The II Edition of the Starlite Gala was being repeated this year on 6th August in Villa Padierna with a lot more effort, enthusiasm and objectives together with Eva Longoria and Antonio Banderas.

Eva Longoria and Antonio Banderas were the hosts of the most important philanthropic gala event in Spain last Saturday at Villa Padierna. Among those attending: Melanie Griffith, Eduardo Cruz, Joseph Fiennes, Elisabetta Briatore, Paz Vega, Eugenia Silva, Amaia Salamanca, Marta Sánchez, Anne Igartiburu, Elena Tablada, Carmen Lomana…

Melanie Griffith,Antonio Banderas, Eva Longoria, Maria Bravo, Sandra García-Sanjuán

A number of wonderful prizes were auctioned off, including a trip to Kenya to spend a few days with U.S. President Barak Obama’s family: his grandmother Mama Sarah, his uncle Marsat Obama, together with other aunts, uncles and cousins.

More than 450 guests, 200 members of the press, 12 meters of Photocall, 60 meters of power cables, 70 meters of red carpet, 1,000 gifts in the raffle, 10 truly unique experiences auctioned off, more than 2,000 glasses of Mumm champagne, 80 people working to make this gala event a great success and the uncorking of more than 250 bottles donated by Pernod Ricard.

Elisabetta Briatore

The Second Edition of the Starlite Gala Event held at Marbella’s Villa Padierna Palace Hotel on Saturday, August 6th, was hosted by Antonio Banderas and Eva Longoria, together with the founders of the event, the entrepreneur Sandra García-Sanjuán and the actress and star of the television program Casadas con Hollywood, Maria Bravo. Many national and international personalities were anxious to participate in a totally altruistic manner by donating their time and their “art” to this important event.

A truly radiant Eva Longoria, dressed in a long pink dress by J. Mendel and escorted by Eduardo Cruz (who did not pose in the Photocall), declared that she was indeed very proud to be involved in the Starlite Gala. Antonio Banderas was naturally accompanied by his wife, actress Melanie Griffith, dressed in a lovely black lace dress by Dolce Gabbana, which highlighted her magnificent figure.

Patricia Olmedilla, Gonzalo de la Cierva and Nina Junot

The Organizing Board of the Starlite Gala Event is made up of some very elite and noteworthy members of society who were present at the Gala, such as Alejandra Alemán, co-founder with Sandra García- Sanjuán of Niños en Alegría, the top model Eugenia Silva, a pregnant Paloma Cuevas who was accompanied by her husband Enrique Ponce, Nina Junot, Patricia Olmedilla, the Duchess of Terranova and Gunilla von Bismarck, with her inseparable Luis Ortiz, her son Fran and his wife Elisabeth.

Paz Vega -international spokeswoman for L’Oreal

There was also an endless list of well-known personalities who wanted to support this altruistic project, by offering their “grain of salt”, such as the actors Imanol Arias, accompanied by his girlfriend Irene Meritxell, Octavi Pujades, the star of the Spanish TV series Piratas, Amaia Salamanca wearing an elegant red dress and a dazzling Paz Vega dressed in white, who is the international spokeswoman for L’Oreal, one of the sponsors of the event. Also present was Elisabetta Briatore, wife of Flavio Briatore, who interrupted her vacations in Sardinia for one day to be present at the Starlite Gala.

Paloma Cuevas and Patricia Rato

Also at the party, which could boast the largest number of famous people per square meter, were Carmen Lomana, Boris Izaguirre, Elena Tablada, Mar Saura, Ivonne Reyes, Remedios Cervantes, Paula Vázquez, news commentator Mónica Carrillo, Elena Benarroch and Patricia Rato… The list of personalities on the red carpet appeared endless. Anne Igartiburu was the “Mistress of Ceremonies” for the evening together with British actor Joseph Fiennes, who was accompanied by his wife, four months pregnant, Maria Dolores Dieguez, a Swiss model and the daughter of Spanish parents. The Gala was a bilingual event, presented in Spanish and in English, for many of the guests travelled from all over the world to be present: New York, Austria, Paris, London, Mexico, Moscow…

The Starlite Gala 2011 Humanitarian Award went to Jermaine Jackson and he received it from the Association’s founders Sandra García-Sanjuán and Maria Bravo. Jermaine Jackson flew in directly from Los Angeles to accept the award and he was accompanied by his Muslim wife Halima Rashid, originally from Afghanistan. Perhaps one of the most moving moments is when he sang “Smile”, the song with which he bid farewell to his brother Michael Jackson at his funeral. Also performing were Oceana, who sang her international success “Cry, cry”, Marta Sánchez and La Unión. Seventeen year-old Austrian singer Victoria Swarovski (a member of the important crystal glass family), number one on the list of European sales, also performed and Melanie Griffith, Eva Longoria, Sandra García-Sanjuán, Marta Sánchez and Elena Tablada could not resist getting up on stage to dance along with her.

Jermaine Jackson with his wife Halima

Some very unique and extraordinary experiences, which money cannot buy, were auctioned off, such as: Spending the day on the set of Desperate Housewives, together with Eva Longoria and with the chance to meet the rest of the cast; attending the Grammy Award ceremony with platinum seats , backstage access and attendance at the official party afterwards; four days at the home of Eugenia Silva on the island of Formentera; two plane tickets to Rio de Janeiro to attend the Rock in Rio concerts of Shakira, Lenny Kravitz, Maná, Jay-Z and Coldplay, including a Backstage tour; a day on the set of the CSI Miami series; a plane trip with the Barcelona Soccer Team to accompany them at one of their games; lunch and a game of golf with Johan Cruyff; special invitations to the opening of the Cannes Film Festival…

The big surprise came with the auctioning off of a trip to Kenya to spend a few days with U.S. President Barak Obama’s family: his grandmother Mama Sarah, his uncle Marsat Obama, together with other aunts, uncles and cousins. This special experience was donated by journalist and famous TV producer Daphne Barak, who came from Los Angeles to film a special about the charitable event for her program, which is seen in many countries and which boasts an audience of 300 million spectators from all over the world.

17-year-old Austrian singer Victoria Swarovski

Ford, the leading sponsor of the Starlite Gala, donated the first two cars of the limited S-Max Starlite and Mondeo Starlite editions, which were auctioned off during the Gala event. These special models were chosen by Eva Longoria and Antonio Banderas respectively, which Ford will be selling through their car dealerships. The two hosts vied in an entertaining competition to reach the best price for their respective cars. The S-Max Starlite, chosen by Eva Longoria, was sold for €40.000, which was the same price Melanie Griffith paid for the first model of the limited Mondeo Starlite edition. She had already announced at the press conference for the presentation of the cars that she was going to try and win the Mondeo Starlite for her husband.

It also came as a surprise that a dance was auctioned off with the host and hostess. Jesus Ger, the owner of the Marina d’Or resort complex bought the dance with Eva and Melanie won the dance with her husband, despite the fact that many women participated in the enthusiastic bidding. It was amusing to see how, in the middle of the song, they swapped partners, and Melanie danced with Eva and Antonio with Jesus Ger.

Carmen Lomana

The host and hostess of the evening, Eva Longoria and Antonio Banderas, bid farewell to those attending and announced that the Third Edition of the Starlite Gala will be held on Saturday, August 4, 2012.

The partying continued until 6.30 a.m. at the Puro Beach Marbella beach club, in the town of Estepona, which belongs to Ros auro Baro, Amaia Salamanca’s boyfriend, who proved to be an excellent hostess. There was a surprising performance by “Alehop”, DJ Carlos Jean was in charge of selecting and playing the music, and Marta Sánchez sang her latest success “Get Together”. A late night snack was served which ended with the typical Spanish “hot chocolate and churros”.

This new edition of the Starlite Gala attracted more than 450 guests, 200 journalists, 12 meters of Photocall, 60 meters of power cables, 70 meters of red carpet, 1,000 gifts in the raffle, 10 truly unique experiences auctioned off, more than 2,000 glasses of Mumm champagne, 80 people working to make this gala event a great success and the uncorking of more than 250 bottles donated by Pernod Ricard.

Eva Longoria and Maria Bravo

The Starlite Association collected funds for a series of charitable causes: infancy, education, cancer, the mentally handicapped … through three beneficiary foundations: Niños en Alegría, The Eva Longoria Fund and Lágrimas y Favores, which do not just limit themselves to creating a greater sensitivity and awareness to their respective causes, but to turning very specific goals into a reality.

The First Edition of the Starlite Gala was held in 2010 and it was a great success, amply surpassing all of its goals. All of the funds collected went to the three associated foundations which have carried out the following projects:

The Eva Longoria Fund has financed 60 programs aimed at the social integration of children and adolescents who are challenged with developmental problems. The Niños en Alegría Foundation has built the Carlos Alberto Madrazo School in Acapulco. The school was officially inaugurated at the end of 2010, and 258 children are studying there now. In addition, it is now involved in the construction of Kinder Tierra y Libertad for more than 100 children in the Pie de la Cuesta colony, one of the most underprivileged regions of Guerrero. It will be inaugurated in September. The Antonio Banderas Foundation, Lágrimas y Favores, has channeled aid for social assistance through Caritas and has financed programs for treating patients suffering from terminal cancer through the Fundación Cudeca. It has also created 30 scholarships through the Málaga University.