Grammy nominee-performer to wear two gowns by LA’s hot Fil-Am designer

LOS ANGELES—Kelly Price, who has three nominations in the Grammy Awards Monday (in Manila), confirmed to this reporter two days prior that she would be wearing two gowns by hot Filipino-American designer Oliver Tolentino.

Price is up for three awards in the music industry’s biggest night at the Staples Center—best R&B performance (with Stokley Williams), best R&B song (“Not My Daddy”) and best R&B album (“Kelly”). Barring any drink spills or wardrobe malfunction, Price will wear a fully sequined burgundy gown on the red carpet and a blue-and-silver sequined lace gown with silver sequined lining when she performs onstage in a gospel music tribute during the pre-Grammy telecast show.

Like a princess

Price exclaimed “Oh my God! I love it!” when she tried on the burgundy piece Friday afternoon in LA at Tolentino’s shop on Melrose Avenue (in the Philippines, he has a shop in Makati). The singer praised a beaming Tolentino as he made final alterations: “This man knows how to dress me!”

Price also wore a Tolentino creation when she attended last year’s Grammy show as a nominee. Tolentino said he was touched that one of the first things Price did upon learning that she had earned a whopping three nods this year was to drive to his shop. The acclaimed R&B artist told Tolentino that she wanted him to make her two Grammy gowns.

“I feel like a princess,” Price gushed when she tried the blue-and-silver gown. She recalled that she took note when Amber Riley landed on best-dressed lists for the first time when the “Glee” star wore a Tolentino gown to the 2011 Golden Globe Awards.

Pre-event guest

Tolentino and his business manager, Andrew Caruthers, were Price’s special guests at “Kelly Price & Friends Unplugged: For the Love of R&B,” her pre-Grammy event Thursday night, attended by top singers, including Whitney Houston.

After her fitting, Price exclaimed, “Mabuhay Philippines!”