Sir Elton John's Oscar viewing bash has impressive guest list
Robson Vianna
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Sir Elton John's Oscar viewing bash has impressive guest list |
4 hours ago
For celebrities without an invite to the Academy Awards, the party everyone wants to attend in Hollywood this weekend is Elton John's Oscar viewing bash.
With a guest list including David and Victoria Beckham, the Osbourne family, Lindsay Lohan and Sharon Stone - months of preparation has gone into laying on the massive charity fundraiser.
Speaking as the lighting rig was erected within a huge marquee especially laid on in West Hollywood, event producer Virginia Fout explained the work that goes into the staging: "I start working on this event six months prior, there are a lot of moving parts. You have a fundraiser event, it's all hinged on a live telecast, there's a live performance later, a live auction and it all has to go like clockwork, you need the right army in place."
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After getting past Jon and finishing their speeches without the orchestra playing, Oscar winners will relax in style at the Architectural Digest Oscar greenroom, with a patent leather bar and a light fixture borrowed from the New York Metropolitan Museum.
The Academy is not the only one prepping for Sunday. Elton John's AIDS Foundation will host its 16th Annual post-Oscar party, where 680 guests will dine on a five-course feast and enjoy a live show featuring Elton in a duet with Mary J. Blige.
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By Ruben V. NepalesPhilippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:26:00 02/24/2008
LOS ANGELES—Vanity Fair and Elton John may have canceled their celebrated Oscar after-parties, but some bashes were quickly organized to avail of the suddenly, no-longer-as-hectic skeds of Academy nominees, presenters and stars. We attended the first of these affairs during this Oscar weekend—Paramount's Thursday bash for its nominees at STK, the latest trendy New York restaurant to open a branch in El Lay.
...Not to mention, fast. Everyone in Hollywood is scrambling, from the environmentally friendly paper goods vendor who supplies the Governors Ball to the personal stylists who supply couture gowns. ''We are under siege right now,'' says Paul Wilmot, who represents fashion houses such as Oscar de la Renta and Calvin Klein. ''We have to make sure no two stars are wearing the same dress.'' (Oh, c'mon, let us have some fun at home.) ''And that the stars are getting the dresses they want to wear. All of the stylists are crazed.''
At this point, the organizers of the 16th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation party are probably the only ones who aren't. The charity event — it's expected to garner close to $5 million — was never in real danger of cancellation. It's now the most in-demand postshow ticket in town — probably because it's one of the only tickets in town. (Vanity Fair called off its annual soiree.)
All this last-minute jockeying may actually play to your benefit. ''We are going to have a show that has this quality of excitement that it wouldn't have if everything was steady as she goes,'' promises Ganis. And with ratings on a serious decline in recent years (25 percent over the last decade) and three of the five Best Picture nominees failing to clear $50 million, a show like that may be exactly what Oscar needs.
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Robson Vianna.