Forget JLo. Parkland survivors were the real stars at Time magazine's gala

Some of the world's most influential people gathered for Time Magazine's annual 100 Gala.

Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez were present, as well as celebrities Nicole Kidman, Hoda Kotb and Kesha.

This time around though, the spotlight wasn't on them, but rather on five Parkland school shooting survivors — Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky, Alex Wind and Jaclyn Corin, who were the stars at the Tuesday night show at Lincoln Center in New York.

According to The New York Times, "the biggest stars were on the lower levels, yet the traffic seemed to be flowing to the top," where the student activists were seated. The five were named among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2018 last week.

The high school students are five of several who survived the mass shooting in February when confessed-gunman Nikolas Cruz opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Broward. Seventeen people died — 14 students and three educators.

At one point, Time Magazine's editor, Edward Felsenthal, spoke about the challenges journalism is facing today, but quickly noted that the publication had piled up more honorees this year than any other year.

Other honorees included Carmen Yulín Cruz, mayor of the City of San Juan in Puerto Rico; #MeToo movement founder and activist Tarana Burke, as well as Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif).

After dinner, Jennifer Lopez — also an honoree — performed five songs including “Waiting for Tonight,” and “If You Had My Love,” Time reported.

Next week, some Parkland students will appear in Spring Awakening — a Broadway smash hit — at the Boca Black Box Center for the Arts. Some of the industry's biggest stars, Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff, traveled to South Florida to teach them a master class.

This story was originally published April 26, 2018 at 8:16 PM with the headline "Forget JLo. Parkland survivors were the real stars at Time magazine's gala."