News of the Week: February 24, 2004 Loon faces attempted-murder charges, Britney breaks up a marriage, teenage pregnancy declines, Colorado University battles sex scandal, and teen cracks an abduction case.
Luxurious suites with personal massages and parties with stars. The Academy Awards festivities sure sound like a lot of hard work. Yeah, right. Martine Bury dives into the Oscar madness.
It's funny that everyone in Hollywood gets "worn out" by Oscar week. Celebrities, on the contrary, always look super well rested on the red carpet, as if they hibernated all winter and ate only organic foods.
Think of Jennifer Garner looking like a fresh Georgia peach in her sheer apricot frock or Scarlett Johansen resembling a modern-day Grace Kelly in her emerald-green dress and perfectly sculpted blond hair. Off-screen, Oscar winner Charlize Theron seems as if she never has a bad beauty day. Granted, they do make a ton of TV and radio appearances around town, lug around all the free luxury items they are given during the week, get hours on end of pampering, and party all night. Sounds like my kind of hard work. So I decided to go along for the ride (without half of the perks) and figure out why everyone's so beat.
Lush Suites...
Most of L.A.'s posh hotels had Oscar suites where the rich, famous, and well connected got private massages, manicures, designer clothes, expensive jewelry, gourmet lunches, and fancy chocolates. For example, a young starlet grabbed a pink rhinestone-studded cell phone in Room A before wandering over to Room B for an eyebrow wax by Damone Roberts, brow wizard to the stars. The Red Carpet Suite was where celebs picked up their diamond-and-crystal-encrusted shoes and gowns embellished with — you guessed it — diamonds. At the Oasis, an Oscar "salon" in West Hollywood, Shannon Elizabeth had her pick of a variety of scented soy wax candles. She also had her makeup airbrushed before leaving with a parting gift of organic roses and tulips.
After my posh tour, I tried to check out all the Beverly Hills scenes, but the traffic of limos salted my game. Stuck on Doheny Drive right next to me in a huge silver Mercedes Benz was a comparatively small Tobey Maguire, looking relatively tired in the gridlock. I could relate.
Goodie Bags...
This sack of goods (and all the L.A. traffic) could be the cause of celebrity weariness. All the presenters and performers at the big event got a bag worth $2,000. Stars like Sandra Bullock, Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, and Nicole Kidman got dream loot that included an A Z Electric Scooter and a voucher for a five-day island getaway. I only wondered what Jack Black and Will Ferrell were going to do with the Jelly Kelly handbags that were in the basket, too. Maybe this Oscar treat, combined with the gift bags they get at all the Oscar night parties, causes serious strain and drain. Life's rough, right?
Giddy, I've come to the conclusion that maybe there is such a thing as too much fun. The stars party all week long.
...And Parties. Oh My!
On Thursday night, Leelee Sobieski threw a bash for Kirsten Dunst at a Hollywood hot spot. Charlize Theron hosted a pre-Oscar party at the hip Mondrian Hotel. There she bonded with New Zealander and fellow best-actress nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes from Whale Rider. At Miramax's pre-Oscar happening, Jude Law, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, and Mischa Barton schmoozed till the break of dawn. There was definitely a lot going on. At the Elton John AIDS Foundation party, everyone you didn't see at the Oscars showed up: Outkast's Andre 3000 clad in baggy trousers and matching blue-and-green knee socks; Alexis Bledel and Milo Ventimiglia, with hands locked; and the entire Osbourne family dressed in Goth black. Michelle Branch, Joss Stone, JC Chasez, Erika Christensen, Lindsay Lohan, and Taryn Manning were also there to get their dance on and to snag get that gift bag. When they weren't on the dance floor, it seemed like everyone was scoping out Charlize and Stuart, Naomi and Heath, Kirsten and Jake and just about everyone else. We love a good celebrity couple sighting. (I suspect they all become famous just to meet each other.) After the parties were the after-parties in private mansions all over Hollywood Hills. To think just last year I was sitting on a couch at an Oscar after-party right next to Bennifer. So much has happened in Tinseltown since then. Just thinking about it exhausts me.
