Stars' Tricks to Grab Cannes Spotlight

CANNES, France, May 21, 2008 — -- If you are desperately in need of attention, the Cannes Film Festival is probably not the best place for you these days, unless you feel up to competing with the spotlight-hungry celebrity set.

Even an A-list actress like Angelina Jolie had to announce that she was expecting twins in order to get her fair share of media coverage. As for those outside the red carpet fray, getting adequate press coverage takes a bit more effort -- like maybe less clothing coverage.

Lady Victoria Hervey, an English socialite and former model with aristocratic blood in her veins, turned heads when she arrived at the Palm Beach Casino for the Partouche Charity Poker Festival wearing a dress leaving little to the imagination.

Her outfit, or lack thereof, ensured that she made it to the front pages of newspapers and Web sites, if only for a brief while.

With thousands of celebs and celebrity gawkers on hand to take in the festival and get a glimpse at the stars, there has been no shortage of drama on the red carpet and on the party scene. The celebrity spotters, as the onlookers are known, have been getting an eyeful.

Lily Allen Continues Paparazzi Parade

Recovering from a miscarriage and a break-up with boyfriend Ed Simons, 23-year-old British singer Lily Allen once again became the paparazzi's ultimate dream this week.

Though caught on camera sunbathing topless at the Hotel du Cap Eden-Roc, a resort on the French Riviera, she merely laughed off the photographs.

"I heard I was a page three girl today," she reportedly said at a party in Cannes to celebrate her friend Simon Pegg's new film, "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People."

A few hours later, according to the gossip Web site Hollyscoop, a very inebriated Allen was carried out of the party by her father, actor Keith Allen, and taken home in a cab.

But that was far from Allen's final tryst with the Cannes paparazzi.

At another party, photographers jumped to attention when the singer sat down with her legs wide open, an act that would have escaped notice but for the absence of any underwear, as the Web site Hollywood Grind reported.

And again, all eyes were on her Sunday as she stepped out on the Croisette with a mysterious male partner.

Some Film Fans Ignore Celebs

At the festival there is a breed of cinema fanatics that really doesn't care about celebrities. A crowd of smart and intellectual "beggars," usually wearing suits and silk gowns, holding papers with a movie title scratched on them, regularly gathers around the festival to plead for invitations to shows they desperately wish to see, asking, "Une Invitation, s'il vous plait" (An invitation please).

Jean Righetti wore a suit and hoped to see the new "Indiana Jones" movie. He didn't know or seem to care about Jolie's pregnancy.

These movie lovers often have no interest in the hordes of photogs following their celebrity prey.

Felisha Liu, a U.S. tourist, said, "What celebrities do with their private life is none of my business, and media should start leaving them alone."

There are also those who dismiss celebrities all together.

"Sometimes it is too much; it shows they are not really interested in cinema but rather in having fun and taking advantage of the parties," said Cannes attendee Marion Pasquier. "Some of them may still be talented, but sincerely I believe in some cases they are only very superficial."

Celeb Spotters Aplenty

But there are plenty of people who care more about the stars than the movies.

They jam the area in front of the red carpet, glued to the fence that separates them from their favorite stars. Most of them must be satisfied to see just a section of a distant body -- Salma Hayek's shoulder, Harrison Ford's back, Penelope Cruz's nose, Cate Blanchett's blond hair.

And yet for them, celebrities make the whole difference. They want stars and starlets to be over the top, and they love it when their favorites deliver.

"They spice up the festival," said Peggy Malon, who works in the souvenir shops opposite the Festival Palace. "Celebrities have to exaggerate, otherwise the festival gets boring."