"There was a kid who I met backstage who was rather chatty, but adorable," Perry recalled. "He was really sweet. He was 19. He had such a good heart. He said, 'Yes, ma'am' to me. 'Yes ma'am!' I was like, 'O.K.! Yes, sir!'"A VH1 publicist estimated an audience of 27,000 attended the nearly three-hour taping of the concert Friday night at the Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar.

The show, which airs Sunday night, features a bounty of what the network has dubbed "divas" - female or female-lead musical acts, including established stars such as Heart, Paramore and Sugarland, as well as hot newcomers Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Keri Hilson and Nicki Minaj. But if one diva emerged supreme, it was Perry, who both opened and closed the show, and performed solo or with others on a half-dozen songs - twice that of anyone else in the lineup.

"I really had to live up to the definition of a 'diva' in all senses of the word," Perry joked. "So, I had to be very difficult today, and late," she continued, adding that she was really neither. Perry went on to reference Beyonce's song "Diva," then proceeded to lose the lyric.

"Blaaah! Obviously I'm not Beyonce," Perry laughed. "She is the true diva." Perry closed the show with her current smash "Firework," which concluded, appropriately, with a fireworks display. For that finale, Perry wore a cherry-red beaded gown with thigh-high slit that looked as if it was borrowed from Jessica Rabbit's closet.

"You know me, I love vintage," Perry explained. "I love pinup girls. So, I tried to recreate that. I think any army guy has a soft spot for a girl that can be painted on their plane."