
;
9. Lena Dunham was great;
10. The Kathie Lee Gifford video was great;
11. John Stamos addressing the infamous night that he and Rebecca spent with Howard and Beth many years ago was great;
12. Robert Downey Jr. is so cool; and
13. I love the different odd pairings of celebrities (even some that were not announced as being there, but were in the audience) that I've seen in photos from that night -- Larry King with Katie Couric and Jenny McCarthy; Steven Tyler with Heidi Klum; Lena Dunham and Zach Braff; Lorne Michaels with Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers; Dave Grohl with Slash; Larry King and Kathy Griffin; Natalie Maines with Tan Mom; Sandra Bernhard, Dr. Drew and Andy Cohen, etc. There