Dennis Elsas at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony

It's 1AM backstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria and the show just ended. Once again I had the honor and great pleasure to be the announcer for the event.

This year's inductees certainly represented a wide and diverse spectrum of the rock world. From the legendary Ronettes (with Ronnie Spector in amazing voice) to the passionate performance and acceptance speech of Patti Smith, the thunder of Van Halen to the intensity of REM and the introduction of Hip Hop to the Hall with the sounds of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

There were loving tributes to Amhet Ertegun and James Brown, the always entertaining Keith Richards to welcome the Ronettes and an all-star jam featuring presenters Eddie Vedder, Stephen Stills, Keith and just about all the inductees that showed up. Noticeably absent were the Van Halen brothers and David Lee Roth, but that didn't seem to detract from the night's celebration.

Earlier in the day at rehearsal, Patti told me how happy she was that the song "People Have the Power" - written by her late husband Fred Sonic Smith - was used for the all star finale.

For the first time the entire show was broadcast live on VH1 Classic and AOL. A two hour highlight version will appear this weekend on VH1.