Bling and Blige – GM’s curtain raiser turns on the style

General Motors repeated its successful GM Style auto show curtain-raiser, a glamorous eve-of-show party featuring top pop acts, catwalk models – and the latest GM cars.

The event put GM on the front pages on Press Day – and this year the company turned up the glitz even more with performances by R&B diva Mary J Blige, pop band Maroon 5 and local Detroit rocker Kid Rock.

Cars on the catwalk included an original 1953 Chevrolet Corvette, and the new Buick Riviera concept first seen at the Shanghai Auto Show last year. The car was designed in China – where Buick is a major player. Also on show was the Chevrolet Malibu, the 2008 North American Car of the Year, and the car GM hopes will conquest sales from the market-leading Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.

Chevrolet’s small Beat concept is a pointer to the future, while the final car down the catwalk was the 2009 model year Corvette ZR1, a supercharged 6.2-litre, 620bhp V8-engined coupe that GM claims is the fastest and most powerful car it has ever built.

The event is a major undertaking – it is housed in a purpose-built marquee in the shadow of GM’s head office in the landmark Renaissance Center building. The cost runs into millions of dollars – Mary J Blige was rumoured to be paid $250,000 for her four-song performance, while 21 top models were flown in from Los Angeles. The car valet parking service alone employed 120 drivers. But GM believes it’s worth the expenditure, as it brings the kind of media coverage on press day that advertising money can’t buy.