Sergio Says! Weekly Musings from Marie Claire (and Beyond...)

2012 February 24

Hamming it up with Isaac Mizrahi
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The wait was well worth it for Sergio's two weeks' worth of deliciousness! On the menu: hardcore, and quite poignant, reminiscing about Whitney and Adele, plus a killer playlist for your listening pleasure. Glad to know Chic isn't the only one listening to "Disparate Youth" on repeat for the last 48 hours straight (no, seriously). Here's to the weekend, cheris!

Sunday
When THE BOSS calls, I run as fast as I can. Today my running began at 7 a.m. for an early morning taping of the Project Runway All Stars after-show. The recap show is co-hosted by JoCo and Isaac Mizrahi. Or as I refer to them, Will & Grace. Needless to say, my day was packed with errands: picking up skim cappuccinos, pouring countless cups of tea, delivering THE BOSS’ outfits and accessories to the set, ordering lunch, taking photos, lint-brushing my life away, tweeting and adding my two cents to all things Joanna. It was so much fun, and not only did I get to witness firsthand the bond between Isaac and THE BOSS, but I got to hang with all of my fave Project Runway designers. Obviously I can’t reveal a thing, or a certain member of the Weinstein Group will send the cast of Mob Wives my way. And although I love Big Ang (call me!), I don’t wanna mess with her. Back to All Stars! Everything you know about Isaac is true: hilarious, clever, snappy, and beyond knowledgeable on EVERYTHING fabulous. Now multiply that by 10, add a pinch of RuPaul, Bette Davis and Lucille Ball, put them in a blender and—voila!—there’s Isaac. IsMiz and JoCo had everyone on set in stitches. They both have a thing for tall tales, ABBA, and dispensing fashion advice. And most importantly, I learned that no one can pull off the look of shoes sans socks better than Mr. Mizrahi.

Monday
The trending topic of the day: (still) Whitney Houston. I worked with Whitney on numerous occasions, from organizing a remix and video for her Greatest Hits, to putting together her Just Whitney DVD (I was thanked on the actual album). Seeing Whitney in the flesh was a truly unforgettable experience, and the most memorable times replay in my head as if they just happened yesterday...The time when Whitney flew in to Puerto Rico to surprise all of us during an Arista Records company retreat (I still have it on video, as I sat in the first row screaming louder than a little girl meeting her teen heartthrob). Waiting for hours in the cold for Whitney to finally show up and perform at Lincoln Center for ABC’s Good Morning America (she was two hours late); our trip to Barcelona for the 2002 MTV European Music Awards, when I bumped into Chris Martin as I was leaving Whitney’s dressing room. But my favorite, most cherished moment was the 2004 World Music Awards in Las Vegas—I was one of the lucky few to witness Whitney’s spine-tingling rehearsal for the Clive Davis tribute. She brought the house down the next day with a medley of “I Believe in You and Me” and “I Will Always Love You”. Unforgettable…

Tuesday
There’s nothing more gratifying than seeing an artist you adore take the world by the balls and bring it to its knees. Case in point: Adele. On September 14, 2010, six months before 21 hit the charts, I brought Adele to the Marie Claire office to meet the staff. Adele spent at least an hour in our conference room playing me most of the album, including “Rolling In The Deep” and “Someone Like You” (which made me shed more than a few tears). Adele was raw, unapologetic, and adorable beyond words. I even interviewed her on THE BOSS’ purple couch, which to this day stands as my fave interview ever. (Of course that will all change the day dear Liz Rosenberg grants me a minute or two with my idol Madonna). Adele talked about craving cigarettes the second she wakes up even before brushing her teeth, her major crushes on Benicio Del Toro and Mark Ruffalo, and referred to her curves as “lumps and bumps”. Fast forward to this morning, when a press release from Adele’s publicist Benny arrives in my inbox:

"ONE YEAR AFTER RELEASE, ADELE’S 21 HAS ITS BIGGEST SALES WEEK WITH OVER 730,000 COPIES SOLD 21 BECOMES LONGEST RUNNING #1 BY A WOMAN IN BILLBOARD’S HISTORY WITH 21 NONCONSECUTIVE WEEKS AT #1"

Not to mention the six Grammys, which has tied the record held by Beyoncé for most Grammys won by a female artist in a single year (not to mention Eric Clapton’s record for most Grammys won by a British artist in one night). Adele swept the top three categories—“Record of the Year,” “Album of the Year” and “Song of the Year.” The album has sold over 18 million copies worldwide and is nowhere near slowing down. This is the part where I shall reenact the “Told You So” song from Will & Grace. Told you, told you, told you so!

Wednesday
One of my fave comedians, Kristen Johnston—“the hot blonde with the big rack” as someone on Twitter recently referred to her—invited me to a hilarious evening of celebrities reading excerpts from other celebrity bios, to benefit SLAM, a non-profit for recovering teenage addicts. The event was held at the Triad Theatre and organized by Kristen, who’s own powerful story of substance abuse is documented in her touching memoir, Guts: The Tiny Endless Follies and Tiny Triumphs of a Giant Disaster, out March 13. First things first: as I am about to enter the theater, some lady mistook me for Andy Cohen. That’s a first for me, considering I’m about 10 years younger and, I’d like to think, much cuter. When I finally got inside, I saw Kristen, who called me over to come meet Andy at the bar. I replied, “I’m not here for him, I’m here for you." Kristen's response? “Oh whatever, bitch!” On to the show! I laughed nonstop for two hours. Wouldn’t you, with this lineup? Bobby Cannavale reading from David Hasselhoff’s memoir; Andy Cohen reading Countess LuAnn de Lesseps’; America Ferrara took on Melissa Gilbert’s sexcapades with Rob Lowe. Plus, Heather Matarazzo (Welcome to the Dollhouse) made me cry with laughter over the poetry of Suzanne Somers. But Kristen stole the show with passages from Cindy Crawford’s diaries, penned on the set of Fair Game. If that wasn’t enough...as I took my prime seat a few feet away from the stage, Gina Gershon—aka Cristal Connors from Showgirls—planted her beautiful self in front of me, her hair (once again) smelling like lilacs and patent leather. A few minutes later, seductively, she started eating a kebab, in front of my very eyes. I've gotta admit, I was bewitched, bewildered, and confused about whether the main show was on stage or being performed right in front of me by the lovely Ms. Gershon.

Thursday
Whatever JoCo wants, JoCo gets…The amazing beauty team at Tom Ford sent over Maria Riskakis, one of their stellar make-up artists, to show THE BOSS the latest Tom Ford beauty has to offer. Where are you, Yohji Yamamoto, Balmain and Pierre Hardy? Don’t you want to come over and share your latest with me? Seriously. Call moi.

Friday
OBSSESSED: hipster and fashionista “It” girl, Santigold is back with the hypnotic “Disparate Youth." Next up is “Hot Right Now," a wicked dance collabo between one of England’s hottest Drum & Bass and Dubstep DJ’s - DJ Fresh and Jay-Z’s latest discovery, the super sexy, Rita Ora. Another one of my fave collabs is “We Are Young” by Fun, an American indie pop band and the lady in black (and white), Janelle Monae. I also love “Terribly Dark” by Sweden’s indie artist Frida Hyvönen. And finally, too good for words mash-up called “Whitney” by Norwegian Recycling that consists of Whitney Houston’s “How Will I Know” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”; Florence + the Machine’s “You’ve Got The Love"; Bruno Mars’ “Grenade," and Adele’s “Set Fire To The Rain”. Catch you next week! Until then, follow me at @SergioKletnoy for my daily words of wisdom.