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The Recording Academy's week-long festivities running up to the Grammy Awards have never touted anything as flashy as the star-studded soiree Clive Davis has hosted for 30 years.

Until this year, when the music mogul's famed blowout became an official member of the Grammy family. Now dubbed the Pre-Grammy Gala, Saturday's celebrity shindig in the Beverly Hilton remains the hottest ticket in Hollywood, as much for its seismic schmooze as its top-shelf performers.

Confirmed guests include Quincy Jones, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Bill Maher, Missy Elliott, will.i.am, Babyface, T-Pain, Busta Rhymes, the Foo Fighters, Gladys Knight and Chris Tucker.

Whitney Houston, returning from self-imposed exile and a messy divorce, will take the stage. So will Jennifer Hudson, emerging further into the spotlight after the October murders of her mother, brother and nephew.

During the event, the Recording Academy will present its President's Merit Award to Davis for his contributions to the music industry. It's the only alteration to a blueprint of merrymaking and song.

"They were not interested in changing anything, so it's still a very personal party," says Davis, Sony Music's chief creative officer. Though his labels and sponsors always bankrolled the event, "it was never a company party. Heads of every record group lay down their armor to be there. We have every motion-picture studio, every TV network, all there to celebrate music."

Drawing luminaries and power brokers from all fields of entertainment, the Davis bash grew grander than talent agent "Swifty" Lazar's legendary Oscar gatherings.

It has served as a platform for emerging acts from Alicia Keys to Leona Lewis, who made her U.S. debut at last year's gala. Davis allows space on the bill for stars outside his stable, including Kanye West.

This year, he's wound up about his diva double-hitter.

Hudson "is feeling as well as can be expected," Davis says. "She is in a frame of mind to really get back to work."

Ditto for Houston, who "just came out of the studio with R. Kelly, and after the Grammys she's going back in with David Foster. The songs are there."

He has also booked the Kings of Leon and rising singer/songwriter BC Jean, who co-wrote Beyoncé's If I Were a Boy. Sean "Diddy" Combs, inspired by the biopic Notorious, will revive I'll Be Missing You, his 1997 tribute to Biggie Smalls, with Faith Evans.

The all-star gathering and media magnet "really fits in our wheelhouse," says Recording Academy president Neil Portnow, who worked for Davis at Arista in the '80s.

With the party now attached to Grammy's neutral terrain, will fellow honchos resent Davis' authority over the marquee and guest list?

"I made calls to the chairs of the other major labels and posed that question," Portnow says. "To a person, everyone said, 'It's great, Clive deserves it.' Clive knows it's not about any one label's artists. He's been broad in selecting talent."

Selecting Davis as this year's Merit recipient was a no-brainer, he adds. The award honors "pillars of the music business, not only the creative side, but the business side," Portnow says. "It's about being visionary and ultimately bringing talent forward, believing in it, sticking with it and creating the most beloved musical artists of our time. That is Clive's legacy. He's 100% still at it."

And in no hurry to quit. Davis, 76, co-produced Kelly Clarkson's upcoming album and is co-producing a new Leona Lewis album with Simon Cowell. He's also working on discs by Rod Stewart and Carlos Santana and preparing to collaborate with Harry Connick Jr.

"It would be easier to give it up if it weren't so exciting and challenging," Davis says. "And great report cards are very gratifying."