Awards hype likely to be upstaged

Press, 30 March 1989, Page 11

Awards hype likely to be upstaged

By JEFF WILSON NZPA-AP Los Angeles Producer Allan Car: says tonight’s Academy Awards will be “the best show ever.” But despite the hype, Oscar can easily be upstaged by the Hollywood sideshows sharing the bill each year. Who’s wearing what and with whom — the evening’s five Ws — have been known to steal the show from the golden statuettes that come later as arriving celebrities ritualistically alight from their lengthy black limos. On the party scene the academy’s official Governor’s Ball is generally a staid affair and Oscar winners usually make only obligatory appearances before heading to private parties. But this year many stars will party while watching the awards on television. “It is very fashionable this year to say, ‘l’m not going to the Oscars’,” celebrity insider Susan Price, who is also a public relations consultant for Beverly Hills hair stylist Umberto, said. Superagent Irving “Swifty” Lazar will throw his annual Oscar soiree at the posh eatery Spago, with dozens of celebrities expected to gather there to watch the awards on television. Those expected include Jeff Bridges, Glenn Close, Joan Collins, Michael Douglas and Jane Fonda. Los Angeles’ number one celebrity of late, former president Ronald Reagan, turned down an invitation to Lazar’s party to watch the awards with wife Nancy at their Bel Air home, spokesman Mark Weinberg said. Actress Elizabeth Taylor will hold a private get-together to watch the Oscars show and Ernest and Tova Borgnine will cast mock ballots with friends during a private party in their Beverly Hills home.

Other mockers will gather at the Palace Club in Hollywood, the scene of the Golden Raspberry Foundation’s annual Oscar spoof ceremony, which this year will be held simultaneously with the Academy Awards. Guests will dine on a potluck dinner while viewing the real Oscar show on a large-screen TV. Presentation of the plastic “Razzie” trophies, which honour the worst in entertainment, will be made during commercial breaks. The Oscars ceremony may not be the only game in town tonight but it could be the most expensive. A complete Academy Awards evening can range from S’JSIBOO (SNZ3OOO) to SUSIS,OOO ($NZ25,000) a person. A seat at the Shrine Auditorium ceremony costs SUSISO (SNZ2SO), the Governor’s Ball costs SUS4SO ($750). It’s SUSSOO ($833) for a stretch limousine, tuxedo rental is about SUS7O ($117) and designer gowns range from SUSI2OO ($2000) to SUSI2,OOO ($20,000). Carr, who hired designers Ray Klausen and Fred Hayman to spiff up the Oscar show, said the awards would be big, glitzy and nostalgic, more like a Broadway play than the annual parade to the podium. “The trend this year will be drop-dead chic entrance gowns,” he said. “The idea this year is a return to great glamour, the Hollywood of the past. The public looks to Hollywood for glamour.” He promised “a lot of wonderful beading” on the gowns. Two celebrities can particularly be expected to have the look that might make someone drop dead. Cher can usually be counted on to expose her navel and actress-model Edy Williams habitually steps out of a limousine wearing not much of anything. Last year Miss Williams, the libidinous super vixen in “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” arrived with a stuffed puppy on her shoulder and doves on her head but her revealing costume drew more ogling than her pets. She promises more of the same this year. “It’s going to be outrageous and I’m in better shape, better condition because I’ve been working out,” she said. She vowed her escort would be a pit bull named Bum Rap.