An exclusive HITS report from N.Y. correspondent Shirley Halperin

It's been a week of music-mogul endorsements in the Apple. First, at last Friday's Kid Rock show, legendary music exec Ahmet Ertegun ambled onto the Madison Square Garden stage with Atlantic VP Artist Relations Bob Kaus and introduced his label's superstar as "one of the greatest artists I've had the pleasure to work with in the history of rock." And he didn't even mention Pamela Anderson.

Then, last night, a party marking Esquire's June issue music biz fashion spread brought together some of the big names in the biz, with a charity auction benefiting the T.J Martell Foundation. The event, "Hanging With the Heavies," marked the mag's 12-page fashion feature photographing six of the music industry's top-notch executives with some of their most prominent artists.

J's Clive Davis was paired with Busta Rhymes; Arista's L.A. Reid with Pink; Motown's Kedar Massenburg with India.Arie; Elektra's Sylvia Rhone with Missy Elliott and Tweet; IDJ's Lyor Cohen with Ja Rule, Irv Gotti and Saliva’s Josey Scott; and WB's Tom Whalley with the Goo Goo Dolls’ Johnny Rzeznik, Eric Benet and Debbie Nova.

Held at New York's W Hotel - Union Square and hosted by a very jovial Cedric the Entertainer, the three-hour booze and schmoozefest saw its most heated bidding wars take place during the auctioning of the Lyor Cohen/Irv Gotti print (claimed by Island President Julie Greenwald for $2,000) and the Massenburg print, which went for a whopping $4,800. Cohen himself put in a bid for the L.A. Reid print, hedging up to $1,800 before dropping out. Other items up for sale included an Elvis Costello autographed vintage Danelectro guitar donated by IDJ, an appearance in an upcoming video (both J and Arista were offering that treat, although the artist was unnamed), and a trip to the Grammys courtesy of Motown.

Aside from the label heads, the guest list was indeed impressive and promised everyone from Dr. Dre to the Osbournes. Neither showed and, as one photographer mentioned, the Osbournes, in New York, were listed on virtually every tip sheet faxed that day. Those who did show included Foxy Brown (who entered arm in arm with Cohen), Kelis, Arista newcomer May West, and Knicks point guard Mark Jackson.

As for all the president's men and women, all but one were in the house (WB's Whalley was back in L.A.) along with a roomful of industry loyalists both past and present. Spotted were J's Charles Goldstuck, Arista GM Larry Mestel, Island Def Jam's Stu Bergen, Paul Pontius and Larry Matera, Roadrunner A&R Ron Burman, MTV News gal Suchin Pak, E's Aisha Taylor, Blender’s Craig Marks and a veritable plethora of publicists, including Big Hassle's Kenny Weinstein, ex-Mammoth, now-Hollywood’s Keith Hagan, IDJ's Sheila Richman and Karen Wiessen and Shore Fire's Aliza Rabinoff.