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02 March 2004
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Tuesday
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10 Muharram 1425
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Losers showered with gifts
Although they lost out on an award, this year's Oscar nominees di not go home empty-handed - they were showered with tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts just for showing up.
Each of the giant troupe of nominees, presenters and performers at Sunday's ceremony receive a treasure trove of gifts to make their evening worthwhile. While most details of this year's haul of loot are being kept under wraps, each presenter and the performer walked off with a hefty consignment of gifts worth around 110,000 dollars.
The stars who took home the gifts included last year's best actress winner Nicole Kidman, her superstar ex-husband Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Steven Spielberg, "Pretty Woman" Julia Roberts, Renee Zellweger and best actress nominee and presenter Charlize Theron.
Gifts to the presenters included a seven-day all-expense paid sea cruise in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, business class air tickets from Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand, luxury hotel stays and a 1,500 dollar dinner for two at a world-class steak-house, according to USA Today.
Also featuring in the hard-to-carry booty was a giant 6,000 dollar television set and a 500-dollar espresso machine for an elite group of people who either have or can afford the items anyway.
Last year, the stars needed the help of their burly minders to cart off their hefty wicker goody baskets, worth around 20,000 dollars, to their waiting limos.
That haul included 5,000-dollar diamond-encrusted bras for the female best actress nominees, designer clothes, a mattress, cameras, mobile phones, luxury beauty and spa treatments and expensive diamond-inlaid watches.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences assembles the traditional gift baskets from thousands of products and services sent them by firms keen to get an Oscar endorsement and have stars use their goods. But those companies whose goods were not picked for the official selection are giving them anyway, boosting the value of each gift basket even higher. -AFP
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