The red carpet fuss at last night’s VH1 Save the Music gala centered around two people: John Mayer and Mariah Carey. Quick-witted Mayer seemed especially eager to avoid commenting on his personal life (in answer to the query “Who’s the lady in your life” he responded, “Aunt Jemima, and I can’t wait to go home and get me some flapjacks!”). Mayer confirmed to Rock Daily that he’s planning to relax a bit before working on his next record, and when asked who he’d like to secure for his upcoming rock cruise, he proclaimed, “I want Isaac!” The bartender from The Love Boat? We think so.

As we waited (and waited) for Mimi, industry legend Quincy Jones revealed that Mayer, John Legend and Coldplay are three current acts he admires, and shared a tip for creating platinum records: “I go for goosebumps — when I get the goosebumps, I know someone else is gonna get them,” he told us. “And anyone who says they can go in there and figure out how to sell fifty million albums is lying!” L.A. Reid also did some secret sharing, hinting that Jay-Z’s new album is going to sound “gangsta” (okay, maybe that’s not so secret since it’s inspired by a movie called American Gangster) and boasting about the guy with the biggest-selling debut of the year. “Kanye West has the hottest album in the world today,” he said. “And that’s our record.” One tidbit Reid couldn’t divulge: the track names for Mariah Carey’s upcoming album, though he did proclaim it “amazing.” We were thisclose to more information, but Carey’s manager, Benny Medina, failed to give the okay.

Woman of the hour Mariah Carey finally arrived in a long purple dress with butterfly rings on each hand just moments before the ceremony began. She shared some insight into her still-untitled record (the name should be arriving any day now), calling it “probably the most fun record I’ve ever had, and that’s tough to say after The Emancipation of Mimi.” When Carey was whisked off, we settled in for Conan O’Brien’s monologue, which included the killer punchline “Senator Clinton has always encouraged music education. Right now she’s trying to encourage Barack Obama to play second fiddle.” When the show was over, a mob formed around Carey and Mya, but oddly nobody approached Jon Bon Jovi a few tables over as he got up and made a quiet exit.