The 57th annual Viennese Opera Ball at the Waldorf Astoria was a fair full of random cast members. Beauty Queens, "Project Runway" and "Dancing with the Stars" alumni, West Point cadets and a biochemical scientist were all partying with the Austrian-American blue bloods at the anticipated white-tie event.
Leila Lopes, the reigning Miss Universe, Alyssa Campanella, the current Miss USA and Danielle Doty Miss Teen USA 2011, led the parade of debs and West Point cadets into the ballroom before the gloved youngsters went into their ultra-choreographed waltz routine. Neither of the pageant champions had ever been to a ball before. "I'm used to seeing debutantes in movies, so this is pretty interesting," said Ms. Campanella. "The closest I ever got to a carriage was during a modeling job in Central Park."
"I've never been to Austria," offered Ms. Lopes. "But I always think that it's cold in those lands, people are beautiful, and the food is nice. Very different from my country of Angola."
Renate Brauner, vice mayor of Vienna, was the guest of honor. "To be honest, I don't attend many balls in Austria," said Ms. Brauner. "But I've also never been to Brooklyn until this trip."
The other big draw was the trio of Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Tony Dovolani and Val Chmerkovskiy, who all perform professionally on "Dancing with the Stars."
And as the guests took the Waldorf dance floor following a filet mignon dinner, Mr. Chmerkovskiy couldn't resist but to state the obvious. "Usually when I see so many tail suits, it means that we're in the intense ballroom competition," he smiled.
Information provided by VALENTINE UHOVSKI
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