Monica Barbaro, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Clarence Maclin, John Magaro, Mikey Madison, Sebastian Stan, and Fernanda Torres were the eight performers who received the Virtuoso Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival this weekend. Six out of the eight are Oscar nominees so it’s a good year at SBIFF since these selections were made before the nominations.
Out of all of these looks, Monica’s is my favourite, this gorgeous floral dress with the tulip shape skirt. Monica works with stylist Jeanann Williams, and her looks have been consistently great. Don’t sleep on her for best dressed on Oscar night.
We’ve been talking a lot about media training lately, particular at The Squawk, and the way Karla Sofía Gascón disregarded any and whatever training she received, much to the detriment of the Emilia Pérez Oscar campaign. Selena, however, gave us an example of good training with her response in Santa Barbara to the controversy and remember, one of the many problematic tweets of Karla’s that was exposed was one in which she was sh-t talking Selena. Selena’s answer, then, is pretty close to perfect:
“Some of the magic has disappeared. But I choose to continue to be proud of what I’ve done and I’m just grateful. I live with no regrets, and I would do this movie over and over again if I could.”
Don’t engage in specifics, and redirect to positive. She didn’t mention Karla and she did not disrespect the project. You can watch her interview here.
What else happened today…
Nicole Kidman’s suit at the Critics’ Choice Awards will always take up space in my brain because my GOD, she is incomparable. This is Saint Laurent. And it’s Babygirl. And Babygirl’s award season is pretty much over with this event. Which, at least from a fashion perspective, is our loss. (Go Fug Yourself)
I have never watched a single minute of Vanderpump Rules but I still know too much about Tom Sandoval. He’s now on The Traitors, and apparently he might win. Is that why he’s posing like a soap opera villain? (Pajiba)
I am notoriously terrible at unpacking. We went away for a week and got back last Sunday and my suitcase sat out, open, with sh-t lying everywhere until this past weekend when I finally got around to doing it. That’s not six months, the way it was with Simone Biles but I understand feeling overwhelmed by a suitcase! (Celebitchy)
Robert De Niro’s Oscars advice for Mikey Madison is to the point, very few words. Which basically means don’t hire a speechwriter. (Mashable)
Not only have I never made xiao long bao myself, I’ve never even considered it. This is one of those foods that, for my whole life, I have preferred to eat in a restaurant. And now Jess Eng has almost convinced me to try. (Eater)
