Nelly has another successful Black and White Ball neatly tucked under his belt after Sunday night's gala at the Khorassan Ballroom at Chase Park Plaza.

Not that that's a surprise -- the event, a well-oiled machine at this point -- is six years old and still running strong.

After walking through a paparazzi-filled red carpet line, very important VIPs (called stuffy by comedian Darius Bradford) were treated to both the sounds of house band Hot Chocolate Soul featuring Tiffany Elle with a special assist from Theresa Payne, and a salmon and chicken dinner and dessert.

The doors opened 90 minutes later for the rest of the invite-only crowd, who mixed and mingled in their black and white best.

The list of who's who in attendance was overwhelming. I took notes of everyone I spotted all night long, then decided trying to name them all in a blog post was more than what I could fathom. So instead, consider this a generic shout-out to all those in attendance, a mixture of folks from music, sports, politics, media, personnel from Vatterott College by Nelly ex'treme Institute and more.

Here's a rundown of some of what the evening entailed.

-- Presentation of four-year scholarships at Lindenwood University to Carmen Rhodes and Chelsea Smith

-- A late night DJ spin from Jermaine Dupri

-- A surprise performance from R&B veteran Johnny Gill that included "My My My" and "There You Go"

-- A performance from Cirque Zuma Zuma, as seen on "America's Got Talent"

-- The announcement of Nelly as Remy Martin's new partner

-- St. Lunatics rapper Murphy Lee receiving a special recognition of his birthday

-- A toast to footballer Marshall Faulk

-- An open bar with Remy Martin drinks for the night such as the Just a Dream, the Country Grammar and the Derrty Holiday Spectacular

See the Post-Dispatch photo gallery by clicking here.