Martín Fierro 2011 (Part II)...

Fighting hard not to fall asleep (I got back from Paris on Saturday, so I was still suffering the 5-hour time difference), I saw almost the entire Martín Fierro Awards ceremony.

I found the general look much better than in previous years, although there was a "surplus" of jewels (which I only like on one-color dresses, with no details or embroideries...) and some dramatic hair-dos. But, I repeat, in general, I liked what I saw.

Natalia Oreiro looked impeccable with the three dresses she chose. With a light and fresh make-up, she looked charming and comfortable in her hosting role. I would only criticize her first hair-do, a chignon to one side, only because I don't like it myself. I usually prefer something more classic.

I liked Verónica Lozano and found Viviana Canosa sexy with her turquoise necklace. Her hair, however, was too long...

Marcelo Tinelli is such a handsome man, but I would have suggested him a classic smoking and not the one he used.

I liked Mike Amigorena and his eccentricities. He makes me laugh.

Now, I'll wait for the photos!

Martín Fierro 2011...

I jumped out of my bed, where I'm watching the Martín Fierro Awards, to write my first impressions... I must have Twitter!

(I do, but I'm still not into it...)

Well, up to now, I've seen very beautiful women and some interesting dresses... Of course, and sorry for not being unbiased, I must mention my sister, with a tight black Oscar de la Renta. She was specially invited to cover the event for her fashion column in Revista Caras, where she's now collaborating. Then, very nice was Natalia Oreiro's green dress, also an Oscar... It belonged to the 2011 Resort Collection... I know it to be so because I have all the catalogs! It reminded me of one I have from 2008, also in green and, of course, from De la Renta too.

I saw lots of red dresses, like those used by Cecilia Roth and Inés Estévez. Charming was the Benito Fernández chosen by Laura Novoa (although she paired it with too much jewels for my taste) and Susana Giménez ruby necklace. I loved Leticia Brédice's white dress, although I found her hair too dyed (she must use it like that for her character in El Elegido), and Catherine Fulop's hair-do. Very modern...

Now, back to my bed and the TV...

Fashion at the Emmy Awards...

Nothing attracts me more than watching Film and TV award shows, specially those from the US. I never miss the Golden Globes, the Oscars (my favorites... there was a time when I even held dinners at home with friends to watch them together) and the Emmys. Ever since I've became addicted to certain TV series, starting with Sex & the City to be honest, but then with Desperate Housewives, Nip Tuck, Dirty Sexy Money, Grey's Anatomy, In Treatment, and lately Mad Men (I have all the seasons in DVDs and I keep copies in all my houses, in case I feel like watching an episode from time to time...), I follow the Emmys with interest...

And tonight, from my beloved and unreachable Los Angeles, we receive the first images of the 62nd Emmy Awards, from the Nokia Theatre in Hollywood. As usual, Americans are UNBEATABLE (caps are on purpose) when it comes to glamour. For American actresses going to an award show is part of their job, image is important and they work on it with care. Impeccable skins, perfect make-ups (never too much nor too little...), professional hairdos, jewels, the best American and European designers and a battalion of stylist put in service by the main Studios to their key stars... Not a detail is left unattended: shoes, bags, even the pose (left arm on the waist, body lightly moved towards the right...). And such display begins as early as 2 pm, under an intense sun!

This year's looks showed many strapless gowns, mainly in neutrals or beige, dark or lighter blues, some reds (they feel like too much in broad daylight), embroidered golds or sequined blacks. There was also some grey dresses, one of the hues that look worst in parties. Of course, the best piece of jewelry to pair with a strapless dress are long, important and shinny earrings. There were many by Cartier, Fred Leighton (a jeweler from Los Angeles), Lorraine Schwartz (who's a friend of mine and very talented indeed), Bulgari and Boucheron. Bags with crystals, as those by Judith Leiber, were definitely the most popular.

I also noted that many stars wore dark nail polish, like Chanel's Black Satin.

Among the most seen designers were, of course, Oscar de la Renta (a classic option that never fails), Carolina Herrera, Armani, Versace (awful was the dress of my favorite actress, January Jones, Mad Men's Batty Draper... a blue disaster with a short hem that turned behind in a longer train... Anyway, nothing can diminish her beauty) and Marchesa... Marchesa's designer, Georgina Chapman, is Miramax's CEO, Harvey Weinstein's wife... many contacts for a clientele!! Jokes aside, her collections are really wonderful and I have many dresses from her label. The one that wore Kim Kardashian tonight (a white dress with Greek inspirations) was very flattering. I did not like Heidi Klum's minidress because, for me, Award shows deserve long dresses. Tina Fey, the most talented and famous comedic actress of the moment, looked good on her Oscar de la Renta... Kyra Sedgwick, Kevin Bacon's wife (the more he ages, the better he looks), on the other hand, was awful: a too-untidy hairdo and a bordeaux dress that wasn't at all interesting. At least she got the Best Leading Actress Award...

As for the men... many smoking or black suits, white shirts and black ties... It's so easy for them!!! As French writer Sacha Guitry once said, men wear black to be a backdrop curtain for the ladies...

Jimmy Fallon was great as the host of the night and, as most American artists, he knows how to act, sing and dance.

A special note on Sofía Vergara, a former Colombian model that became famous for having an affaire with singer Luis Miguel, who was nominated tonight as Best Supporting Actress for her role in Modern Family. Good Girl, you've made a long way...

Frankly, a lovely Hollywood night...

January Jones (grr!) / Kim Kardashian (!!)

Sanremo Festival: Final Chapter

After five intense nights and the special appearance of guests from all over the World, from Jennifer López to Mary J. Blige, Michael Jackson's choreographer and a dozen songs... Sanremo Festival ended in a complete scandal!

And everything because of the televoting!

Let me tell it to you: in the past, music specialists, singers, composers and producers were part of the Jury. But for some time now, it's the people voting from home who decide who wins... They even have the power to put back in contest those who were previously eliminated. This is what happened with the trio of Prince Emanuele Philiberto de Savoia, who's a really nice, distinguished guy, but he sings like a dog... even worst, he's not even singing at all and he's just starting at this. I appreciate his effort... but there were a lot of really talented professionals in contest, such as Enrico Ruggeri or my favourite Malika Ayane, who have been doing music since childhood!

So, huge scandal at the Ariston Theatre, with the orchestra tossing to the air the pages of the scores while the audience was booing loudly... Never-before-seen here!!!

Malika was eliminated and the three final contenders were the Prince's trio and two other young singers, known here for having participated in other TV contests.

Back to televoting... and the winner is...?
Valerio Scanu, an almost twenty years boy with a romantic ballad... 

Valerio Scanu, the winner.

The runner-ups?

The trio!!! Can you believe it?

This morning people were already talking about some kind of cheating, involving the purchase of hundreds of telephone votes... By who? It's a mystery now...

Anyway, Malika Ayane won the Critics Award, which she totally deserved.

For next year's Festival, I would avoid the televoting or at least, put it under surveillance. 

As for the hostess, Antonella Clerici, she brought the highest ratings in the history of the broadcast of the Festival. However...
How can I put it...?

... I've never seen anyone worst dressed on stage than her...!! Poor Gai Mattiolo, who was in charge of her costume design... All those dresses had nothing to do with a slightly overweighted woman... in fact, they made her look fatter!

However, she seems to be what the Italian people want... apparently...

Audience and orchestra protesting...

Sanremo Festival: Chapter 1

As a child, one of the most awaited events was the Sanremo Song Festival!  I wished for it with a mixture of excitement, pleasure and curiosity...

Do remember that I lived in Montepulciano, a small, antique and chic town, but a town after all, where nothing ever happened, and by the end of the 60s... Internet was very far from existing in my life!

Anyway, I loved preparing my dolls for the big event, to sit them next to me in front of the TV set (which, obviously, was black & white). Beautiful night dresses and gowns were required. I loved it all... the music, the singers, the scandals...

Many decades have gone by now and I come across the Festival once more... I thought I have forgotten all about it... But I'm in Europe, and I've been to Italy the past couple of days, and EVERYONE there was taking about the big musical event of the peninsula! 

So I decided to take this week to enjoy this incredible kermess: a true symbol of my beloved Italy in 2010.

To begin with, Festival's nights, which used to be three, are now five.

The live broadcast lasts three hours minimum and has already shown princes (Emanuele-Philiberto de Savoia, already a winner of 2009 Dancing with the stars, is presenting with Tuscan singer Pupo and a tenor a lousy version of "Italia, amore mio," which, in case you don't know, is about the exile of the Savoia, ex kings of Italy), queens (yesterday's guest of honor was Queen Rania of Jordan, stunning in her black Armani Privé, who happily talked about her humanitarian work, relaxed and visibly in love with Italy), Susan Boyle (the talented English singer who's a complete success in spite of her looks) and even Dita Von Teese (the famous stripeuse presented a show in which she ended with an olive in a huge Martini glass, with almost no clothes on - but hey, not entirely naked... it's the RAI, remember?).

Dita Von Teese

Special Guest, Queen Rania of Jordan

And then, of course, there's the singers, all of whom present new songs to compete for the grand award of this year's Sanremo Festival, which celebrates its 60th edition. 

My personal favorite?

Malika Ayane. Lovely song. A true symbol of today's Italy. Her father's from Morocco and her mother's from Milano... When I was little it was enough to come from Naples to be considered a foreigner...

Thank God the World changes...

I must say something about the Festival's hostess: Antonella Clerici, a very blond, curvy Italian of 46, who used to have a daily cooking TV show around noon.

She moves very spontaneously around the huge stage (which no longer is black & white but instead very colorful and full of lights) and is not afraid to laugh at her own gaffes. 

I'll keep watching tonight and tell you all about it tomorrow...!

Malika Ayane's song

Golden Globes 2010... under the rain!!!

And for once, we had a rainy Golden Globes...
How weird to see all those Hollywood stars under umbrellas, so like normal people...
I know that they are common mortals like us, but seeing them on screen, playing so many different roles, gets you under the impression that they are immune to stuff like rain, cold or any other human misery...
But yesterday it rained hard in Los Angeles and all those actresses who chose curly, wavy or straight hair-dos, had it difficult! Or as Young Victoria's Emily Blunt put it: "I'm English, I'm used to it..."
Anyway, the rain took nothing from a ceremony that was traditional, elegant and glamorous as always...
There were so many fantastic dresses that I get confused... All I can say is that there was a clear tendency to one-shoulder straight long dresses... Of those I saw plenty! They were just like the one I want to wear for the big wedding party I have in Paris on February 6th... But I want mine in red!
I loved the dark green Dior that Marion Cotillard wore and it went perfectly with her chignon...
I also liked Penélope Cruz, who's one of my favorite actresses and looked charming yesterday with her black Armani Privé and her loose hair.
Awful was Nicole Kidman's beige Nina Ricci... it matched her skin tone!
On the contrary, and not because she's Italian as myself, I liked what George Clooney's girlfriend, Elisabetta Cannalis, wore: it was a creamy Versace, that went well with her skin type.
I saw many Elie Saab (a libanese designer who works in Paris), various Roberto Cavalli and some Marchesa (like Kate Hudson's)... also a lot of mistakes!
As for the men, my favorite was Thomas Jane... He's not so popular here yet but he's gonna be a huge star... You must see his TV series "Hung."
I also liked Robert Downey Jr., a great actor and quite goodlooking. Among the elders, Jeff Bridges was OK.
All in all, it was a nice show, an entreé before our main course: the Oscars, coming soon in a month...

Marion Cotillard's Dior

Penélope Cruz by Armani Privé

Robert Downey Jr., nominated for "Sherlock Holmes"

PS: I'm thrilled by the Foreign Film Golden Globe awarded to Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon... great movie!

Tell me you love me!!

I spent most of last year watching on DVD the entire first season of "Tell me you love me."
Ten episodes of love, sex and couples... very interesting.
I do not think that you can see this new original HBO series in Argentina yet, but I assure you it's worth it.
The cast is not that popular but really great.
More on http://www.hbo.com/tellme