Carnegie Ladies
(NEW YORK) How do you get to Carnegie Hall? If you wanted to enter the legendary premises last night, you'd have to be on Cindi Leive and Bill Wackermann's good side. Glamour hosted its 19th Annual Women of the Year awards, and it was an affair of epic planning proportions. The event involved the special security forces for the former President Clinton, hundreds of screaming Girl Scouts on the balcony, dozens of stylists and manicurists in various hotel rooms around the city, countless travel negotiators, and even seat-fillers to ensure the smooth running of the event.
"I did a Today Show segment with Serena Williams, Marissa Meyer, and Maya Angelou," said Leive. "Matt Lauer asked Dr. Angelou to recite a stanza of her poem, Phenomenal Woman and I literally choked up on live television. How often do you get to have a near spiritual experience on the NBC set? From there on, I was walking on air for the rest of the day." And she had a reason to. "I'm definitely not pulling any mustaches out my handbag tonight," smiled honoree Amy Poehler as she took a side glance at Maria Shriver. She was referencing her Emmy award prank--in which she convinced every nominee to wear a prop for the live cameras.
Even though the likes of Dr. Jane Aronson and Susan Rice took the stage to standing ovations during the night and Estelle performed, many were most eager to seeing the youngest honoree: Rihanna. The embattled and empowered singer arrived an hour into the ceremony and picked a proper dress for the occasion. "I heard the names of the other honorees, and we decided to go with the fanciest gown I always wanted to wear," the singer told us of her Stéphane Rolland frock. "But as soon as I saw those stairs, I knew that it would take me few good hours to get up there if I wasn't going to accept my award from backstage!" Her presenter Iman appeared impressed. "I kind of live with a rock legend, so I know what it takes," offered the supermodel. "Rihanna is not there just yet, but give her another decade or so. One thing is for sure: I could never do what they do on stage."
Like Rihanna, Stella McCartney had her own wardrobe issues. "Little girls out there," the designer said, speaking to the pre-teen sections in the top tiers of the hall. "Never wear a skirt this short!" She also expected Leive to present her with the scarlet statue, but a group of Beatles wives led by Yoko Ono surprised her instead. "Wow!" she gushed. "You're trying to ruin my make-up. That took many hours to do, by the way!" Tyra Banks praised tennis star Williams; Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Katie Couric also served as a presenters while Oprah, a certain Barack, and honoree Michelle Obama participated via video presentations. But Kerry Washington got some face time with the First Couple last week in Washington D.C. "I found out about the invitation to join Committee on the Arts and Humanities through a letter," said the actress. "It was just as exciting as being accepted to college, it's all part of life's joys! But we all just gathered last week and it was a surreal experience."
Major players took the stage throughout the night, but the audience and celebratory dinner at Southgate was just as impressive. Friends Patrick Demarchelier and Xanthipi Joannides were each other's dates, Steven Tyler came along with new girlfriend Erin Brady, and Stefano Tonchi donned a velvet tux. Other recognizable faces included Liya Kebede, Peter Dundas, Padma Lakshmi, Zoe Kravitz, Karlie Kloss, Anja Rubik, Jason Wu, and Anne Vyalitsyna. Precious star Gabourey Sidibe seemed flattered that the likes of Diane von Furstenberg even recognized her. "A year ago, I was praying that our film would somehow be released," she said. "Now the biggest problem in my life is dealing with my Facebook that literally almost exploded during the weekend!"
VALENTINE UHOVSKI
