When Tony Bennett received the Grammy Sunday for best pop performance by a duo or group for his duet with Amy Winehouse, he invited the late singer’s parents to join him on stage during the awards ceremony’s pre-show segment.

“We shouldn’t be here. Our darling daughter should be here,” Winehouse’s father, Mitch, said after he and the singer’s mother, Janis, had embraced Bennett.

His daughter was thrilled, Winehouse said, to have recorded the Grammy-winning song “Body and Soul” with Bennett.

Mitch Winehouse also noted Whitney Houston’s death Saturday and the recent passing of Etta James.

“What can I say? There’s a beautiful girl band up in heaven,” he said.

Spencer revealed on the red carpet that she had lost her own mother at a young age, and so she hoped Houston’s daughter Bobbi Kristina was surrounded by good family who would protect her from now on.

Davis also honoured Houston, saying for her, it was the amazing music she would remember.

Spencer later triumphed at the ceremony, winning the Best Supporting Actress category. Her face was one of genuine astonishment when her name was called out, although she said she wouldn’t be fulfilling her promise of running down the street naked if she won – “it’s too cold for that.”

The BAFTA Winners’ List in full

Spencer and the rest of The Help cast are veterans of awards ceremonies now, having picked up the prestigious Screen Actors Guild ensemble award recently in LA, but the actress from Alabama claimed she still hadn’t got over the thrill of bumping into her idols. Presumably George and Brad, yes?

“Oh no, they’re old friends,” she joked, “We met them in December. No, it was when I met Jim Broadbent I could hardly speak.

“And Daniel Radcliffe… I mean who hasn’t grown up with Harry Potter?”

Things are looking good for Spencer now at the Oscars, and she can be happy, too, that out of the five nominated Best Films at last night’s BAFTAs, The Help is by far the most successful at the international box office.

BAFTA Winners in pictures:

The documentary telling the intimate story of Brazilian Formula One superstar Ayrton Senna, has garnered both critical and popular acclaim since its release last summer, and surprised many with its omission from consideration for an Academy Award.

The BAFTA Winners’ List in full

Director Asif Kapadia admitted before the BAFTA ceremony that the Oscar list had been disappointing, but such slights were later forgotten when the film-makers secured two gongs, one for Best Documentary, and one for Best Editing. It had also been nominated for Best British Film, but lost to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Kapadia revealed that he wasn’t a sports fan at all himself, hence his insistence on making a film that could reach more than just fans of the racing track.

“We realised it would have to be about a person,” he explained. “And Senna had an otherworldly quality, this incredible charisma.”

It was a successful night for Senna‘s production company Working Title, the same team responsible for Tinker Tailor.

BAFTA Winners in pictures:

Chris Martin and his guitar then joined RiRi for “Princess Of China,” a much more stripped down performance. The full band then performed “Paradise.”

It was a big night for electronic music. Chris Brown also performed a song that was produced by a house music artist (“Beautiful People,” by Benny Benassi), Skrillex won three awards in the pre-show and deadmau5 and David Guetta were expected to perform later in the show.

See a clip of the performance below:

Credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons took a break from shooting Henry IV in the UK to chat with me about what makes a great director and what was going through his mind when he won Best Leading Actor in 1991 for Reversal of Fortune:

“Well, the worrying thing about it is, you know, you get a lot of sort of static noise in your head when your category comes up and my nightmare was to think I’d heard my name and to stand up and discover I hadn’t, that it was my name saying that I’d been nominated or something, not that I’d won. What I seem to remember doing is thinking, well if everybody is looking and me and smiling, then that must mean that I’m the one who has won. Umm, and I think I waited for that moment. Because there’s nothing more embarrassing than standing up if you haven’t, you know? And that’s to say your senses are so on edge that you could mishear. And I won! I kissed everybody I seem to remember. I remember kissing Madonna, I don’t know Madonna. Well, I do now but I didn’t then. She was sitting next to Michael Jackson, I very nearly kissed Michael Jackson. I was actually up for kissing everybody.”

On directors:

“I value encouragement. I’ve always thought of a director as like a really good chef. That he gathers his ingredients, his crew, his cameraman, his actors, whatever… He has a jolly good recipe, which is the script, which he believes in… and he puts all the ingredients together and he stands back and he sort of watches and does a bit of chopping up and puts it all in and lets it simmer and watches it. And every now and again he tastes it and maybe adds a bit of salt, and just sort of nudges it in a certain direction, and lets it happen. And if he set it up right, with the right ingredients, the right actors, the right crew, the right story, it should cook wonderfully. And he should have the talent and the taste to just change the flavors a little bit to get it working as he wants. And of course, it will probably turn out slightly different than he imagined it, because like a good wine, a good script, you never quite know where it is going to go, and how it’s going to be received, and what it’s going to come out as. So that’s my favorite sort of director, one that encourages and gently pushes you in the right direction, and casts you well so that you’re playing a role that you can actually bring something quite interesting to.”

Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons took a break from shooting Henry IV in the UK to chat with me about what makes a great director and what was going through his mind when he won Best Leading Actor in 1991 for Reversal of Fortune:

“Well, the worrying thing about it is, you know, you get a lot of sort of static noise in your head when your category comes up and my nightmare was to think I’d heard my name and to stand up and discover I hadn’t, that it was my name saying that I’d been nominated or something, not that I’d won. What I seem to remember doing is thinking, well if everybody is looking and me and smiling, then that must mean that I’m the one who has won. Umm, and I think I waited for that moment. Because there’s nothing more embarrassing than standing up if you haven’t, you know? And that’s to say your senses are so on edge that you could mishear. And I won! I kissed everybody I seem to remember. I remember kissing Madonna, I don’t know Madonna. Well, I do now but I didn’t then. She was sitting next to Michael Jackson, I very nearly kissed Michael Jackson. I was actually up for kissing everybody.”

On directors:

“I value encouragement. I’ve always thought of a director as like a really good chef. That he gathers his ingredients, his crew, his cameraman, his actors, whatever… He has a jolly good recipe, which is the script, which he believes in… and he puts all the ingredients together and he stands back and he sort of watches and does a bit of chopping up and puts it all in and lets it simmer and watches it. And every now and again he tastes it and maybe adds a bit of salt, and just sort of nudges it in a certain direction, and lets it happen. And if he set it up right, with the right ingredients, the right actors, the right crew, the right story, it should cook wonderfully. And he should have the talent and the taste to just change the flavors a little bit to get it working as he wants. And of course, it will probably turn out slightly different than he imagined it, because like a good wine, a good script, you never quite know where it is going to go, and how it’s going to be received, and what it’s going to come out as. So that’s my favorite sort of director, one that encourages and gently pushes you in the right direction, and casts you well so that you’re playing a role that you can actually bring something quite interesting to.”

Houston, a six-time Grammy winner, will be remembered in a tribute during the show, where Jennifer Hudson is reportedly set to honor the beloved singer.

Find out what some celebrities told E! News while remembering Houston on the red carpet:

Tony Bennett: “I remember when I first heard Whitney [Houston], I called Clive Davis on the phone and said ‘You’ve really got the right artist, she’s the greatest singer I’ve ever heard.’”

L.L. Cool J (Grammy host): “Obviously the news was devastating, hearing about Whitney Houston’s passing. We immediately had to jump in gear and try to figure out how we can be respectful and how we can show the love and the appreciation she deserves and that her life warrants and merits. We discussed it all night, a lot of people stay up real late trying to figure something out and hope that Whitney Houston’s family and her friends, first of all, and the rest of the people watching appreciate what we do.”

Billy Ray Cyrus: “A great deal of sadness but yet at the same time, I think there’s a feeling of honor, to respect and to honor an incredible talent this world has lost,” he said regarding the tone of the evening in the wake of Houston’s death. “First of all, as a human being, she’s always been very nice to me, my family, me, as we’ve crossed paths throughout the years, As an artist, she’s one of those artists — she sang the backdrop of our lives. She really was the soundtrack of a lot of the emotions and storylines, the different moments that we all went though over the past 25 years. She’s been singing the songs we’ve all been living.”

Paris Hilton: “The first time I met her, I was so excited, because I always admired her since I was a little girl. I loved her movies, her music and I thought she was such an icon, and now that this has happened, I was in shock, it’s so heartbreaking and awful.”

Corinne Bailey Rae: “I think Whitney Houston was an influence on all singers, really, that are sort of my age, and for those younger as well. It was really sad to hear that news today.”

Kelly Price (who sang with Houston on Thursday): “Singing with Whitney has always been, to me, just an honor. I looked up to her prior to becoming an artist. I was a background singer with a lot of people, and she was just the premier artist to beat. She was just amazing. In my heart I was praying [news of her death] was an Internet hoax … and to realize that it wasn’t, I don’t even know how to explain it.”

Kelly Rowland: “I think it’s a really somber tone tonight at the Grammys because we lost our hero. I know if I say she’s my hero, I mean that with every fiber of my being … I just love her so much and really, my heart is heavy, but my prayers go out to her mother, her daughter, because if we feel this great of a loss, I can only imagine how heavy their hearts are.”

Ice-T: “I met Whitney back in the day when she was with [ex-husband] Bobby [Brown]. It’s a tragedy …Especially with the all the [Grammys stuff going on today, it’s sad.”

Adam Levine: “I don’t even know what to say, I don’t even have words at this point, I think everyone’s kind of in shock … She impacted everyone, she’s unbelievable. She’s Whitney-freaking-Houston, so we’re all just really upset and still in shock.”

Jessie J: “Yesterday was not how I expected it to be. I kind of expected to meet her and sing for her, but I met her daughter and I sang for her … I feel very honored that I was alive with her music, and I got to look up to her as an artist.”

Miranda Lambert: “I feel like, there is a little bit a dark cloud, but I feel like it’s sort of ironic because this the night where instead of grieving, we can let music heal us and we can celebrate Whitney through music because this is the one night of the year that’s all about just music, of all genres, and everyone here has been affected by Whitney in way or another.”

Flo Rida: “She’s paved the way for a lot of people. She inspired me and my immediate family. My condolences go out to her and her family, because she’s definitely a true legend.”

Check out red carpet photos from the Grammys below:

On the red carpet, Hilton took the time to talk to E!’s Giuliana Rancic about her upcoming album — executive produced by Grammy-nominee Afro Jack — which includes collaborations with “Flo Rider” and “LMAFO,” as Hilton said herself.

Since the electro pop band is actually named LMFAO (which stands for “Laughing My F—– Ass Off”) Rancic subtly corrected Hilton by slowly spelling out the acronym before her next question. “Now L-M-F-A-O,” she said. “You’ve known those guys a long time. How do you know them?”

Turns out, Hilton has been close with half of the uncle-son duo because her mom, Kathy, is friends with younger LMFAOer, Skyler Austen Gordy’s, mom. “I grew up with Skyler since I was a little girl and we were like cousins. They actually used to deejay my parties, starting like eight years ago. They’d always play ‘I’m In Miami, Bitch’ and now, it’s like one of the biggest hits in the world. I’m so proud of them.”

Name slip aside, Hilton gave props to her childhood friend and also took the time to remember Houston. “I always admired her since I was a little girl,” Hilton said. “I loved her movies, her music, I just thought she was such an icon … I was in shock. It’s so heartbreaking and awful.”