Parties You Will Never Get Into

On its 95th outing, the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was characteristically festooned with stars. This year marks a milestone however, as it welcomes a new, historic administration.

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle took center stage at this year’s WHCA dinner May 9 at the Washington Hilton hotel. Politics, movies, music, media, and fashion bonded together that night to make an indistinguishable mélange.

Delivering the night’s most important remarks, Obama managed to tickle the glittery assemblage with light, hilarious quips. Comedienne Wanda Sykes, in comparison, worked up guests with a more politically charged speech.

Politics’ new guard that evening included White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Attorney General Eric Holder, Senior Advisor David Axelrod, Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag, and White House Social Secretary Desirée Rogers. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, among many other government leaders, was also in attendance.

Not everyone was a Democrat. Spotted briefly at the bash was former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Sen. John McCain’s daughter Meghan partied the evening away; so did Antonin Scalia, the conservative Supreme Court Justice.

Entertainers from all alphabets of the list freely mingled among such movers and shakers. The entertainment world’s ambassadors included Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Glenn Close, Natalie Portman, James Franco, Owen Wilson, Mike Myers, Eva Longoria, Chace Crawford, Ed Westwick, Jon Bon Jovi, Elizabeth Banks, Kerry Washington, Jon Hamm, Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Denis Leary, Matthew Settle, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Rachel Leigh Cook. Donatella Versace and newfangled designer Jason Wu attended the dinner in behalf of fashion.

Covering the festivity and attracting mileage themselves were media personalities like Katie Couric, Christopher Hitchens, Dee Dee Myers, Steve Kroft, Jim Kelly, Jennet Conant, David Gregory, Ana Marie Cox, Lara Logan, David Brooks, Bianna Golodryga, Chris Matthews, David Carr, Julia Allison, Mort Zuckerman, John King and Dana Bash.

Modern heroes Chesley Sullenberger and Richard Phillips were accorded due esteem with the best of these stars.

Holdovers of the dinner trickled to the opulent mansion of the French ambassador for the after-party sponsored by Vanity Fair and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

World-venerated fashion designer Domenico Dolce turned half a century old on September 25, 2008. On his golden anniversary, he got his Midas touch out, not to make clothes, but to throw a celebration bespeaking a great era.

Hollywood and the fashion world’s brightest stars lent their wattage to the party, held in Milan, Italy. All roads in the city seemingly led to Club Prive, located beneath the plush Principe di Savoia hotel.

Designer Stefano Gabbana, the other half of the Dolce & Gabbana fashion empire, came in an antiquated carriage drawn by four horses. He was escorted by supermodels Claudia Schiffer and Eva Herzigova.

Multimedia celebrity Jennifer Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony arrived in a black carriage, while another carried burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese. Actor Mathew McConaughey came aboard a Rolls Royce, with Camilla Alves in tow.

More than 200 dropped by to party with the designer. From fashion’s corridors of power came the likes of Anna dello Russo, the majestic fashion director-at-large of Vogue Nippon; Rachel Zoe, celebrity stylist; and Stefano Tonchi, New York Times fashion editor. There were models galore, too, as vintage as Marpessa Hennink and as contemporary as Lily Donaldson. British talent David Gandy was just one of the many male mannequins that night.

Italian-American actress Monica Bellucci of The Passion fame and Italy’s Olympic swimmer Paolo Bossini partied there, too. Artist Marco Perego and the dancer Emilie Fouilloux were also invited.

Italian pop singer Tiziano Ferro was also present, but the cachet for entertainer of the night went to Diana Ross. Hidden from the other guests in a mirror-filled room, the diva surprisingly emerged on stage and whipped the night’s overture, “I Will Survive,” to a tearful audience.

Guests garbed themselves in the best Dolce & Gabbana fashion.

Technophiles everywhere turned out for the party heralding the release of Microsoft Office 2008, the specially designed version for Macintosh software. New wave sensation Devo entertained participants at the corporate bash in San Francisco’s The Warfield, their first gig in the venue since January 1981.

Sheridan Jones, manager of Microsoft’s Mac marketing team and an overt Devo fan, booked them for the party. A year before, Devo vocalist Mark Mothersbaugh, who is also a painter, tried to wheedle her into staging an exhibition at the 2008 Macworld Expo, of which the party is part. Instead, Jones lined up his band for a performance at the party on January 15, 2008.

Devo delivered a 16-song set that night, including such cuts as “Whip It” and “Beautiful World.” As expected, the band entered the stage wearing HAZMAT suits and their iconic red hats called “energy domes.” Many in the audience were wearing energy domes too, courtesy of Microsoft. As the gig wore on, the band swapped suits and headgear for a darker ensemble of shorts, knee-length socks, knee pads, and t-shirts.

Wild applauses aside, the loudest sounds to puncture the performance were the band’s signature ramblings about “devolution.” At the end of the show, Mark Mothersbaugh, putting on a Booji Boy mask, prodded the otherwise tech-savvy crowd to throw their laptops out the window.

Surely there were fans in the audience who understood. Earlier in the week, Microsoft had the foresight to make some tickets available to hardcore Devo fans for $40 apiece.

On the night of the event itself, Microsoft distributed gift bags containing freebies like card sets of DEVO imagery and t-shirts to the earliest 500 attendees. Before Devo left, fans and Microsoft employees alike were able to meet and greet the band and get autographs.

Limited-edition M&M candies with the Office insignia were passed around. The organizers even gave free iMacs.

Mac Blast! was part of a longer line of affairs in the 2008 Macworld Expo, where Steve Jobs unveiled laptop Mac Air.

Teen Vogue Magazine rounded up tomorrow’s biggest stars at LA’s County Museum of Art for the Sixth Annual Young Hollywood Party. Up-and-coming names as well as their more popular contemporaries trooped to the publication’s biggest shindig on Sept.18, 2008.

Disney was well represented in the crowd; High School Musical love-team Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens partied that night. Curiously missing however, was the teen queen herself, Miley Cyrus. But her alleged rival Selena Gomez was present, and so was Hannah Montana co-star Matt Prokop. Another Disney Channel talent, Brenda Song, also attended.

From the competition, Nickelodeon vaunted Miranda Cosgrove of iCarly. ABC also had Shawn Pyfrom of Desperate Housewives.

Not a few in the crowd were proxies of their more established parents. Tallulah, Scout, and Rumer Willis — offspring of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis — were present. Emma Roberts was also around to channel the superstar wattage of aunt Julia Roberts. Then again, Frances Bean Cobain bore the legacy of her father Kurt Cobain.

Siblings banded together at the affair, too. Singing sisters Aly and AJ came in identical dresses. Dylan and Cole Sprouse posed together at the red carpet. Also to be found were Danielle Panabaker and her sis Kay.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s other half, the tall looker Bar Refaeli, glowed in a gilded dress. Fellow model Erin Wasson opted to seduce onlookers with a sheer dress.

One of these ravishing partygoers could be the next screen legend: Sara Paxton, Jessica Lowndes, Nikki Reed, Keke Palmer, Victoria Justice, Brea Grant, Emilie de Ravin, Zelda Williams, Hayley Hasselhoff, Alexa Vega, Nora Zehetner, Shailene Woodley, Harley Viera-Newton, and Lily Cole.

There were dashing studs as well: Travis van Winkle, Justin Martin, Jackson Rathbone, Drew Seeley, Michael Steger, Ryan Eggold, and David Henrie.

In full force that evening was the Twilight entourage of Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner.

Amy Astley, Teen Vogue Editor-in-Chief, moved around to check on the teen stars. She was accompanied by peers Jane Keltner, Fashion News Director; Aya Kanai, Senior Fashion Editor; and Jennifer Petrisko, Public Relations Director.

To mark her septuagenarian year, Spain’s elegant Queen Sofia had a music-filled night. Spaniards, led by her husband, King Juan Carlos, and a small band of European royals, greeted the monarch in festivities held in Madrid on Nov.2, 2008.

In the Spanish capital, the posh sovereign ushered her night with a ticket to a classical music performance by Indian-born prodigy Zubin Mehta.

Mehta, who hails from Mumbai, is apparently one of the Queen’s favorites. As a gift to the Queen, he capped the concert by leading the orchestra into a special rendition of “Happy Birthday,” played in no less than eight varieties. Afterwards, Queen Sofia received a special flower bouquet, amidst a standing ovation and resounding cries of “Viva la Reina!”

She exited the concert, which was held at the newly opened Albéniz Foundation hall in Madrid’s Plaza de Oriente, to the cheering and adulation of hundreds of her subjects. King Juan Carlos had been by her side the whole concert, and the royal couple proceeded to the Zarzuela Palace for her birthday feast.

Well-wishers of the Queen flew in from some of Spain’s neighboring kingdoms. They included Queen Noor of Jordan and King Simeon of Bulgaria. Princess Alexia of Greece was also there.

Her Majesty’s children were in full attendance, from Princess Elena to Prince Felipe to Princess Christina. Their spouses, Princess Letizia and Inaki Urdangarin, the Duke of Palma de Mallorca, were likewise present. Princess Pilar and Princess Mararita also paid tribute to the celebrant. Present too were some of the country’s most well-to-do commoners such as Paloma O’Shea, Farath Diba, and Maria Zurita.

Sofia is the queen consort of King Juan Carlos, whom she wed in 1962 as a newly baptized Catholic. She was born a Greek Orthodox as Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark on November 2, 1938.

Spaniards admire her for her considerable part in reinstating democracy after the collapse of Franco’s fascist government in 1975.

For 17 years now, singer Elton John has empathized with those who could not —and would not — attend the Academy Awards by giving them a first-class view to the ceremony outside the Kodak Theater. When the show is over though, those inside often gravitate towards John’s get-together.

Over 600 celebrities had to cough up $3,500 to gain admittance to the 2009 gala, held within an enormous tent at West Hollywood’s Pacific Design Center. The main purpose of the event is not to enrich the fabulously wealthy host, but to help his pet charity: the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

Long-time AIDS advocate Sharon Stone was on hand to fundraise with the singer, who came with civil partner David Furnish. John, a British knight, was as much in good company with his countrymen as he was with the Americans that night.

Indian-British actor Ben Kingsley, the night’s other knight, openly raved about Slumdog Millionaire’s win. Fair Briton Kate Beckinsale was also there, together with power English couple David and Victoria Beckham. Other Brits that evening included Peter Andre and his wife Katie Price, pop star Natasha Bedingfield, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, and Scotsman Gerard Butler. On one spot, Simon Cowell rounded up his American Idol (AI) cohorts across the pond, namely Randy Jackson, Ryan Seacrest, and AI winner Carrie Underwood.

John’s gala also drew Chace Crawford, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria-Parker, Taye Diggs, Chris Noth, Quincy Jones, Josh Groban, Elle Macpherson, and Mary J. Blige.

Early attendees dined on a five-course meal while the Oscars beamed live on a huge screen. Chef Wayne Elias prepared the first-class fare, which included salad with smoked scamorza, tarragon vinaigrette and pomegranate reduction.

After the meal, there was an auction that promised to give bidders an hour of tennis with Andy Roddick; a trip for ten to an old castle in Normandy; Sharon Stone’s Corvette; and even the box on which Hugh Jackman stood for the Oscars overture. In the end, Vanity Fair’s after-party cast a shadow over the gala, with John dangling a ticket to the VIP event. The winning bidder paid $60,000 for it.

By night’s end, John had raised around $4 million. Thankful, he serenaded guests in a duet with R&B phenom Raphael Saadiq.

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Former child stars Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen came of age on June 13, 2008. Now 21, the twins were at last legally entitled to drink the booze that overflowed on their birthday party, held June 15 at their mansion in Beverly Hills.

It was full house for the soiree, with former workmates from their defunct sitcom Full House joining over 100 guests. Earlier, the twins hired security to keep tabs on paparazzi and gatecrashers, the street outside closed for good measure.

Friday’s celebration was exclusive to the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Olivier Martinez, Joaquin Phoenix as well as family and non-showbiz peers. Later in the evening, invitees lined up to give testimonials to the celebrants.

Near midnight, before the crowd, Ashley praised her twin sister, saying “No one could understand me the way you do. In fact, no one could even tolerate me the way you do!”

M-K and Ashley had a more sedate rite of passage on their actual birthday. They threw a dinner party at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood for friends and family, including their older brother Trent and younger sister Lizzie.

By 12 AM, the newly minted women had blown the candles on a duo of luxurious red velvet cakes. Not settling for these, the celebrators ordered decadent cupcakes, champagne, and wine to be passed around.

Like the June 15 celebration, the dinner involved guests paying tribute to the girls. The twins took Polaroid pictures of themselves throughout the night, while birthday presents and cards made their way to them.

Evidently, the dual celebrations marked a reprieve from their duties running the business empire known as Dualstar Entertainment Group, where Ashley is CEO. They had been running the company since January 2005, but the company itself has been around since they were six.

Dualstar initially sold Olsen-related merchandise to tweens; now it covers a grownup fashion range called the Row. Because of this, the Olsen twins, at age 10, became the youngest self-made millionaires in US history.

Back in January, master chef Robert Irvine and the crew of Dinner: Impossible occupied the kitchens of Yahoo! headquarters to launch a very unique celebration. Chef Irvine handed aprons to Search Senior Vice President Tuoc Luong and Vice President of Marketing Raj Gossain so they could help him in a daunting task: cook up the 15 top search queried dishes, with each dish using a randomly assigned ingredient that also appears on the top search queries. If that wasn’t tough enough, the food had to satisfy 450 very hungry Yahoo! employees.

The Food Network’s hit reality show Dinner: Impossible features Chef Robert Irvine taking on some very unusual culinary challenges. On every show, the chef is confronted with a very difficult assignment, such as preparing an authentic 18th century colonial meal, or setting up a luxury banquet on a isolated New England island.

Irvine and his team must whip up a multi-course meal with limited resources and no advance planning, and of course, with the clock ticking. The chef usually recruits additional sous chefs to not only help prepare and cook, but shop for the often hard-to-find ingredients.

When Chef Robert Irvine arrived on the Yahoo! campus, Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang was at hand to issue the search engine results/cook off challenge. The drafting of Tuoc Luong and Raj Gossain to help in the kitchen only added to the challenge; the two Yahoo! executives are more at home with algorithms and hi-tech marketing than slicing, dicing, and deep-frying.

The show was aired in April. Tuoc Long described the frantically made banquet on his blog: “…we can tell you two things – it wasn’t easy and we had a great time, which is exactly how we’d characterize the last five years at Yahoo! Search.”

The recipes included Pumpkin Lasagna, Salmon Cupcakes, Tuna Burger, Apple Sushi, Barbeque Carrots, Blackberry Aqua’s Fresca, Chicken Fried Rice, Egg Casserole, Eggplant Salad, Lamb Salsa, Lemon Egg Drop Soup, Peanut Butter Chili, Pineapple Cookies, and Potato Pizza.

The Flickr photos of the Yahoo! Fifth Birthday-Dinner Impossible Celebration.

The Food Network’s profile of the Dinner Impossible Yahoo! episode, with the recipes.

The cancellation of major parties during the Oscar Awards on Feb. 24, 2008 didn’t stop the Oscar guests from finding their party destinations. Aside from the lavish Governor’s Ball, several other parties emerged to celebrate this significant night of the stars.

One post-Oscar event was the last minute party organized by Madonna along with her manager Guy Oseary, and Demi Moore. The gathering took place at Guy Oseary’s Westside Hills home at around 9pm. Le Tourment Vert fountains were reportedly present at the venue while the guests danced to the mix of DJ JusSke. The party was held mainly inside the tented backyard although the tennis courts were also converted into a lounge area. The A-list stars who attended the bash included Tom Cruise and wife Katie Holmes, Owen Wilson, Ellen DeGeneres and partner Portia de Rossi, Cameron Diaz, Ashton Kutcher, Christian Slater, Eva Mendes, Forrest Whitaker, David Furnish, Sir Elton John, Orlando Bloom, Jeremy Piven, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and Wesley Snipes.

Another spectacular soiree was Elton John’s AIDS Foundation Oscar Party, which was held at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California. Several guests attended the fun and revelry including Sharon Stone; Heidi Klum and singer-husband Seal; Josh Groban; Kate Beckinsale; Natasha Henstridge; Ziyi Zhang; Jeremy Piven; Minnie Driver; Sean Penn; Zoe Saldana; Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi; Sean Combs; Simon Cowell; Billy Joel; Chris Noth; Mary J. Blige; Harrison Ford and his significant other, Calista Flockhart; Tara Reid; Lionel Richie; Patricia Clarkson; Tim Allen; and best actress winner Marion Cotillard.

Miramax also threw a lavish Oscar after party where the cast of No Country for Old Men celebrated their victory for grabbing the most number of awards including Best Motion Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Partying with the cast were guests such as Diane Lane and Josh Brolin, Casey Affleck, and Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner.

Prince wouldn’t let the Oscar pass without throwing a bash either. Held in Beverly Hills, guests at the party included Sanaa Nathan, Sean Combs, Stevie Wonder, Christina Milian, Tilda Swinton, and Forrest Whitaker.

President George W. Bush justly feted Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II a gala fit for a queen; the first and last white-tie state dinner of his administration. First Lady Laura Bush collaborated closely with her Chief of Staff Anita McBride and Social Secretary Amy Zantzinger in the run-up to the dinner.

Gilded and whitened for the occasion, the State Dining Room was festooned with pieces selected for their historical significance. Centerpieces were the Vermeil collection of pearl-handled flatware and candelabras, created by a London silversmith in the 18th century. Dinner plates were gold-trimmed Lenox china bought by the Clintons. They were laid on thirteen tables covered with cream damask tablecloths. Florist Nancy Clarke filled the room with white roses and lilacs. Pictures of the Queen in previous US state visits were displayed around the White House.

Diamond tiara on head, the Queen arrived on the evening of May 7th with her husband, The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip. She wore a glittery, cream-colored gown with blue sash, a diamond-festooned necklace, bracelet and earrings.

Waiting for them in the State Dining Room were 134 guests, which included former first lady Nancy Reagan, Vice-President Dick Cheney, State Secretary Condoleeza Rice, and General Peter Pace. Previous secretaries of state George Schultz and Henry Kissinger also attended the prestigious dinner; so did Donald Evans, former secretary of commerce. Top names in business were also present like ex-Enron executive Richard Kinder, automotive magnate James Click, and investor Brad Freeman. Peyton Manning, quarterback of the Indianapolis Colts and golfer Arnold Palmer represented the athletic contingency. Calvin Borel, who won the 133rd Kentucky Derby the weekend before the dinner, was also a guest.

A five-course meal of authentic American cuisine was whipped up by White House Filipino-American Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford. For the appetizer, the chef served spring pea soup with fern leaf lavender. Meat was spring lamb saddle with chanterelle sauce; the starter was Dover sole almondine. Comerford added cheeses from British farmhouses to her salad of arugula, mustard greens and romaine. Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses baked a cake topped with a sugar-made confection replicating the queen’s coronation rose in 1953.

The music of violin prodigy Itzhak Perlman prevailed while the US Army Chorus also entertained the Queen.