The Governors Ball is arguably the most exclusive, celebrity-filled party on the planet. Photo / Getty Images
The Governors Ball is arguably the most exclusive, celebrity-filled party on the planet.
Only 1500 people get invited each year to the soiree which is the official after-party of the Oscars.
Now, there's an unspoken agreement that what happens inside the ball stays inside the ball, but news.com.au managed to get a few details about memorable moments, the year it all went wrong, and what's planned for Monday night's event from the two women who make it happen.
We spoke to Cheryl Cecchetto, from Sequoia Productions, who has produced the Governors Ball for the past 30 years, and Lois Burwell, who is the first vice president and chair of the awards and events committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (that's one heck of a title, isn't it!)
This year's theme is "Filmscape" and the ballroom has been decked out in merlot and gold decorations in the style of a classic motion picture theatre.
Throughout the night, guests will be entertained by a montage of iconic moments from 120 films which will be shown on two massive screens.
According to Burwell, the vibe inside changes significantly during the party.
"When you walk in there's an orchestra playing and a feeling of celebration and everyone wants to have something to eat and drink and to have a conversation because they've been silent for hours during the awards," Burwell told news.com.au.
"There's all this bustle and that's always lovely.
"But there's a point in the evening that I really like where people have had some food and wine and they take their shoes off. They stop sitting upright, they're not slumped but they're cozier and more relaxed, and that's the point I like. I like that journey."
Stars can afford to be relaxed because guests know that taking photos inside is frowned upon.
"The Academy really insists that those high-profile folks get a chance to breathe and to have a great evening, so security is watching," Cecchetto told news.com.au.
There's a big dance floor, several bars and plenty of tables and couches for guests to relax on. But there's a special area inside the Governors Ball that only a handful of people get to visit: the Oscar engraving station.
"The winners get to watch their name being engraved on their Oscar and it's a very private area because it's a very private moment for them and their loved ones," Burwell said.
"It is lovely to see their faces when they come out with their name on it. It's joyous. Sometimes there's a vague look of bewilderment which I can understand [Burwell won the Best Makeup Oscar for Braveheart], it's an unbelievable moment."
In her 30 years of producing the event, which is considered the grand finale to Hollywood's awards season, Cecchetto can only recall one year when things went a little awry.
"It was in the first year here [at the Hollywood and Highland complex in 2001] and all the curtains were orange. I was asked to come up with something that was an extension of this room and the first thing I thought of was fish."
Cecchetto arranged for elaborate fish tanks to sit on each table filled with a variety of fish.
"They tanks were aerated and we tested all these fish over and over again to make sure the fish were happy. We tested the water levels, everything."
"It looked very magical, every table came alive," Ms Cecchetto said, but just minutes before the guests arrived, disaster struck.
"I got a call on the radio that said, 'Cheryl, table 62, a koi [fish] has jumped [out of the tank].' Then a minute later I got another call, 'table 31, a koi has jumped.'
"I thought, that's it. We had fish wranglers on site and we removed all the koi. We went through every tank with ladders and fish scoops and put them in buckets."
To make matters worse, the power then went out for 11 minutes.
"There was an orchestra and they kept playing and Wolfgang [Puck] had back-up generators and he kept on cooking," Cecchetto recalled. "It was just one of those nights. Everything else has been perfect since then."
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