Oscars party/dinner

Vanity Fair took its annual A-list event back to the Sunset Tower hotel, which was bathed in colorful lighting that matched the host's brand. Inside, the hot-ticket viewing dinner got an understated look.

Best Actor-winner Jean Dujardin posed on Vanity Fair's arrivals carpet, decorated with the magazine's logos, in front of a press wall of branded hedges.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation celebrated its 20th annual viewing party at the newly redesigned West Hollywood Park, a change of venue from its usual haunt, the Pacific Design Center. Virginia Fout of V Productions produced the event, which this year got a blue, nautical-inspired look with design by Antony Todd. The fund-raising event took in $5.25 million, thanks in part to auction items like the opportunity to join John and husband David Furnish at the Vanity Fair Oscar party, which sold for $230,000. Chef Cat Cora, supported by Crumble Catering, prepared a five-course meal for guests that included sesame-encrusted lamb meatballs with harissa yogurt, sautéed sea bass with lemon couscous and piquillo pepper saffron sauce, and chocolate budino with whipped cream and fresh berries.

After dinner, Foster the People performed several songs, including their hits “Pumped Up Kicks," “Helena Beat,” and “Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)” to an enthusiastic crowd.

An oversized Oscar statuette stood sentry at the Governors Ball, produced and designed by Cheryl Cecchetto of Sequoia Productions with ball chair Jeffrey Kurland. This year's event at the Grand Ballroom on the top level of Hollywood & Highland got a revamped format, abandoning the traditional sit-down dinner for a format Cecchetto described as "energized," with a meal of more than 50 mostly tray-passed dishes by Wolfgang Puck.