Squawk Radio
Friday, November 04, 2005
Eloisa Goes to the Bette Midler's Birthday Benefit...
Here I am, dressed as Marie Antoinette and on my way to the ball. The party was wonderful! It was in the Waldorf Astoria hotel, and when my husband and I went up the steps into the grand ballroom, there was a big row of paparazzi. One of them stepped forward and said, "Marie! Marie! May I have your picture?" That pretty much made my night. 
Then I discovered that our table was right next to the VIP table! That's Elton John just below...he was dressed as a wicked little devil with a red tail.
It was Bette Midler's birthday (and her benefit for New York gardens). The Board of Directors of her charity gave her a rose garden, Bette's Garden, that they had bought for her and kept secret a year as they remade it. She cried...
The tables were beautiful. I've posted a few more pictures in the "Behind the Scenes" section of my website (on the readers' pages), but here's a fun one: Glenn Close (who is gorgeous!) and John McEnroe. Glenn C. was a hippie, obviously. John McEnroe was playing himself, playing the man who played him in The Tennenbaums.Sting came up and accepted an award -- he was wearing an incredible jacket covered with blue lights. Then Elton John began to sing. He sang "Sorry seems to be the hardest word," and "Tiny Dancers." He sang like an angel, in a voice as passionately full as it ever was. What startled me was how intimate it felt. A ballroom is vastly different place to hear a startlingly wonderful performance than is a stadium.
Has anyone been lucky enough to hear a truly amazing performer in a smaller space than a football stadium (which is where I heard the Stones, for example)?
Eloisa James, 2:42 PM
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