"I’ll bet I am the only 60-year-old woman ever to have her photograph on the cover of Glamour magazine," said Maria Shriver the other night in Carnegie Hall when the magazine did its "Women of the Year" awards.

But, hey, the activist First Lady of California is fudging it just a bit. She was actually only 54 on November 6. Nevertheless, as the night’s final recipient of the honor, Maria was the wind-up finale person onstage at these dazzling awards. And she was of a piece with the rest of the honorees, famous for never taking "No!" for an answer when it comes to a good cause.

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Over the years I’ve grown increasingly skeptical of all the self-promoting "awards" going on in the world. Most of these turn out to be long, overwrought and boring. Well, I certainly misjudged the worth of the Glamour awards.

My pal, Vogue magazine’s Billy Norwich, and I sat in the audience expecting very little. What we received was an evening of surprises, big stars, celebrities at their peak and a surprising program that whizzed along from one thrilling expectation to another. Where else, I ask you, would you see Yoko Ono, Olivia Harrison and Barbara Starkey together (Mrs. John Lennon, Mrs. George Harrison and Mrs. Ringo Starr) presenting to Paul McCartney’s designer daughter, Stella McCartney. These women have known Stella since she was born! The films that preceded each presentation were excellent, for instance – in a mélange where various people called out the designer’s name, the thing that got the biggest laugh was the inclusion of Marlon Brando on his knees screaming "STELLA!" (I was surprised that the very youthful audience "got" it and gave the moment a big laugh and an ovation.)

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As in many award shows, the presenters were even better known and more famous than the honorees. This is all catnip for the audience. And the presenter who got the biggest hand of the night (actually, screams) was Bill Clinton who came on to honor Maya Angelou, the poet from his own Inauguration. (If there were no term limits for presidents, there is no question William Jefferson Clinton could lead this nation again.) Ms. Angelou, 81, was poetic, funny and thrilled to be with her president again.

The balconies were crammed with Girl Scouts, young girl groups, and they were a fabulous enthusiastic audience for the likes of jailed-in-North Korea-journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling; Google visionary Marissa Mayer; the U.S. ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice; and No. 1 tennis star Serena Williams. Let’s not forget Amy Poehler who killed the audience with her, "And I want to thank President Clinton and Maya Angelou for opening for me!"

The big glamour hand went to Rihanna. At her appearance the audience freaked out and I’d say, generally, the clothes, such as the white outfit she was wound up in, always elicited high interest. That part was really fun. Rihanna was surprising in her beauty and seemed hardly older than the children in the balcony.

All the presenters were first rate – Christiane Amanpour, who offered up the revolutionary women of Iran – along with Tyra Banks, Katie Couric, Matt Lauer, Diane von Furstenberg, Iman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lorne Michaels, Michael Douglas.

My hands-down favorite of the night was honoree Jane Aronson, pediatrician and founder of Worldwide Orphans, which saves deserted children and promotes adoption. (She’s the one who worked with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie! What a woman.) They brought on a stage-full of children who Jane has saved and she hugged and kissed every one. This was a killer moment. Really great.