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People and Pop Culture

Hoosier Hospitality: Celebrity-Studded Parties Wrap Up In Indy

A week of celebrity- and athlete-studded Super Bowl parties has wrapped up in Indianapolis. THE DAILY takes one last look at this year's festivities.

Kraft and Menounos attend Audi's Super Bowl
party in penthouse of Conrad Hotel

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: A “near-riot atmosphere gripped downtown Friday as thousands of party-goers and gawkers choked the streets.” Boxer FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR. and rapper 50 CENT were “not helping matters,” as they “cruised the city in the wee hours” of the morning in a bus featuring Mayweather’s likeness. The slow drive by Mayweather and 50 Cent -- a “promotional stunt for the boxer’s next fight” May 5 -- took place right outside the Playboy party, “snarling traffic and angering police officers who were trying to quell the rowdy after-hours crowd” (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/4)….The Playboy party had a “Carnival Mystique” theme and was “billed a hybrid between a vintage French circus and a Parisian cabaret.” The event included “aerialists soaring from the ceiling and 16 bunny-suited Playmates mingling with guests throughout a tent adjourned” to the Bud Light Hotel (INDYSTAR.com, 2/4)....ERIN ANDREWS, NEIL PATRICK HARRIS and SPIKE LEE attended Audi’s Super Bowl party, which was held in the penthouse of the Conrad Hotel. Panthers QB CAM NEWTON, Broncos QB TIM TEBOW, U.S. Olympic soccer G HOPE SOLO and singer BLAKE SHELTON made appearances at ESPN’s Next Party (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/4). The ESPN party reportedly “started out as a slow night,” with more current and former NFLers “showing up for the red carpet than Hollywood celebrities.” But around 1:00am ET, DRAKE took the stage and “literally commanded the crowd” (INDYSTAR.com, 2/4). Tebow and MARIA MENOUNOS “were taking pictures Tebowing together” (N.Y. POST, 2/5)....JENNY MCCARTHY, CARMEN ELECTRA and JENNI “JWOWW” FARLEY “hosted a big crowd at the Leather & Laces party at Regions Bank Tower” (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/4). Organizers for the party said that they “spent more than $1 million” for the event (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/4)....The GQ party at the Stutz Business Center "included a Lacoste T-shirt giveaway and old-school cocktail recipes retooled with Patron.” Rapper LL COOL J performed and members of The Roots "were on hand." ANDY RODDICK and his wife, model BROOKLYN DECKER, attended the event (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/4).

SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER: DirecTV’s Sixth Annual Celebrity Beach Bowl was held at Indy’s Victory Field with SNOOP DOGG, Neil Patrick Harris, model KATE UPON, Erin Andrews, DAVID ARQUETTE, DJ PAULY D, Maria Menounos, JOE MONTANA, DEION SANDERS, DESMOND HOWARD, MATTHEW STAFFORD, Cam Newton, WARREN MOON, TERRELL OWENS and EDDIE GEORGE participating in the event. There was a “huge backstage swag lounge where they could fill their shopping bags with freebies like luggage, jewelry, hair products and even designer cupcakes” (BOSTON HERALD, 2/5). The Celebrity Beach Bowl was “transformed into a club-like atmosphere” for the evening’s DirecTV Super Saturday Night Party hosted by Mavericks Owner MARK CUBAN’s HDNet and Colts QB PEYTON MANNING. ESPN.com’s Lane & Carter wrote KATY PERRY “put on the best performance of the entire weekend” at what was “the party of the weekend hands down” (ESPN.com, 2/5). Perry "dedicated a song" to Tebow, who “her religious parents reportedly want to fix her up with” (N.Y. POST, 2/6).... The Rolling Stone & Bacardi Bash “locked down four great musical acts that didn’t disappoint: Cobra Starship, LUPE FIASCO, Gym Class Heroes and LMFAO.” The party had “cotton candy, mousse desserts and cookies.” ESPN.com's Lane & Carter wrote the event was “solid and cemented Rolling Stone and Bacardi as ... serious party contenders at Super Bowl weekend” (ESPN.com, 2/5). Guests at the party “walked through a pseudo airplane and past ‘stewardesses’ to get inside, where they partied under lots of chandeliers -- one made of old guitars” (INDYSTAR.com, 2/4)....The House of Hennessy party “was a cognac drinker’s dream.” The event was put on by the makers of Hennessy and they “served signature cocktails all night long” (ESPN.com, 2/5).....The Bud Light Concert at the Bud Light Hotel "couldn’t pull in the celebrity names" that appeared at Thursday’s Madden Bowl or Friday’s Playboy party at the same venue. But the Bud Light party “had an everyman type of feel,” as “casual was in, and the tent adjacent to the Hampton Inn saw far more attendees than it had either of the previous two nights” (INDYSTAR.com, 2/4).

FROM THE OWNER'S BOX: Giants Chair & Exec VP STEVE TISCH “brought a huge group of friends" to Playboy’s Super Bowl party. A source said, “Steve sat at a table in the corner surrounded by security detail that rivaled the president’s” (N.Y. POST, 2/6)….Patriots Owners the KRAFT family on Saturday night “hosted a party for about 200 friends at Indy’s Conrad Hotel.” Guests included Raytheon Chair & CEO WILLIAM SWANSON, Intercontinental Real Estate Group Chair & CEO PETER PALANDJIAN, former Patriots players TEDY BRUSCHI, ADAM VINATIERI and TY LAW and comedian DENNIS MILLER. STEVEN TYLER and his fiancée, ERIN BRADY, as well as RUSH LIMBAUGH, watched the game yesterday with the Krafts in their suite (BOSTON GLOBE, 2/6).

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