22nd Annual Elton John Oscar Viewing Party - 2014 (aka Open Bar from 4pm - 1:30am)

Well, this year was extra fun ‘cuz I brought my niece, Beth, for a belated 21^st birthday present. She was a little stressed when her luggage didn’t make her connection – who could blame her? It arrived to our room at 3am – yikes!

Eight hours later, Beth went off to get her hair and makeup done at Frederic Fekkai – which I should have done as well. 

After a few drinks and photos, Cyrus, Gary, Beth, Mitch and I headed to the party! It’s always fun to walk the red … er, white carpet. 

Once inside, Neil Patrick Harris was the first celeb we spotted. We (of course) ran over to him and his partner (in matching tuxes) and got behind then in the line for the bar. Their body language was very much, "Leave us the f*ck alone!" But I tapped Neil on his shoulder and told him I liked his tux. He thanked me, and they promptly went to a shorter line. We got some photos of him anyway - just not with him. (I think he's giving me the stink eye?)

Soon after, Beth spotted her longtime crush - and one of my favorites too - Chace Crawford! (Gossip Girl)
Beth: Om My GOD!
Me: Chace! Hi!
Chase: Oh, hi!
As always, he was incredibly nice. Beth reminded him that I had him say hello to her in a video clip I took a few years ago. And then, this: 

Beth: He remembered you! He REALLY did! I could tell.

Paul: Duh! ;-)

Once inside by another bar, I spotted Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin (True Blood) - who are always incredibly kind and friendly.

Later, I saw Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte), also from True Blood. He's also always really down-to-earth and genuine.

Beth was excited to see chef Gordon Ramsay. He was the chef for the party - but honestly, Beth and I enjoyed the In-N-Out burgers we had the next day better than dinner.

The main room was now open. As usual, I took the long way (with Beth in tow) - pretending we couldn't find our table. (Great way to see everyone - which we did many times after that ;-)

And then we saw her - the amazing Jane Fonda, sitting at Elton John's table.
Me: Jane! You look amazing. I'm a huge fan ...
I rambled on, when she kind of cut me off (in a nice way) and said, "Do you want a photo?" I was so grateful she did that! She honestly looked even better in person, if that's possible.

Just then, Sir Elton John himself walked by, touched Beth's shoulder, and said, "Hey gorgeous, enjoying your evening?"

Beth spotted Dave Franco - who I didn't know, but he's been in a million things. He was sitting behind us, but we were too shy (sober) to bother him. And we never got a photo.

At a different table behind us, I saw the magnificent Christina Hendricks (Mad Men). She was - like almost everyone we encountered, very sweet. And beautiful!

Mitch, Cyrus, Gary and me

Beth spotted a girl she knew she knew, but couldn't place. (That happened a lot to us!) I recognized her - Leven Rambin. I knew her as Lily, from All My Children, but she's a little better known from The Hunger Games. We talked to her before this: 

Beth and I took a break from dinner - several times.

Beth was good at pacing (not drinking too much) ... me, not so much.

At another nearby table, Beth spotted Sarah Lancaster (Everwood). She was really cool.

And then ... the night almost came to untimely end for us, due to Beth's zipper/wardrobe malfunction.

Beth: Paul! If I can't fix this, I'm going home.

Paul: NO! You're NOT leaving!

Thank the heavens for Gary and Cyrus, who happened to be there at the time. Gary got a sewing kit from Elton (probably not), and Cyrus stitched her dress up. Whew! 

And so the night continued!

We ran into Dan Bucatinsky (Scandal) - I told him I loved him in the movie All Over the Guy. True story! (That I love it - it's a fictional movie ;-) He was great! The three of us talked for a while, and by a while, I mean maybe 3 minutes.

Then Elton performed - although for the life of me, I can't remember much of that.

Earlier, we saw Ed Sheeran, who also later performed.

Beth was excited to see Lance Bass ('N Sync).
And speaking of 'N Sync ...

JC Chasez

Beth and I were really excited to see Barry Sloane (Revenge) - and he was awesome. No idea what time it was when these people were showing up - maybe drunk 'o clock? But it was a good place to stand!

Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) 

We also saw some crazy-ass dresses!

Cameron Monaghan (Shameles) was really cool - we saw him again later on the dance floor. 

Damn Ultimat Vodka! You made my memory foggy.

Back inside, Beth and I once again 'lost' our table, and would up by Elton's. There, we saw Heidi Klum - and since we're such good friends (ha!) I went up to introduce Beth to her.

Heidi: Oh, you matched your nail polish to your dress!

Beth: Ya.

We didn't ask her for a photo, but I showed her the one I took years ago of her and Victoria Bechkam. ('Cuz l know she cared! ;-) 

And then, Beth screamed, "There's Lady Gaga!" And there she was - surrounded by security guards, and boom - Elton was in front of us, as well as the Osbourne clan. I AGAIN reminded Kelly Osbourne that I was the guy who found her Blackberry at the party years ago. And again, she thanked me. Beth and I were trapped. Usually, I would feel claustrophobic, but like I told Beth, "We're in the sweet spot!"

A zillion and one photographers were suddenly there to get pictures of Beth and me. But those bitches got in the way!

Okay, so I didn't end up on Access Hollywood like I did that time with North West's mom (Kim Kardashin), but BuzzFeed and a ton of other online (and maybe print?) publications? Beth and aren't complaining. 

**************************** Click here :-) ***********************************

Speaking of North West's mom and the rest of the Kardashian women (minus Ms. Bruce Jenner), we saw them all at a table earlier. 

Me: Kim! We were on Access Hollywood together a few years ago. 

Kim: (looking spooked) Oh.

Me: Ya! They made the story about me! They called me on over-eager fan, but I'm not! 

Kim: ::: crickets:::

Beth and I later - feeling more courageous, went to find them and ask for a photo. Alas, they were gone. (Did I scare her away? I hope!) But we did find Khloe Kardashian.

Once back outside, we ran into Joe Jonas ...

And Sarah Hyland (Modern Family) - LOVE her. She was sweet.

Jane Seymour (aka the other Jane) was nice enough too.

 Beth saw a lot of celebs that I didn't know. Like ...

Jessica Lowndes (90210) and ...

Austin Butler (The Carrie Diaries) and ...

Johnny Wujek (America's Next Top Model). He's also Katy Perry's stylist. According to Johnny, Katy was in Japan, so we forgave her for not being there.

I do know who Vanessa Hudgens (Zac Efron's former beard) is, and as you can see, she looked amazing.

Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) was being funny in these photos. It's not like I haven't gotten a pic with him before. 

Beth and I spotted Tyson Beckford, only I couldn't place him. 

I must say, I was pretty well-behaved. Here's proof:

I know, I know. Planking is as dead as Philip Seymour Hoffman! (Too soon?)

Right after that photo, I decided to recreate last year's 'planking on a table' photo. After toppling the table - literally! - about 10 waiters rushed in to clean it up, so I grabbed Beth's hand and said, "RUN!" (I was a little worried that I could be kicked out for that! Ya think?) Beth is still laughing about it. 

What could we do next? Dance!

And then I saw Gale Harold (Queer as Folk, Desperate Housewives) - the one celebrity (besides Mr. Jane Lynch) smart enough to ever refuse me a photo. BUT tonight was a different story :-)

Not sure who crimped his hair - is that making a comeback?

I practically MADE him drink the 2 bottles of water I got for him, while I stupidly got another drink. (I figured if I was less intoxicated than him, why not just one more?)


Finally, at 1:30 am Gary and Cyrus decided to leave - Mitch had been MIA for ages. (We arrived at 4pm. And don't forget, I pre-drank). Beth was ready to call it a night as well. I never want a fun evening to end, so I coerced her into a final walk around, certain there would be a few celebs left we hadn't gotten to stalk. But alas, my niece was correct. So after one last walk on the now dirty white-ish carpet, we left.

Once outside, some guy yelled to Beth, "That dress is EVERYTHING!"





It was a magical evening! (From what I hear.)

Until next year!?

XXOO