Staged on the “Streets of New York” set at the Paramount Studios lot in Hollywood, Calif., the 2nd annual GM All-Car Showdown rolled 24 star-studded General Motors products from past and present out from behind a red curtain to profile down a makeshift fashion runway before a celebrity-packed audience in a charity event that also kicked off the ESPY awards week in July.

Miami Heat star Shaquille O’Neal returned as host of the event, emceeing while famous actors, musicians and athletes competed against one another for the “King of Bling” title in the All-Car Showdown, which featured modified current and vintage, celeb-owned GM vehicles.

This year’s “King of Bling” and “Best Interior” titles went to L.A. Clippers forward Corey Maggette for his Blue Raspberry 2003 Cadillac Escalade ESV. Singer Macy Gray won “Best Exterior” for her black 2003 Black Hummer H2 while actress Shanna Moakler won “Best Old School Car” for her Seafoam Green 1953 Cadillac Coupe DeVille. Judges participating in the event included actor Michael Clarke Duncan (“The Green Mile,” “The Island”), Frankie Muniz (“Malcolm in the Middle,” “Agent Cody Banks”), Michael Irvin (ESPN’s “NFL Gameday”), and Jim Taylor (General Manager, Cadillac).

GM might think that King of Bling is a play on current slang, but according to Kimatni Rawlins, publisher of Automotive Rhythms Communications, the phrase bling is played out. “People who keep using bling are not in the know,” says Rawlins, who runs the custom campaign “Flip My Whip.” “The GM event is a nice celebrity car show but it’s not one that will give them street cred,” he remarks. So, what’s the new buzz on terminology? “Some rapper will say something and that will be IT,” Rawlins notes.

Any controversy over whether or not bling is played out didn’t keep recording artist Ja Rule and celebrity guests including Ashton Kutcher (MTV’s “Punk’d,” “That 70s Show”), John Singleton (director of “Hustle & Flow”), Gabrielle Union (“Bad Boys II”), Rachel Hunter (“Dancing With the Stars”), Rosa Blasi (“The Grudge”), and Michael Irvin (“The Longest Yard”) from joining sports stars including Kevin Willis (San Antonio Spurs), Will Demps (Oakland Raiders), and Kareem Abdul Jabbar (formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers) for the event. Special performances by Keyshia Cole, Fat Joe, Ciara, and DJ AM entertained the crowd, which included more than 200 children from the Challenger’s Boys & Girls Club of Los Angeles.