When Elton John uses his considerable heft, it can raise a bunch of money.
On Sunday, the part-time Atlantan raised more than $4 million for the Elton John AIDS Foundation during his 17th annual Oscars party. In October, he raised more than $400,000 during an Atlanta event that included Andy Roddick offering a Full Monty tennis lesson.
Atlanta EJAF board member Barron Segar was finally in the mood to party after the evening’s successful live auction.
“In this [economic] environment, it was the one area of the sold-out event we had some anxiety about,” Segar told Buzz on Monday. “Across the board, donations at live auctions have just been cut back.”
But the black AmExs were flying out of wallets Sunday night. One key to the auction’s success? A savvy emphasis on real-time, interactive items, including the “Milk”-inspired soap box Oscars host Hugh Jackson stood on during a production number on the telecast (the prop with a still-moist autograph by Jackman fetched $20,000). John and partner David Furnish also auctioned off an evening with them at the impossible-to-get-into Vanity Fair magazine Oscars party that went for $60,000. Comfortable shoes were a must for the winning bidder —- entrance into the posh party with the couple began immediately following Sir Elton’s bash.
There’s also a photo gallery from John’s after-Oscars party from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Photo: Elton John with partner John Furnish
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