MANILA, Philippines?When fab cosmetic surgeon Dr. Vicki Belo throws a party, trust that it will be the talk of the town, dahlings.

So when the invitation to Belo Medical Clinic?s 18th year anniversary on Aug. 8, 2008?that once-in-a-lifetime date?were sent out, high society, naturellement, was immediately abuzz, guessing and second-guessing what to expect from the party.

The event was a grand Venetian Ball, dahlings. It turned out to be a celebration of Vicki?s hard work, of how she built the Belo Clinic brick by brick.

The anniversary also honored Vicki?s parents, lawyer Enrique Belo and Florencia Belo, who instilled in their only child the value of charitable giving. Thus, the first highlight of the evening was the launch of the Ike and Nena Belo Foundation, a private charity that will provide for the education of needy children, rehabilitation of burned victims, and surgery of children with cleft palate. The charity will also raise environmental awareness.

?The foundation carries the legacy of my parents and it is Belo?s way of giving back after 18 years of being in the beauty business,? Vicki said. ?We want to be part of shaping people?s lives by fulfilling their goals and giving them a sense of value and satisfaction.?

Masque

True to Vicki?s style and elegance, the Venetian ball held at the Rizal Ballroom of Makati Shangri-La Hotel had 900 invitees attending in their eye-catching colorful Venetian costumes, ball gowns, and opulent hand-crafted masks.

The ball was complete with stilt walkers, jugglers, opera singers, well-chiseled models posing as Greek gods, hunky gondoliers, harlequin-clad acrobats, a harpist, a town crier, ballet dancers, and a beautiful Venus and a handsome Adonis, in the persons of stunningly beautiful Anne Curtis and handsome Dingdong Dantes, no less, palanggas.

New York-based Broadway production designer and scenographer Toto Sicangco created the opulent stage, which provided the perfect backdrop for the Venetian party.

Noted interior decorator Cynthia Almario dressed up the dining tables of the ballroom and foyer, complete with a gondola.

On the far end of the foyer, Blow-Up Babies put up a satellite photo studio that allowed the amused guests to gamely pose for souvenir shots and take them home, after picking out the mask of their choice to wear at the Ball.

The six-foot-tall, 18-tiered fondant cake was created by chefs Buddy Trinidad of Park Avenue Desserts and Penk Ching of Pastry Bin.

Burlesque queen

The highlight of the happening was the performance of ?Queen of Burlesque,? Dita Von Teese, who was jetted in from Paris to perform two of her world famous strip-dance routines.

Her first act was before dinner??The Bird of Paradise??where Dita had jaws dropping down to the floor with her slinky and very refined movements.

Then aprés dinner was her famous ?Champagne Glass? act. Wow! Not a single person in the ballroom blinked for fear of missing a beat of Dita?s breathless strip act.

The only one who seemed impervious to the striptease was Sen. Mar Roxas, who was furiously texting while the hot act was going on.

Oh, well.

Awesome

All agreed that it was one awesome show and definitely hard to beat.

In fact, several wives told me they were going to try and practice some of Dita?s movements on their husbands. Good luck, palanggas.

Adding glitter to the event with their world-class performances were Regine Velasquez, Sarah Geronimo, Lani Misalucha, wild and sexy Billy Crawford, and boy-next-door Christian Bautista.

Our palangga, Audie Gemora of Stages, superbly directed the program, which was brilliantly hosted by another Ilonggo, Edu Manzano, together with eye-catching Iza Calzado.

Popular harpist Holly Paraiso provided angelic music during and aprés dinner.

It was definitely the event of this year so far, dahlings. Wow! Bravo to the bellisima Victoria ?Vicki? Belo!