Singing Praises at Diva Opening : Bistro Starts as <i> the </i> Place to Be, but 2 Others Are on O.C. Horizon

When I was just 17, I ran away from home, to be with all the pretty people, to be on my own. --From Annie Lennox’s “Diva” album

The roar of the pretty people--divas all in their prima donna duds--made hearing Lennox’s album impossible at the premiere of Diva, David Wilhelm’s new Costa Mesa restaurant last week.

It was the buzz that had this crowd humming. In one dark corner: “Wayne’s World” siren Tia Carrere tossing her tresses as she spoke with fiance Elie Samaha about the opening of Roxbury South in Santa Ana, come fall. (“We’ll have about 20 mega-stars there, from Stallone on down,” said Samaha, managing partner of L.A.’s hip Roxbury nightclub.)

In another: Wilhelm, creator of power-lunch spot Bistro 201, Zuni Grill, Barbacoa, et al, schmoozing with L.A. Rams linebacker Mel Owens. “I named the restaurant after Annie’s new album,” Wilhelm said. (He originally wanted to dub the new spot Blonde, but higher-ups thought it sexist.)

In still another niche: Diva architect David Berman trying to lay some adjectives on the minimalist digs. “It’s not post-modern,” said Berman, who came from San Francisco for the bash. “That’s out. I guess it’s classic contemporary, whatever that means.”

Let’s just say it’s not classic Orange County. For starters, the 15-foot ceilings are deep purple, or eggplant, creating an Impressionist “night-sky effect,” as Diva designer Marlene Chapman of Laguna Beach put it.

And the loose-fitting window draperies are an open-weave black mesh, wrought from the kind of high-tech cloth used to shade nursery plants. (This, along with a Gargantuan gilt mirror gives the place a “Phantom of the Opera” effect. Perfect ambience for diva types.) Another head-turner: a gold Buddha backboard (over the entrance to the men’s room) complete with basketball net, created by hip artist Doug Edge.

The crowd was a mix of the young-and-restless (Wilhelm wanna-bes and devotees) and the mature-and-settled (mall mogul Henry Segerstrom was there with wife, Renee. “Do you suppose they named the restaurant after you?” he teased his elegant wife. She blushed.)

When party-goers weren’t sampling the fare--grilled lamb chops with jalapeno jelly glaze, Diva bread with white bean Aioli, and so much more--they were listening to Paula Prince on the piano (she caressed the ivories until about 8 p.m., then the Lennox tapes took over), ogling each other--the little black dress was all over the place--or gushing about Orange County society’s newest place to be seen.

“It’s fab,” said Carrere, adding she would film the sequel to “Wayne’s World” in March. For now, she’s filming “The Rising Sun” with Sean Connery, thank you very much. “I play the female lead, a computer whiz with a deformed left hand,” she said. And the beat goes on . . .

Planet Hollywood plans: It’s going to be the battle of the openings when Planet Hollywood and Roxbury South both open in Santa Ana. (Look for Roxbury to open in September where the Old Courthouse Restaurant used to be. And look for Planet Hollywood to open in October at the former site of Reuben’s Plankhouse at South Coast Plaza Village.) Restaurateur Antonio Cagnolo (Antonello, Spiga, Emporio Express), a partner in the $2-million Planet Hollywood franchise, says the grand opening “is going to be the greatest party Orange County has ever seen.”

“We haven’t finalized the plans yet,” Cagnolo says. But he knows this for sure: There will be bleacher seating, a la the Academy Awards, so the public can watch the gaggle of Tinseltowners arrive by land yacht (a.k.a.: limousine). And Bruce Willis--founding partner with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sly Stallone in the Planet Hollywood venture--will sing and play in the band at the event.

Of course, Sly and Arnold also plan to be there--and at the future openings of Planet Hollywood in Chicago, Barcelona, Cancun and London, Cagnolo says. All of which means Cagnolo will be invited to those events. “When you’re in with these guys, you’re in. That’s the best part.”

And while we’re at it: representatives from Orange Coast magazine just returned from Rome where they shot Sly Stallone for the September cover.

The Center of Fashion: Cartier at South Coast Plaza picked up the tab for the Overture Luncheon held at the Center Club on Thursday to launch the Center of Fashion, a fund-raising extravaganza set for Sept. 25 at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

Guests--who included models and the show’s featured designer, Kevan Hall--feasted on chilled tomato gazpacho soup and grilled chicken as they discussed the third annual benefit for the Center staged by its Guilds support group.

Hall, who has designed unforgettable gowns for singer Natalie Cole, promised a parade of about 30 of his creations at the affair, which will offer a daytime and evening show. (Tickets, ranging from $10 to $75, will go on sale at the Center box office Aug. 23.)

“I design fitted, tasteful, sexy gowns,” said Hall, whose evening wear is featured at I. Magnin, Saks Fifth Avenue and specialty stores around the country. “With a touch of glitz.”

Cindy Boragno and Nancy Scharf are co-chairwomen of the show. Guilds founder Georgia Spooner is honorary chairwoman. And, for the third year in a row, Carlton Burnett will direct the production.