Governors Ball: It’s prom night for Hollywood

Some cynics say the Academy Awards are just a prom for the world’s most spoiled children. They’re wrong -- the Governors Ball is actually Hollywood’s prom, while the Oscars show is more like a student election. Or is it a pep rally?

On Sunday, after the final Oscar was stored in “The Hurt Locker,” about 1,500 select guests rode the Hollywood & Highland complex escalators to even higher strata: the stately soiree from the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The ballroom glowed in gentle purple hues, and old-style cigarette girls patrolled the floor with tobacco-free trays piled with Mad Lib appetizers such as “wasabi pea crusted crab cakes with mango and Thai basil.”

The big man on campus was Jeff Bridges. As flashes popped, Bridges clapped chef Wolfgang Puck on the back. He traded his victory Champagne for a glass of water and was whisked away to work the room, stopping to embrace Lauren Bacall, his costar in 1996’s “The Mirror Has Two Faces.” These two famous faces reflected in a dozen lenses -- a coterie of photographers trailed Bridges like the train of a diva’s gown.

Alongside the old were the young. “Twilight’s” Taylor Lautner said his presenter duties were “nerve-racking, but also a lot of fun.” He borrowed a pen to sign an Oscars program for 14-year-old Lily Marshall, daughter of producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall.

The “Avatar” table didn’t look too glum about its major-category snubs. James Cameron and his wife, Suzy Amis, greeted friends, admirers and collaborators eager for a sequel to the $2-billion moneymaker. If everyone who told Cameron “I voted for you” actually did, the sci-fi director would have been king of the world again.

Meanwhile, former academy President Sid Ganis and his wife, Nancy, had a great tale to tell: She lost a wallet in San Rafael, Calif., with her passport, a visa for India and $3,000 cash. A young couple found it on a rainy sidewalk and tracked Ganis down in L.A. She presented them with a special thank you -- two tickets to the Oscars.

But the most interesting part of the ball was watching the mingle: Oprah Winfrey greeting James Taylor, Forest Whitaker talking with the cast of “Precious,” new Disney Studios chief Rich Ross chatting up Steve Jobs.

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