Glee + Barbra Streisand = We Die...a Lot!

Get the scoop on last night's McKinley High-filled tribute to the music legend

By Marc Malkin Feb 12, 2011 7:56 PMTags
Lea MicheleJason Merritt/Getty Images

When Barbra Streisand wants you to sing, you sing.

Just ask the dozen or so performers at last night's MusiCares Person of the Year honoring Ms. Babs at the L.A. Convention Center.

"I'm really scared," Kristin Chenoweth told me before belting out an awesomingly moving rendition of "One Less Bell to Answer" with Matthew Morrison. "I've sang for many great idols of mine. Well, there are three: Barbra, Bette Midler and Julie Andrews. And Barbra's the one I haven't met. So, I'm really nervous."

Who else was on the bill? Read on for all the Glee-filled scoop and more...

Lea Michele made jaws drop with her solo of "My Man." She looked gor-gor-gorgeous in an Amanda Wakeley dress and killer Jimmy Choo heels along with earrings by Neil Lane.

Darren Criss and the Warblers actually had the honor of opening the more than two-hour tribute concert with "What Kind of Fool."

Other highlights included British songbird Leona Lewis' soaring performance of "Somewhere." Stevie Wonder got a standing ovation for "People." And Faith Hill could not have been more elegant and heart-filled with "Send in the Clowns."

Producers even showed the Duck Sauce video for the recent international dance music hit, "Barbra Streisand."

Who actually presented Streisand with the award? Prince!

No word yet on how that came about (do the Purple One and the Diva of all Divas even know each other?!), but no matter. It was certainly one of those unforgettable moments in music history.

Streisand ended the night with a 30-minute set of some of her classics and a couple of new songs from her next album.

"My niece recently watched a DVD of Funny Girl for the first time and asked me why I was singing songs from Glee!" Streisand said.

Last night's event was largest fundraiser for MusicCares, which provides emergency financial assistance and addiction recovery programs for the music industry.

Fran Drescher remembered seeing Streisand for the first time back in the '60s. "She did everything that at the time was the antithesis of what a woman with a large nose should do according to fashion," said Drescher, who's developing a new comedy series Happily Divorced, for TV Land. "She embraced her nose with confidence. She's been doing that her entire career, saying to everyone, 'I am what I am and I do what I do.' It really was a beacon for all us Jewish girls from Queens with frizzy hair."

Fran, I know exactly what you mean.