“Jon Bon Jovi smells delicious! So fresh!” That was pretty much the quote, last week when People magazine and Hornitos Tequila hosted a screening of Showtime’s documentary “Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful.”

Jon does smell delicious and he looks delicious. This guy works on his body and takes care of his face. (Even when he is supposed to look gritty and not so hot in Phil Griffin’s film, he’s still a knockout.) I am a longtime fan.

But perhaps Jon’s fresh scent was more noticeable because the Hornitos folks were ladling out lethal tequila concoctions nonstop. At the screening theater, and later at the Tribeca party, the fumes were enough to trigger a contact high. One of the drinks was called a Hornutopia. It was pink and looked quite innocent. It was so not.

The celebs attending—Ric Ocasek, Paulina Porizkova, John McEnroe, Calvin Klein, Tovah Feldshuh, Rachael Ray, Kelly Bensimon, etc.—stayed sober, as did Showtime’s big guy, Matthew Blank and the incredible, indefatigable Peggy Siegal. (Peggy doesn’t need booze; she is high on life.)

Still, I won’t vouch for many of the more or less just plain folks who were on hand for Jon and his boys. Food might have been served at some point, but I don’t think anybody much cared.

What of the film? Well, if you love Bon Jovi or you are interested in what goes on behind the scenes of a grueling concert tour, this is pretty compelling, if not exactly a Madonna-style “Truth or Dare” expose. Shot in obligatory black and white (so we know it’s serious) the cameras follow Jon, Richie Sambora, David Bryan and Tico Torres on the band’s most recent world tour. What emerges from the film is how very much in control Jon is of his product, the band that bears his name. He says at one point, “I am the CEO of a major corp. who has been running a brand for 25 years.” (Twenty-five hugely successful years, despite a paucity of love and respect from critics.)

Even though irritations, exhaustion, emotional issues and power struggles popped up over the decades, Jon remains in control and his band mates accept his iron will. As David Bryan explained, “It would be different if we hadn’t been a success. Then maybe we would have had to say, ‘What about our ideas?’ But we have been successful, so it’s hard to fight Jon’s concept.” All the guys have finally come into their own through creating artwork, or music-making apart from the band. But when it’s time to be the enduring rock quartet Bon Jovi, Jon knows best.

And, if you want nothing more than 90 minutes of looking at Jon Bon Jovi in tight pants, open shirts, no shirt—you’ll be more than content. Check your TV guide for scheduled showings of “When We Were Beautiful.”

P. S. Bon Jovi just announced another world tour. I was hoping Jon would make some movies again. But he’d rather make another $100 million.

Dig the names on Bette Midler’s “Hulaween 2009” invitation list— all set to have fun that night when they honor New York’s Mayor Mike Bloomberg. The likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Crosby, Stills& Nash, Judy Gold and Michael Kors will do their thing for the Divine Miss Midler. This happens tonight at the Waldorf.

It’s always one of the best big parties in Manhattan and helps the N. Y. Restoration Project make this city more beautiful and livable.

Rita Moreno, the Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy winner, garnered another unusual statistic for her biography. The Friars Club added the title “Dame” to their male lexicon, which includes Friar, Dean and Abbott. Freddie Roman presented Rita with the new title as a surprise.

The Friars welcomed Richard Belzer and Paul Shaffer to their club recently and both read from their new books.