Usher pulled up in his tour bus and team Rihanna arrived in three SUV’s at the A|X Armani Exchange and 944 Magazine Neon Carnival at the Thermal Airport on Saturday night, not far from the Coachella music festival. Inside, Justin Bieber’s mentor wasn’t taking the bait to come on stage as Jesse Marco played two of Usher’s recent hits.
Wading in sea of ferris wheels, games, bars from forthcoming eatery Ra Pour, and lots of bright lights: nearly 2,000 guests, the always camera-dodging Leonardo DiCaprio, headliners Kings of Leon, Alessandra Ambrosio, and stars from “90210” and “Glee.” Outside (and later inside) nightlife entrepreneurs Brent Bolthouse and Grace Fernandez regulated hundreds at the over-RSVP’d event.
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Celebrity blogger Jared Eng (“JustJared.com”), who recently partnered with Clear Channel’s KIIS FM to share resources and content, shared a booth with “Sucker Punch” actress Jamie Chung. Chung’s co-star Vanessa Hudgens was also on scene, as was Kelly Osbourne, Ian Somerhalder, Josh Hutcherson, Penn Badgley, Brittany Snow, and Emma Roberts — on a break after promoting the opening of “Scream 4.” (Usher, Lutz, and Osbourne photos by Seth Browarnik.)
After surprising the concert-goers with Sir Paul McCartney on Friday night, Afrojack hit the Oasis Beach Club’s massive grounds. Inside, he took over one of the cabanas with Paris Hilton.
Fashion retailer G by Guess sponsored one of several villages in the sprawling complex, bringing more than 50,000 pieces of gear (and an ice cream truck) to hand out to 1,500 partygoers at a time. At the bar, organizers offered a $2,500 bottle of champagne with proceeds going to the American Red Cross’ Japan Earthquake relief. (Afrojack/Hilton photo by Todd Williamson.)
The Lacoste Live party won the celebrity derby on Saturday afternoon. Joshua Jackson, Diane Kruger, Katy Perry, and “Twilight” co-stars Ashley Greene and Lutz, were tucked in next to the crocodile infested pool, while co-sponsor HTC extended the olive branch to guests with rival hardware like BlackBerries and iPods by giving them a place to charge alongside their own phones on display. On Sunday, Kirsten Dunst and Alexander Skarsgard checked in. Adrian Grenier (below) set his sights on a dunk tank victim at the party (Photos by Jason Strauss)
The pre-Coachella music kicked off early last week as Swede singer Robyn topped Elle’s Women in Music private concert at the Music Box in Hollywood. (Pictured with Elle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers and fellow performer Solange Knowles.) It wasn’t exclusive to women as Elle creative director Joe Zee emceed the show and gave a sneak peek of the magazine’s accompanying women in music documentary. Robyn toured the southwest last week, performing at the Boulevard pool outside at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Thursday night before her featured set at Coachella on Friday.
Host Carson Daly encouraged the press to give “The Voice” two thumbs up at NBC Universal’s Summer Press Day in Pasadena on Friday. “Coaches” Blake Shelton and Cee Lo Green were also on hand as “Celebrity Apprentice” loose cannon Gary Busey staged an interruption of Nick Cannon and Howie Mandel as they plugged the return of “America’s Got Talent” this summer.
Before “Scream 4” opened in second place, Marilyn Manson and Eli Roth toasted the Weinsteins’ world premiere with specially branded bottles of Moet & Chandon Imperial at the new Redbury Hotel. Axe Shower sponsored the after party. (Photo by WireImage.)
The same week that Star Magazine replaced editor-in-chief Candace Trunzo, rival OK magazine threw their annual “Sexiest Singles” event at the not-yet-opened Lexington Social House on Thursday. Ciroc Boyz’s DJ Eye (Jimmy Iovine’s son Jamie, pictured at right) spun as Audrina Patridge continued promoting Sunday’s debut of her new VH1 series “Audrina” amidst a crowd of various “Housewives” of Beverly Hills and other reality stars.