Ne-Yo doesn't think performing his own version of "Irreplaceable" would be especially precious.

At the Glamorama after-party Friday night, I caught up with the singer-songwriter to ask how he gained access to his female side to write such a powerful break-up song.

"I didn't really write it from a woman's point of view," he said. "I wrote it from the point of view of a person [who] felt neglected, a person [who] felt unappreciated. Contrary to popular belief, men feel like that sometimes, too. So I wrote it from that perspective. It just happens that when [sung] by a woman, it comes across as empowering and uplifting. But if [sung] by a man, probably not so much."

It's the first song Beyoncé ever sang that I appreciated, as most of her lyrics are too rough and nonsensical. When she was last at Target Center, the audience serenaded her with the song. While Beyoncé stood silent and astonished, I thought, See what a difference a song with understandable lyrics and a story makes?

We shouldn't hold our breath for Ne-Yo's video of that song: "To tell 90 percent of my audience, 'To the left, to the left,' nah, I don't think I could get away with that."

It wasn't until later that I became confused by what he meant there. Ne-Yo's gum chomping was distracting (to say nothing of how it minified the effort he puts into his appearance).

Was Ne-Yo saying he's dating and/or being mistreated by 90 percent of his audience? Feel free to view startribune.com/video and provide me with your interpretation.

In the fast lane While in town, Ne-Yo passed time bowling at Game Works in Block E: "It was a team game, so my score wasn't that important. I think it was like a 140."

Breaking (up) news Don't know who was singing "You must not know 'bout me/ I can have another you in a minute ..." when Laura Schara and Keyvan Talebi parted ways.

Their breakup was the talk of the party -- behind their backs -- at Macy's fundraiser for Children's Cancer Research Fund. But Schara, Glamorama's fashion director, and Talebi, a restaurateur, both skirted the subject when asked directly by me.

At one point I overheard two women gossiping about how much weight Schara has lost (she didn't look that different to me) before they started dishing the dirt about the breakup.

Schara told me she wasn't trying to lose weight, it just happened, and said, "It's all good" when asked if she was still with Keyvan. Talebi played my inquiries for laughs, telling me to ask this guy who was hanging with the Talebi party if they were still a couple. I should have asked the blonde with whom Talebi was moving around the party if Keyvan and Laura were still together. Finally, a friend of Talebi's told me Kevyan and Laura were kaput.

That August 2008 Mpls.-St.Paul magazine cover photo of Schara and Talebi in domestic bliss at his penthouse screamed BAD IDEA to me. A woman generally doesn't agree to such a photo thinking that the relationship isn't for the long haul. It's an illustration of how being one of the mag's favorite cover models can backfire.

He's so colorful Readers who love to call my attention to overly tanned Dick Enrico looking orange in his 2nd Wind Exercise Equipment TV commercials should have seen him Friday.

The ambient lighting at the Glamorama after-party made him look a shade of GREEN! "You're so sweet to say that," he said. In comments that were not irreverent, I told Enrico how terrific I think his new commercials are. They're the ones where he's running around to an Italian wedding march played at a pace that would make Godfather cringe.

Hotter than hot The Hot Hoagie nearly singed some eyeballs.

Ryan Hoag, the model and May 2008 "Bachelorette" reject on ABC, was part of the after-party entertainment. He was having his Adonis-like body painted, while wearing an interesting unit of Calvin Klein underwear.

Seeing that much of Hoag made me feel slightly uncomfortable because I know him -- but not like that! Wanda Hamlett, a producer for Media Loft, which was shooting video of the gala for Macy's, said the sight was uncomfortable for her, too, and she didn't even know Hoag.

Now, Hoag was completely comfortable being nearly naked in public. Maybe it's the Greek god in him. More likely it's all the time he's spent in lockerrooms as a former Gustavus wide receiver who has tried out for NFL teams.

He was dancing, singing along to the music, smiling and chatting freely when I asked him how to describe that revealing underwear. I don't know whether Hoag's future wife was at the gala, but she could have taken advantage of the opportunity to evaluate this guy who's saving himself for marriage.

Cutest of the cute In other eye-catching video, see the metro's cutest PR guy, James Rutherford, exuberantly cutting the floor with one of those Glamorama models.

The video I wished I'd gotten was footage of several of the lean, very tall models cutting a serpentine path through the crowd on the way to the dance floor -- or dare I suggest, a food station? By the way, people weren't gobbling up the food this year, because most of it apparently wasn't anything special.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. More of her attitude can be seen on Fox 9 Thursday mornings.