Tre Gory of Go Ober publicist Peggy Siegal has been attending the Academy Awards for three decades—not to mention the oodles of parties and sensational events leading up to the ceremony—and chronicling her escapades with stars and star-makers for AVENUE has become a tradition. This year, she sets the stage for the big night with the behind- the-scenes scoop on the fierce competition that ends when Oscar is presented. Here, she reports on the Hollywood glamour, excitement and social shenanigans, including celebrating with Colin Firth, Jesse Eisenberg, Elton John, Oprah Winfrey and many more. photographs by PATRICK MCMULLAN 64 \ NUI Mkt. 111 I APRIL 2011 addafi is hunkering down in Tripoli, giving press interviews, denying that rebels are taking over Eastern Libya. Oil prices are shooting up over one hundred dollars a barrel. The U.S. government is on the verge of a shutdown. These are not the top- secret opening lines of Aaron Sorkin's new script, but the global headlines of a world spinning out of control as I head to Los Angeles like an overdressed lemming to attend the 83rd Academy Awards and attempt to make sense of artists thrust into combat. For the second year, nearly 6,000 Academy members have nominated 10 films and the battle seems to be pared down to 2. The beloved instant classic, The King's Speech, marches into the arena as the frontrunner, but passionate supporters of the edgier (critics' darling) The Social Network have not conceded. The ballots are counted, the party invites arc out and still the feelings are raw. Nominees arc exhausted from campaigning. Woody Allen and George Lucas tell me they arc no longer members of the Academy because pitting artists against each other to determine the quality of their work is insane. They are right. My event and publicity company is considered Switzerland by the studios, as we help every filmmaker to present his work. However, this year, against my bette