Malaysia Newspaper

[Guest]

Night of splendour in Shanghai

LIGHTS flashed. Cameras clicked.

For a few brief moments, we had our taste of stardom walking the red carpet towards one of the most lavish parties held in modern-day China. This was the super bash hosted by Louis Vuitton in the heart of Shanghai.

Just minutes ago, celebrities like Hong Kong award winning actress Maggie Cheung, Chinese cinema icon Chen Dao Ming and a host of other big names had glided along the same lush carpet.

The local Shanghai press must have been somewhat confused over the big foreign names and not wanting to miss out anyone, snapped feverishly away on their latest digital cameras.

Korea’s Noblesse features editor Sun-Hee Kim and I gloried in our few seconds of “fame”. We were among 40 press members, mostly magazine editors or fashion writers from all over the world, who were on LV's international press tour.

The party – one of the largest private events ever to be held in Shanghai – was attended by over 1,500 celebrities, VIPs and important guests, with Yves Carcelle, chairman & CEO, Louis Vuitton, playing host.

Some 1,500 bottles of Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin champagne were uncorked and over 20,000 canapes, with gourmet delicacies such as abalone, were served.

LV certainly did not spare any expense when it came to hosting the Sept 23 bash. Their publicity officials were tight-lipped over the cost, but some foreign journalists who attended their recent 150th anniversary celebrations in Hong Kong guesstimated it to be around US$1.5mil to US$2mil (RM5.7mil to RM7.6mil).

Entertainment was imported from all over the world. UK pop star Gareth Gates thrilled the crowd with his superb voice. International deejays included New Yorker Mark Ronson, who also played at Louis Vuitton’s 150th anniversary celebration;Matt Edwards from London; and Janva Tan from Hong Kong.

Three stilt-walkers – two in Chinese costumes while another, dubbed the “Golden Fairy” with wings spanning 7m – awed the crowd by dancing on stilts to the fast tempo of the music.

Chinese stars included Guo Jing Jing, Hu Bing, Qin Hailu, Jiang Qin Qin and Li Bing Bing. Among the overseas celebrities and VIPs were Taiwanese star Kelly Lin, Oscar nominated singer Coco Lee, top Korean actress Kim Nan Joo and Japanese supermodel Rila. A host of Hong Kong luminaries, many of them flying to Shanghai for the weekend’s Formula One, also attended in big numbers.

Our own former Miss Malaysia Arianna Teoh and racing hubby Alex Yoong were spotted among the hip crowd.

Prior to the party, a grand illumination ceremony of LV’s expanded store at Plaza 66 took place at 8.30pm.

To prevent gatecrashers, guests were required to produce the coveted invitation cards. In return, they received a vermilion tag each and a stamp on their hand that glowed in the dark.

The party venue was kept a big secret and guests were guided by LV monograms on the shiny marble floor of the plaza’s posh lobby after the illumination ceremony, out to the road and across a pedestrian crossing.

We were eventually led to a giant marquee built on a vacant site within the Shanghai Exhibition Center. It had taken three weeks just to build the massive 1,400 sq m tent, from the ground up.

The air-conditioned structure featured three different chambers: the Salle Rouge, a chill-out bar area featuring Chinese red lanterns; the Bamboo Room, a room encased in massive bamboo rods, capped by floating gauze clouds and walled-in by a 12m high copper lined water feature; and finally the Purple Room, the main attraction with 1,650 Plexiglas monogram panels on the wall. In the same room two giant copper pots serve as 8m high DJ booths.

A design highlight was an LED wall featuring six hours of non-repeating visual imagery created by Bruce Ferguson from New Zealand.

Many of the interior furnishings were finished in Vietnamese silk while the entire back wall of the tent featured a rear projection screen, displaying iconic LV images, interspersed with cultural Chinese references for a localised accent.

Most guests came decked in their finery and not forgetting of course, their LVs.

One local tai tai came with an entourage of about eight, presumably her children and grandchildren, each carrying an LV bag of varying sizes. Definitely a family of LV fans!

There were sophisticated socialites in furs and designer cocktail dresses and hip young women in leather miniskirts or dresses with plunging necklines or backless tops, revealing a tattoo or two.

The guys wore suits and trendy outfits, with some younger ones sporting gravity-defying bleached hair and nose rings.

The lavishness of the ultra-hip party had me wondering what Chairman Mao would say if he was alive. The Father of China's Cultural Revolution, I believe, would have been culturally shocked!

[Yorksheather]

Thanks Haz,I think that is a brilliant find and brilliant to read.I love UK pop star Gareth Gates thrilled the crowd with his superb voice.Looks like there there were plenty of influentional people from all over the world to see Gareth perform,and hear Gareth's superb voice.It sounds like it was a fantastic night.Sounds a very lavish event.

I don't know how thet kept the massive event's location secret,in a massive marquee in the shopping centre

[Snowdrop]

Aww, that's a nice read.

And it's fascinating to know who else was there - all the LV big-wigs.

[Guest]

Hazzy what a brilliant find

that must have been some party oooohhhhh to have had an invite to that

i found this bit very interesting though

Entertainment was imported from all over the world. UK pop star Gareth Gates thrilled the crowd with his superb voice. International deejays included New Yorker Mark Ronson, who also played at Louis Vuitton’s 150th anniversary celebration;Matt Edwards from London; and Janva Tan from Hong Kong

.

Now we have an international DJ who has heard Gareth sing live and hes from london too i might google him to see what hes up to, as to be honest i have never heard of him lol(dont go to many clubs nowadays lol)

great find Hazzy thank you

[Guest]

brilliant find Haz well done.... lovely read on a sunday morning

[Snowdrop]

It says in this article that he's from New York originally, but he could have moved, or it could be another DJ of the same name - but it is a UK website and they obviously spend some time in the UK. More here.

I found this bit elsewhere

It’s a sonic avalanche of electro-house, which represents the sort of party sound he’s become accustomed to get the crowd jumping to at The Boutique. Laidback Luke meanwhile, will be offering a smattering of Chicago House laced with minimal techno, whilst Radio Slave (aka Matt Edwards) will undoubtedly spin one of their exclusive 2 hour sets featuring all the various remixes and re-edits – ie, X-Press, Fischerspoone, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Benny Benassi, Bob Sinclair and FC Kahuna - that have made them the UK’s hottest producers right now!!

So it looks like he could be someone who could do a remix in the future - so long as BMG let Gareth do something worth remixing.

They did this on Radio 1.

[debi angel eyes]

Thanks for posting up such a brilliant article sounded a very lavish party

i bet Gareth had a great time

loved the bit they mentioned Gareth trilling the audiance with his superb singing voice

You would have thought with all the press attending it would have been in a uk paper or magazine though

[Khelda]

Great find Hazzy, and I also love the superb vocals bit. And I also think its great that Gareth was heard live by so many important people, apart from them realising how famous Gareth is in those parts (hence the only one invited from UK). And I am pleased Gareth sang mostly upbeat songs, and some of his own ones too.

[Jill]

Brilliant read. Thanks Hazzy.

UK pop star Gareth Gates thrilled the crowd with his superb voice.

Yessssssssssssss!!!! I am loving that bit!

Love Jill xx

[rejuvenated]

Thanks for this. Great find.

Like everyone else I love the description of his voice .

Quite apart from extending his audience in the music world, I wonder whether the fact that there were so many fashion writers means that a glossy magazine spread might come out of this. He is such a beautiful young man.

I haven't really thought this through but it might be a way of getting his face known and international success recognised by a wider audience thus hopefully sparking an interest in his music, particularly if there were a good informative article alongside,although to be honest I would rather it was always about the music.

[Snowdrop]

It's not impossible. Simon Fuller is known to be a fan of using sponsorship deals as a way of getting an artist better known (and earning some extra cash). When Rachel Stevens signed up to do the Pretty Polly thing it wasn't just about earning some money from the bill-boards - those bill-boards were on display at a time when she was trying to establish herself as a solo artist and it gave magazines and newspapers the excuse to run stories about her, mentioning her new single/album.

Gareth is clearly quite well known already in China in the music world, and for MTV China viewers, but it will be a tiny proportion of the population that watches. If Gareth were to be featured in local fashion magazines or newspaper stories it would raise his profile amongst people who are interested in popular culture in general. If he were to do a bit of modelling or something - it would be another talking point for him, and another way to establish him as a well known figure across the region, so that when he does interviews about his music - more people will read.

[rejuvenated]

I take your point about China, but since the magazine editors and fashion writers were described as being from all over the world I was also wondering about any interest shown from other parts of the world as well.

I know gareth is pretty well known in lots of places but I thought it might reach a different audience .

However I would still prefer it to be all about the music and think that would serve Gareth's interests better.

[Snowdrop]

I would agree for Europe, but I think it could be good for him for Asia where it's more common for big name celebs to do sponsorships. Although if it gets him some interest from a European fashion editor, then it would be good too. If he's to extend his fan-base he needs to be talked about by people who don't buy music magazines. Lots of women who buy music buy fashion magazines, but not Q. Not that they'd manage a sane interview with him anyway.

[Maggiemags]

Fabulous article Hazzy! Makes me feel all

To be honest, I'd like him to get any coverage at all as long as it's positive. It's quite fantastic that he was invited in the first place. So proud.

[Ally]

thanks for that, a lovely read

[R4RLJ]

Thanks Hazel i enjoyed reading that

Great isn't it!

[sweetdreams]

Loved that, especially the bit about Gareth! Love the words chosen to describe him!

Sounds like a high powered do, and hopefully lots of publicity for Gareth with influential people!

[Perisa]

Thanks for that Hazzy!

Wher did you find the article? Which newspaper was it in? Which country was the paper from? I only ask because I wondered if it would be worth emailing the article to Sneak and The Star mag as well as perhaps a number of the tabloids. I actually have the address of the editor of the 3am column in the Mirror now and would be more than happy to email the article to him with a covering note but obviously need to know where you got it from.

I think it would do no harm to send the article to a few people, particularly the ones that showed an interest in Janice's call last week (Sneak and HEAT ). If 19 can't or won't promote him at the moment then I don't see the harm in us at least informing the mags of the details of the trip - especially as it was not a small low key affair as we first thought.

Let me know what you think ...

[Snowdrop]

That's a great idea, and perhaps a few magazines that take more of an interest in fashion?

[Guest]

Hi Perisa,

Well you could say it's from Malaysia newspaper as the title says, and it's in the Malaysia Online Star.

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?...26&sec=features

[Perisa]

Thanks for that Hazzy. I have emailed the editor of the 3am column.

Btw

How do I get a banner - anyone know?

[Sentimental gal]

Wow! What a fantastic affair for Gareth to be invited too, and to enable him to showcase his talents to a whole new audience.

Its just a shame it doesn't appear to have been reported here anywhere. We the fans know how well respected and enjoyed he is out in Asia, but it would have been wonderful to have had that fact advertised.

Go Perisa - fingers crossed for your promoting - you'll be wanting commission from Gareth next!!

[Perisa]

I had a reply from one of the reporters from the Daily Mirror that I sent the Shanghai article to. He does'nt say anything other than Thanks but at least I know he got the email, read it and had the grace to thank me.

I am all for building up these contacts now, forming some sort of relationship whilst things are quiet, showing the journalists that we are eloquent, responsible, sensible people who expect Gareth to be treated fairly.

Fingers crossed he will do that all himself once he starts his promotion but there is no harm in us paving the way for him is there?

[Guest]

Thats great Perisa, you wonder what they think don't you.

[eternal]

Well done Perisa