Parties: Stars fall for party trick

Beatrice Hodgkin
Sunday 11 May 2008 00:00 BST
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Two days before the electronics giant LG launched its super-slim Scarlet television in London, it threw a lavish (albeit devious) launch party in LA, luring A-listers Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Both were under the impression that the bash was for a new TV series called Scarlet. They found out the truth only when the stage curtains parted to reveal... a TV. Cue some rather red faces.

The young and beautiful this side of the Atlantic were fed the same tall story – the pseudo star of the "show", actor Natassia Malthe, even turned up – but had a better idea of what to expect. Sophie Ellis Bextor, husband Richard Jones and his bandmates from The Feeling knew all about the ruse, as did Dancing On Ice's Holly Willoughby. But the glitterati were present for a different reason – to see Grace Jones perform. "She inspires me," purred the burlesque star Immodesty Blaize. Others remained sceptical; "I reckon it's a hoax" was Strictly Come Dancing winner Alesha Dixon's take. A second one? Surely not.

DJs Guilty Pleasures and Queens of Noise kept guests happy as they waited for the elusive Ms Jones. Singer Roisin Murphy danced with designer Pam Hogg, while model Jasmine Guinness, make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury and actor Camilla Rutherford chatted in the upstairs boudoir, sipping on scarlet cocktails.

As time ticked away, some gave up on Grace and made their way home, happy enough with the parting gift of a free TV, and a late wave of arrivals took their places, including the Mighty Boosh's Noel Fielding, who leapt on stage to dance, the fashion designer Henry Holland, and T4 presenters Miquita Oliver and Nick Grimshaw. The young 'uns bopped away as New Young Pony Club took over on the decks, and continued to do so long after it was announced that Grace could not make it. Was she a hoax too, then? No one was saying – but then, by this stage, no one was asking either.

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