The 19th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party hosted by Sir Elton John and David Furnish raised nearly $4 million for the fight against HIV/AIDS. The gala, which took place on Sunday, February 27, at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, was co-sponsored by Chopard and Jo & Raffy Manoukian. Attendees included Sir Ben Kingsley, Heidi Klum & Seal, Jamie Foxx, Steven Tyler, Zac Levi, Sharon Stone, Matthew Morrison, Paul Rudd, Paz Vega, Claire Danes & Hugh Dancy, Ashley Tisdale, Baz Luhrmann, Emma Stone, Smokey Robinson, Quincy Jones, Chace Crawford, Hayden Panettierre, Kelly & Sharon Osbourne, Dave Annable, Cee Lo Green, Chris Colfer, Eric Stonestreet, Jane Lynch, Kim Kardashian, Nicole Richie & Joel Madden, John Waters, Miranda Cosgrove, Serena Williams, Joel McHale, Rashida Jones, Vanessa Hudgens, Taye Diggs, Rufus Wainwright, Natasha Henstridge and Tori Spelling, among many others.
Guests arrived at the Academy Awards Viewing Party for cocktails followed by a gala dinner and viewing of the 83rd Academy Awards® telecast. This year Chef Ludo Lefebvre, owner of the wildly popular touring restaurant LudoBites, supported by Los Angeles-based Crumble Catering, prepared an innovative menu with his classic French styling. The menu included seared beef tenderloin with charcoal oil, a crispy bacon and goat cheese soup, and an apple tart garnished with orange creme fraiche and caramel syrup.
The dinner was followed by a lively auction conducted by Jamie Nivens of Sotheby's. Auction items included a five-night stay in Sir Elton John and David Furnish's private Venice residence, which sold for $150,000; and a Taylor Swift concert package including tickets and a meet-and-greet with the Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, which sold for $50,0000; in-home cooking class with Chef Ludo Lefebvre, which sold for $20,000. Following the auction, Florence + The Machine took the stage to perform several songs including her hit "The Dog Days are Over". Elton John joined Florence Welch onstage to perform "Tiny Dancer" and "You Got the Love".
2011 marks the 30th year since HIV/AIDS was first observed by physicians in American patients, and while tremendous strides have been made in our understanding of this terrible disease, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. In 1993 Sir Elton John pledged to the Hollywood community that he would hold this event every year until a cure for HIV/AIDS had been found. Nearly 20 years later, the Hollywood community is still standing with Sir Elton John, showing their support for the Foundation and this worthy cause.
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