Everybody agreed that Cheryl Cole ‘totally nailed’ the Cannes look this 12 months.
Along with her spectacular Stephane Rolland robe and due to a staff of magnificence specialists from L’Oreal, Cole had by no means appeared extra like a stellar film star than she did on the purple carpet on Sunday night time.
The difficulty is, in fact, that she is definitely a actuality TV star — the closest she has come to the massive display screen is a two-minute cameo position.
Cannes-do: Cheryl Cole arriving on the Gala Screening of Amour, held on the Palais de Pageant, a part of the sixty fifth Cannes Movie Pageant. Her attendance on the occasion was organised and paid for by cosmetics model L’Oreal
And although the night time was supposedly about Cole turning as much as the premiere of the French language movie, Amour, it was all about utilizing her picture — and the status of Cannes — to promote lipsticks and eyeliners to younger girls from Sunderland to Shanghai.
L’Oreal, with whom she has a extremely profitable deal, paid a fortune to have her attend the sixty fifth Cannes Movie Pageant — and much more to whisk her dwelling once more, a couple of hours later, by personal jet.
In all, Cole’s stroll up the steps of the Palais, with that iconic backdrop of swarming paparazzi and swaying palm bushes, can have value the corporate about £300,000.
And that prodigious sum doesn’t embrace the £1.5 million a 12 months she is paid as a part of her deal to be an envoy for the worldwide cosmetics model.
Given the protection Cheryl achieved on her transient go to to the French Riviera, nevertheless, the corporate will little doubt really feel their funding proved to be sound worth for cash.
In spite of everything, she didn’t even spend the night time in Cannes. And the film?
Final 12 months, after Cheryl walked the purple carpet, she spent solely ten minutes watching the movie.
Does she belong right here? Kelly Brook poses on a ladder on the sidelines of the pageant. Her movie profession has hardly sparkled
This 12 months, I’m advised she did keep to observe it, although the reality is that for the needs of ‘official Cannes sponsors’ L’Oreal, the movies are so past the purpose of the entire enterprise as to be laughable.
‘Of course, Cheryl Cole has nothing at all to do with movies,’ says Dennis Davidson, the veteran of 40 Cannes Movie Festivals and boss of DDA, the most important film public relations firm on the Croisette.
In truth, Cheryl Cole’s flying go to is simply the tip of the iceberg within the nice Cannes Rip-off, for the reason that pageant has change into swamped by business offers with official sponsors.
It’s overshadowed by a secondary circus that runs on a heady mixture of free champagne, media saturation and stars the likes of Kim Kardashian, P. Diddy and Kelly Brook, who’re all on the town to promote themselves.
What was at one time a chic celebration of film-making has been debased and diluted by the presence of a gaggle one would possibly name the ‘pluggerati’, who flock to the South of France to piggyback on its success. Who pays for all this extra?
Chopard, Martini, Gray Goose, Belvedere vodka, Gucci, Mercedes Benz — the listing of luxurious retailers who’re keen to spend massive in Cannes is a protracted one.
The social gathering that diamond specialists De Grisogono threw on Wednesday night time on the Lodge du Cap, as an example, is assumed to have value the corporate about £3 million.
Heiresses and socialites Paris and Nicky Hilton attended, there was a DJ set by singer and report producer of the second Taio Cruz and 7 podiums of diamonds have been on present to visitors, each guarded by tight safety.
A whole bunch of freeloaders and media sorts loved the experience, too. Why? As a result of there may be nowhere higher to advertise a luxurious model than at Cannes.
As one veteran advised me: ‘It used to be subtle, but now it’s taken over the place.’ One other snorts: ‘The festival has completely sold out.’
It’s not all the time a reasonably sight. Over the previous week, we’ve seen reformed alcoholic Ronnie Wooden plug a model of Vodka, septuagenarian sexpot Jane Fonda plug wrinkle lotions and mannequin Milla Jovovich plug L’Oreal hair color.
Kelly Brook, Kim Kardashian and Girl Victoria Hervey have assiduously promoted themselves, seemingly turning up on each yacht and at each marquee the place there may be free champagne.
Kelly Brook, having carried out a photo-call with British comic Keith Lemon to advertise his low-budget movie, attended three purple carpet premieres, two big events and squeezed in a swimwear shoot, too.
Lest we neglect, Kelly’s makes an attempt at a profession in movie — boosted by romances with actors Billy Zane and Jason Statham — have amounted to little or no.
Anybody who noticed her within the frightful, exploitative and unfunny Piranha movie will know that Kelly doesn’t precisely belong in Cannes.
However Dave Hogan, a famend photographer who has been protecting Cannes for greater than 20 years, says the films are irrelevant.
‘The red carpet is used to sell, sell, sell. Every one of the girls on the red carpet, whether it is Kelly or someone else, is selling jewellery or clothes or make-up,’ says Dave.
‘Cannes has become a massive fashion event, bigger than the Paris or London fashion weeks. The companies are happy to pay to fly people down here because of the exposure they get. The fashion houses and diamond people will give them stuff to wear and, for the others, even just one set of pictures in front of a branded board will do.’
Double bother: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian pictured leaving a yacht moored at Cannes. They’re among the many stars unrelated to movie who nonetheless flip up at lots of the events thrown in the course of the pageant
In accordance with Dave Hogan, somebody like Kelly Brook will probably be paid £20,000 to £30,000 for doing a fast photo-call as a result of it’s nearly assured there will probably be some publicity.
‘Then there are the formal arrangements, like Cheryl Cole with L’Oreal. You additionally see what I might name the pleasant relationships, like those individuals have with jewellers. ‘If you show up at their party, the deal is that they will lend you their diamonds the next time you have a red carpet to walk.’ It clearly labored for De Grisogono, as they attracted supermodels Heidi Klum and Milla Jovovich to their soiree.
Final 12 months, Jovovich was paid to put on diamonds by their rivals, Jacob & Co.
Dennis Davidson agrees that an rising quantity of consideration is paid to vogue and movie star, and to the sponsors.
‘It is like the Academy Awards. There are 5,000 accredited media here looking for the next big story. Huge brands spend fortunes coming to Cannes because they hope that some of the glamour rubs off.’
A lot in order that the ‘gifting suites’ — the place stars are given free services — which have been as soon as solely distinguished on the Academy Awards are actually at Cannes.
‘The gifting suites are where you can take the star to be dressed, made up and bejewelled,’ says Davidson.
Absorbing the environment: Philip Inexperienced and Heidi Klum smile for the cameras on the De Grisogono social gathering held on the Eden Roc Lodge
‘There are also more general gifting suites from which stars will emerge with ten or 12 high-value items — products sponsors want to promote among a certain group.’
These suites, principally on the Lodge Martinez and the Carlton, are one of many pageant’s best-kept secrets and techniques.
This 12 months, Chopard has a lounge on the Martinez. It took a set on the Ritz in Paris the week earlier than the movie pageant so the celebs may select their purple carpet jewels prematurely and in personal.
L’Oreal has a set on the Martinez, the place it has put in three prime make-up artists, a nail specialist, three hair stylists and a pores and skin professional, all working across the clock on the corporate’s tab.
One other suite there may be hosted by the Lebanese designer Elie Saab, who has run a profitable marketing campaign to get his garments onto the purple carpet this 12 months. French actress Virginie Ledoyen wore Saab this week.
One other massive progress space is charitable occasions. The grand-daddy of all of them is Amfar, an Aids profit which, over time, has had everybody from Sharon Stone, Madonna and Princess Charlene of Monaco in attendance.
This 12 months, although, there was a rival. The actor Sean Penn threw a giant social gathering on board the Armani yacht and badgered attendees into writing cheques for Haiti. After dinner, he delivered a speech to an viewers that included the A-list actors Gerard Butler and Ben Stiller.
He stated: ‘Why do I ask your attention at this late hour, when you have other parties to go to and other people to f**k? Because, once upon a time, I was ashamed of myself more than I am today, as I think you should be.’
An public sale on the occasion raised greater than £1 million.
Ronnie Wooden’s Cannes social gathering was sponsored by Belvedere Vodka and publicised Aids charity work.
The burgeoning development, it appears, is so as to add politics into an already moderately shameless combine. No surprise, then, that the celebs who aren’t being paid to plug this or that find yourself feeling just a little exploited by the entire occasion.
Gray’s Anatomy star Eric Dane attended a film-makers’ social gathering on the Lodge du Cap earlier this week in a pointy black go well with and tie. He was overheard asking a fellow party-goer for a cigarette.
‘Aren’t you a physician?’ the visitor joked, to which Dane deadpanned: ‘I’m a sufferer.’
Because the pageant turns into an more and more bare business merry-go-round, it might appear Mr Dane shouldn’t be the one one.
“Well bless their hearts.”
