TINSELTOWN SPYWITNESS.

Byline: Ellizabeth Snead and Jennifer Sklar

SUCCESS TO KEYS: The place to be on Grammy night?

Wherever Alicia Keys, the Grammy Girl of the Moment, was! And that prestigious pit stop was the BMG bash at the Argyle Hotel on Sunset Boulevard, filled with music-industry suits, tattooed rockers and velour track-suited rappers. The 21-year-old piano protege from Hell's Kitchen and winner of five Grammys was chillin' and refueling. Keys, who had changed into a pink version of the turquoise sequined sheer chiffon scarf-top she wore to the show, sat cloistered on the purple banquette in a corner of the bar. Sitting on sequins can be such tricky business, you know. Most impressive: Keys' sequined eyelids held up all night long. That's some eyelash glue, girls!

She was positioned under a large black-and-white photo of '30s glamour puss Marlene Dietrich while a constant parade of fans and well-wishers paid homage to the music industry's 2002 It Girl. But the poor (but happy) Keys was making up for the past week's lost meals, sucking up oriental salad-in-a-box with chopsticks and snarfing chicken quesadillas. When an Entertainment Weekly reporter came by to snag a quick quote, her manager dismissed the man with a terse ``She's EATING!''

Also in the crowd, Dido, who won for best remixed nonclassic recording; OutKast, for best rap performance; and Usher, whose song ``U Remind Me'' won a Grammy for best male r&b vocal performance. Nearby, the two ``Alias'' dudes, Michael Vartan (the top CIA cutie) and Bradley Cooper (Danny, the long-suffering ditched boyfriend) were chatting up their female fans.

On the other side of the lounge, Pink (``Lady Marmalade''), who had changed out of her Jean Paul Gaultier pink floral halter top into a cyber- space-age strappy white gown, was equally accessible. So whassup with the strange thick black eyeliner?

``My inspiration was 'Blade Runner,' '' Pink explained, referring to Ridley Scott's (``Black Hawk Down'') cult classic sci-fi film and the scene in which Pris, the willowy blond replicant played by Daryl Hannah, airbrushes her eyelids with a thick black line right before her to- the-death kick-butt scene with Deckard, played by Harrison Ford. The multitattooed singer, who joked about needing a spa stay after this week, is preparing to go on a headliner U.S. tour and then hook up with Lenny Kravitz to tour overseas. But she's also looking forward to next year's Grammy Awards. ``I want my own!'' she said with a grin.

Outside in the pool area, salad and seafood, champagne and new Gizo herbal upper and downer drinks (kava kava or guarana) were being served to parched partygoers (most opted to have the healthy drink spiked with booze). But legendary music executive Clive Davis didn't need an herbal upper. He sounded like a proud papa, bursting with praise for Keys, his new J Records' star.

``I first met her when she was just 18,'' Davis recalled. ``When you see her, you know immediately she is this incredible special talent, but you have to let the natural events unfold. This night ranks right up there with the great Grammy moments, Carlos Santana, Whitney (Houston) or Springsteen.''

Davis says Keys is the key to a new millennium of music.

``She is the best ambassador for music you can imagine. Imagine, she is 21, writes her own material, arranges and produces. Her voice is up there with the best of them. Leaving aside her stunning beauty, you could not find a more level-headed young artist with incredibly strong values.''

Asked if his party was indeed ``the party of the night,'' Davis demurred, ``I don't know about that. But it's the only party I'm going to.'' Hey, it's the only party he NEEDS to go to!

THOSE IN THE KNOW: Many guests at the Clive Davis gala defected to Perfect 10 Magazine and KNOW Music's shindig at Club A.D. in Hollywood. Hugh Hefner and his Playmate girlfriends roped off a section on the balcony above the dance floor to shake their things privately, while cutie pie Shane West hung out with his friends, including ``The Young and the Restless'' star David Tom, on the smoking patio. 'N Syncers J.C. Chasez and Joey Fatone were not hurting for female attention while lounging at the bar until nearly 3 a.m. Jay-Z, Nelly and Jermaine Dupri brought their hip-hop style to the joint, unwinding on plush chairs.

NO JIVE AT CLIVE'S: That Clive Davis is a party animal. The night before the Grammys he held a personal party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, a shindig revered as the hottest ticket during Grammy Week.

``More million-dollar deals are done in this cocktail party in one hour than during all other parties during the year,'' noted one entertainment lawyer, while he scoured the room for potential contacts. But even if you weren't a music industry hotshot, the Davis scene was enriching and amusing as the worlds of old and new, hot and cold, sexy and sleazy all mixed and mingled. Early arrivals included Rod Stewart, in a purple cut-velvet jacket, who strutted in with his latest Amazon-size blonde in a skin-tight white dress with no visible panty or bra lines. Former ``Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'' host Robin Leach grabbed a quick glass of champagne while he perused the hottie horizon. Asked who he thought would win best album of the year, Leach replied, ``I have no idea. I'm just here to party. Clive and I are old friends.''

Keys scurried in and was whisked by security past the waiting press line. But actors Wesley Snipes (``Blade 2'') and Ian McKellen (nominated for best supporting actor for ``Fellowship of the Ring'') took the time to pose for photogs. Another press-polite partygoer was Tony Bennett, who chatted with just about anyone who wanted to.

Deep inside the cocktail party, Slash and Dick Clark made an incongruous pair while songwriter Denise Rich, Natalie Cole - in a white pantsuit - and Davis hugged and huddled in a corner. The Model area was occupied by not-so-super-anymore-model Naomi Campbell and her '70s version, Beverly Johnson, who wore a jacket over her massive rhinestone brassiere.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer showed up wearing the exact same red sequined top and black pants she had worn the night before at the MusiCares event. Kid Rock, clad in his perennial T-shirt and jeans, slugging a Coors and smoking a cigarette, made a beeline for the patio smoking area with his pneumatic gal pal, Pamela Anderson, who sported strange scratches on her upper arm, just above her barbed wire tattoo.

When the lights dimmed to signal guests to leave the cocktail party and descend to the dining room, Barry Manilow remarked inexplicably, ``I like it dark in here.''

Most of the rappers, including Jay-Z, Ja Rule, Busta Rhymes and Jermaine Dupri, arrived late and were last to go down to the dinner. Each had brought a huge posse of stern and stolid bodyguards and it was difficult to maneuver around the Kenmore-size men, which, one supposes, was precisely the point. When a fashion reporter managed to get close enough to P. Diddy to ask about his Sean John clothing line, P. protested, ``I'm gonna be telling you what's hot next year!'' And when a photographer asked him to remove the toothpick from his mouth for a photo, Diddy declined, ``No, this is my style!''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) CLIVE DAVIS, ALICIA KEYS: Host and it Girl

(2) CARLOS SANTANA: Grammy night revisited

(3) PINK AND HER MOM: Who is trendier?