Bonfire of the Vanities: Dubai



(Charlize Theron via Charles Crowell/Bloomberg News)

The geopolitical center of power has moved eastward, could also the swag bags? The second-largest sheikhdom in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, might not inconceivably become the location of the global after-party if the global financial crisis turns the first world radioactive to the idea of celebrity celebratory excesses (The Corsair sips a chilled glass of Ugandan Waragi). Already there is schadenfreude, what will follow if the economic hard times last -- as some economists predict -- for four years or longer. Will our fascination with the party photos cease, or, worse, veer into disgust? UAE Central Bank Governor Sultan Bin Nasser al-Suwaidi boasted to Bloomberg TV on Aug. 28 that the Dubai economy would expand 6.6 percent this year and "stay strong through 2009" so long as oil prices stayed above $60 a barrel.

If Calvin Klein's 40th anniversary party in September was $3 million, imagine what can be done for 2,000 guests and $20 million? From Bloomberg:

"Dubai defied the economic crisis last night as stars flocked to South African billionaire Sol Kerzner's Atlantis resort for a $20 million party that included the world's largest fireworks display dazzling enough to be seen from space and a performance by pop singer Kylie Minogue.

"The 2,000 guests of the Atlantis, located on a man-made island in the shape of a palm, were treated to a champagne reception and an 'Atlantean Feast' and danced the warm night away to Minogue's performance of 'Better the Devil You Know' followed by Samantha Ronson, a DJ friend of actress Lindsay Lohan, mixing 1980s pop music.

"'I love Dubai, I love the architecture', basketball player Michael Jordan said in an interview on the red carpet before the party. 'It's the second time I've been here, I'll be back.'

"... Janet Jackson, the singer, and Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Group Ltd., boogied to Ronson's classics including Aretha Franklin and Bell Biv DeVoe. Lohan, a shoeless Mischa Barton and model Jade Jagger chatted and smoked cigarettes on the steps of the stage."

A shoeless Mischa Barton is enough to stir the red-hott fires of blogger schadenfreude. Other guests among the 2,000 were: Wesley Snipes, Robert de Niro, Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra and catwalk model Yasmin Le Bon. "The Atlantean Feast" organized by Sol Kerzner, the South African billionaire -- not to be confused with Trimalchio's Feast by Petronius Arbiter -- included Atlantic lobster and tiger prawns hosted by Michelin-starred restaurateurs Nobu Matsuhisa and Giorgio Locatelli. Kerzner, we cannot fail to note, laid off 800 of its employees at Paradise Island Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas because American guests had declines due to the recession. Charmed, I'm sure.