Live Coverage: The Emmys Blog

You know a party is good when celebs who aren’t even on the host network show up...especially ones who scored Emmys that night! Such was the case at HBO’s bash at the Pacific Design Center, which I dished about earlier. Winners Katherine Heigl and America Ferrera swung by, along with Kanye West and Minnie Driver.  And HBO's man of the hour, Jeremy Piven, finally made it to the company bash, Emmy in hand, to hang out with his Entourage boys.

Inside the party, Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing got back-to-back play, perhaps as a tribute to the Sopranos series finale episode? Most of the cast was there, including James Gandolfini, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Edie Falco and Lorraine Bracco. Revelers celebrated with Belvedere Thai-tinis and Moët champagne flowing freely at the bars, and partygoers like Heidi Klum and Queen Latifah sampled lobster tempura, beef satay and Thai chicken toasts, the handiwork of  Wolfgang Puck.

Hey party people, now that the big day is done, it's time to do good! You probably saw our TV Diva, Kristin Dos Santos, looking amazing on the carpet yesterday, and if you'd like a piece of that beauty (and a good karma hit, to boot), E! Online is auctioning her Monique Lhuillier red-carpet gown (with the belt) through Clothes Off Our Back.

If you've never heard of Clothes Off Our Back, it was founded by Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle) and Bradley Whitford (Studio 60, The West Wing) to give formal wear a valuable second use after its first turn around a celebrity event. Through COOB, spectacular outfits are auctioned off to benefit children's causes around the world.

And if you're not a statuesque brunette interested in a jewel-green gown, there's plenty more where that came from! Clothes Off Our Back's 6th Annual Emmy Auction also features items donated by Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Kathy Griffin, Jean Smart and Heidi Klum. Plus, coming soon, you fellas can look for shoes, sunglasses and cuff links from the likes of Greg Grunberg and Terry O'Quinn.

What are you still standing here for? Get shoppin'! 

Piven, Carell, Laurie, O'Quinn, O'Connell, Seal—these dudes all gave it up for our cameras, and we've got all the clips after the jump!

House jams, Teri sings, Paris spins, Heroes hang, Sopranos snuggle and Entourage boys go wherever they please. See how the stars spend the rest of their night in our Emmys after-party gallery.

With The Sopranos taking home the big kahuna tonight, HBO’s Thai-themed after-party at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood is sure to draw the A-listers, so that’s where I’m hanging, for sure.  

I’m on the lookout for Jeremy Piven, who hasn’t hit the shindig yet, but some of his castmates have. "I was rooting for both, of course,” says baby-bump-sporting Constance Zimmer of her two competing costars, Piven and Kevin Dillon. “But because most of my scenes are with Jeremy, I was very excited to see him win."   

John Legend gets on the stage at the TV Guide party at Les Deux, and the crowd goes nuts, though not as ecstatically as I would expect for a Grammy winner. Perhaps they're hungry? Aside from the occasional hors d'oeuvres or cheese and crackers under the cancan girls, this is a champagne-and-cigarette scene. Unless you're Stacy Keibler, who's holding her ubiquitous bottle.

One lucky girl gets to slow dance with Mr. Legend before he picks up the volume with "Dance with the Music." Dancing with the Stars' Joey Fatone arrives looking svelte—from the ankles up. C'mon, a suit with sneaks, Joey? You're not J.T.

Eva, Katherine, Jenna, America, Ellen, Ali—they all stopped for our cameras, and we've got the clips right here. Click into the jump for the whole collection!

Random backstage thoughts ‘n’ bits from a relentless snoop:

About-Puss:  Interesting thing, being anointed with Emmy dust. You suddenly start making moves that really, really aren’t like those you made before—at least, with some broads. Katherine Heigl abandoned us ink types backstage after her big win for Supporting Actress, Drama. Remember when folks gave me a hard time for stirring things up, Isaiah Washington-wise, at this year’s Globes show?

Well, Katy-babe was the true rebel in that sitch, telling myriad electronic outlets how wrong it was that Isaiah used the F-word in his response to my question about whether or not the cast had moved on, and she wasn’t even directly nominated! This year, she nabs the top prize, and she’s a no show? Darling, think of the coverage you coulda got at that one this year. Or did your peeps advise otherwise?

Blabber Rehab?  Or take that darling Jane Krakowski, from 30 Rock. She’s so bitchin’, right? Well, she used to be. J.K. accompanied upset sweetheart Tina Fey backstage, just to soak up some o’ the 30 love, I’m sure. When I pulled Ms. K. aside, all private like, away from all recorders, I asked girlfriend what the ef happened with Alec Baldwin sending that nasty-ass VM to his daugther, Ireland, you know, the one someone with gorgeous hair must have leaked to the media?

“I’m just thrilled we won tonight,” Janey-hon, remarked back, all blond highlights and booby cleavage slightly quivering. Trust, this was not the same Ally McBeal broad who so used to dish with moi at these types of gatherings years past. So, I pressed: “It was awful, what was the cast’s reaction to something like that?”

“We were on hiatus,” Ms. Kay remarked through some kinda champagne-tainted breath (been so long since I drank that crap, have no idea if was a decent vintage). I was not going to budge, pressed yet again, as it was such a shocker story. 

“We’re just thrilled about the show tonight,” Jane repeated in her best Stepford Wives moment evah. Oh, darlin’, you drinkin’ the press-ese Kool-Aid, too?

Okay, I've been at the Fox party at Spago for almost two hours, and I'm ready to bolt.

It's Wolfgang Puck's famous Beverly Hills restaurant, so it's no surprise the food is delicious. There's shrimp cocktail, mini-cheeseburgers, plenty of caviar and salmon pizza.

But where are the celebs?

Oh, there's Brad Garrett and Joely Fisher. Kiefer Sutherland is doing the red carpet.

None of them is Simon Cowell. I wanna hear what he has to say about Ryan Seacrest's Emmy hosting debut, but there's no Cowell in sight.

Okay, just got an email from Planet Gossip's Matt Donnelly. Mel B (aka Scary Spice) is across town at DirectTV's 100 party. So is Evan Handler from Showtime's new hit Californication (who's just signed on to reprise his role as Charlotte's husband Harry in the Sex and the City movie).

Paris Hilton just showed up at DirectTV. Time for me to zoom over there. Besides, no Cowell here. Paris Hilton, here I come.

—Filed by Marc Malkin, with additional reporting by Matt Donnelly

While searching for les toilettes, I discover the way-French TV Guide party is bigger than I thought. Not only are guests sipping champagne on the pink-carpeted back lot, but they're dancing inside the club as well!

Inside the little boys room, Mario Lopez checks himself out in the mirror then leaves without stepping into a stall. And people say girls are prima donnas!

Speaking of prima donnas, what is Daveigh Chase doing here? Shouldn't she be at the HBO bash with the rest of the Big Love crew? Though I guess she belongs here more than press-loving couple Christopher Knight and Adrianne Curry—who can't get enough of the flashes and even pulls out her own camera for a self-pic.

"I spent the awards in the shower," fresh-and-clean Borat star Ken Davitian tells me. "The parties are my favorite part." Now, that's what I like to hear.

Chase is already outtie—that was quick!—but Stacy Keibler and her boyfriend, Geoff Stultz, are just arriving, along with James Denton and Heroes' Greg Grunberg. Stay tuned...

—Filed by Sydne Summer

8:57 p.m.:  "Please welcome the cast of The Sopranos," the Fox flack announces, only to quickly correct herself. "Sorry, the producers of The Sopranos."

8:58 p.m.:  Do we have a Sopranos boycott here? A protest, perhaps, because the acclaimed mob series only converted three of its 15 Emmy nominations into wins? Nope. For one thing, the show was named Outstanding Drama Series. For another thing, Sopranos stars Michael Imperioli, Aida Turturro and more are milling about as series creator David Chase and producers take the press-conference stage.

8:59 p.m.:  Well, maybe James Gandolfini and Edie Falco are staging protests, because they're nowhere to be seen.

9 p.m.:  Chase cuts to the chase when a reporter refers to the dearly departed Sopranos as being a seminal show. "I don't think we've had that much of an impact," he says by way of a shrug.

9:02 p.m.:  Leave it to Paulie Walnuts. Actor Tony Sirico isn't shy about joining the producers onstage. And he's not shy about expressing himself on the Gandolfini Emmy defeat. "I think it was a shame...He should've won tonight," Sirico declares. "I speak for Jimmy when I say he can handle it."

9:03 p.m.:  The producers depart, and the cast, still minus Gandolfini and Falco, take the stage.

9:08 p.m.:  Actors whose characters were killed off on the seminal show—sorry, the nonseminal show—are asked to raise their hands. I count five, which seems low. Maybe some of the other stiffs are already hitting the post-Emmy parties.

10:01 p.m.:  It's late. The pressroom's long since emptied of Emmy winners. The leftover organically grown and locally produced food is, if the press release is correct, on its way to a rescue mission.

10:02 p.m.:  I wonder if I'm starting to look green.

—Filed by Joal Ryan

8:40 p.m.:  "Tonight, I was really taken by surprise...I was just sort of dazed and confused when I was up there," says James Spader, an upset Lead Actor in a Drama Series winner for Boston Legal.

8:41 p.m.:  Let's try not to imagine how James Gandolfini feels.

8:41 p.m.:  So, are the Emmys better in the round? Not according to Spader. "It was disconcerting to speak at all with the way the stage was set up," he reports.

8:46 p.m.:  According to Conan O'Brien, a winner for Late Night with Conan O'Brien, the Emmys in the round "was neat."

8:47 p.m.:  The upbeat O'Brien, last year's Emmys host, has nothing but upbeat words for this year's Emmys host—once he's done joking that Seacrest is probably hosting a post-Emmys show in the parking lot. "I thought he did a nice job," O'Brien says of Seacrest.

"He did it his way."

8:49 p.m.:  The cast of 30 Rock has arrived, literally and figuratively—minus Alec Baldwin, who lost the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy to Extras' Ricky Gervais, who isn't here, either.

8:50 p.m.:  Tina Fey is under no illusion that the Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy is going to mean more viewers for the low-rated 30 Rock. "I had friends on Arrested Development," Fey says. "So, I know how hard it can be."

—Filed by Joal Ryan

Before we all get lost in postshow parties and analysis of what it all means, here's the official news wrap-up:

• The Sopranos was sent off gently into that good night with Emmy's top prize, a trophy for Outstanding Drama Series...
• ...while 30 Rock's prospects are looking up after its win for Outstanding Comedy Series.
• Acceptance speech veterans such as James Spader, Sally Field, Jeremy Piven and Helen Mirren experienced déjà vu...
• ...while newbies America Ferrera, Katherine Heigl and Jaime Pressly got to say their Emmy thank-yous for the first time.
• HBO made its usual splash with 21 wins...
• ...while NBC is hoping it can trade in some of its 18 Emmys for viewers this season.

For more, check out our recap of the 59th Annual Emmy Awards.

The Emmys are officially over, giving way to my favorite part of the night: the parties!

I'm greeted by four Marie Antoinettes at TV Guide's French-themed postawards soiree. Another Versailles babe serves Dirty Sexy Money hunk Blair Underwood a glass of Perrier Jouet bubbly, while her high-haired friends swing in gazebos sprawled across the carpeted parking lot of Les Deux.

But the best has to be the cancan dancers serving food from their lettuce-ruffled skirts. "I think its awesome," one male partyer says, taking a cube of fromage. "I think it's degrading," an empty-plated female retorts.

"Champagne?" Miss Antoinette asks.

Mais oui!

The party's only getting started. Mario Lopez chats on his cellphone, while John Legend quickly works the red carpet before preparing for his performance later tonight. I haven't seen Kanye West yet, but I hear the rapper will delight us with a surprise performance. Très magnifique!

—Filed by Sydne Summer

From goddamned censors to gangsters all up in your ending, the hits (and misses) just keep on coming:

Best Comedy:  The Stephen Colbert/Jon Stewart bit that involved elements such as “Al Gore’s tears” and a “private-jet sandwich” deserved its own Emmy. And perhaps will receive one on next year’s Emmy Salutes the Emmys special on Fox.

Biggest Surprise:  Underdog (but totally worthy) Sally Field won for Best Actress for Brothers & Sisters. Of course, she might have appreciated not having Helen Hayes and other grand dames mentioned in the intro. She’s not that old.

Worst Surprise:  Field apparently got censored for beginning a sentence, “If mothers rule the world...” Obviously, as far as Fox is concerned, they don’t.

TV—It's All Repeats!  We really enjoy a bit of James Spader, but can someone else win a freakin’ Emmy once in a while?

Most Funny, Most True:  Tina Fey thanked Best Comedy winner 30 Rock’s “dozens and dozens” of viewers. But we’re one of them.

Biggest Finale Finagling:  We’re not saying the fix was in for The Sopranos, but did you see how many people were onstage at the end of the show when they won? Of course, they won! They’re, like, 75 percent of eligible Emmy voters! “If the world were ruled by gangsters...” indeed, David Chase!

8:27 p.m.:  Daily Show winner Jon Stewart hasn't visited us back here for a couple of years, and he has been missed. "Did they use when I said cock?" goes his deadpan response to a question about the telecast's several bleeped-out moments.

8:28 p.m.:  Stewart's just getting started—and so are the questions about the bleeps. Asked to comment on the Katherine Heigl moment—the Grey's Anatomy star was caught mouthing "s--t" when her Emmy win was announced—Stewart confesses, "I looked in the camera [once], and my eyes said s--t."

8:29 p.m.:  Unfortunately, we can't ask Heigl about her "s--t" moment, or her vigorous defense of costar T.R. Knight during the Isaiah Washington imbroglio—she's a pressroom no-show.

8:29 p.m.:  Stewart, recently tapped to host next year's Oscars, is already working on a game plan for the show. "I'll probably lay off the Brokeback Mountain stuff," the emcee of the 2006 telecast says. "I don't know if that'll be nominated again."

8:34 p.m.:  Is it an advantage to be a bilingual actress in Hollywood? Radiant but composed Ugly Betty winner America Ferrera wouldn't know. "I was born and raised in the Valley, so I'm as bilingual as you, probably," the Latina star politely informs a presumptive reporter.

8:35 p.m.:  Ferrera just as politely declines to respond to an inquiry about her love life. Her position remains unchanged since last January's Globes, where she offered a similar noncomment.

—Filed by Joal Ryan

The Sopranos leaves us in a blaze of glory. Dramas everywhere can now rest easy, knowing the Emmy juggernaut has finally been laid to rest. Were you hoping for a major upset in this category, or did it all go according to plan?

8:10 p.m.:  For a woman who made such a big antiwar statement in her acceptance speech, Brothers & Sisters winner Sally Field is so...small.

8:12 p.m.:  "That's too bad," Field says sweetly, upon being informed that the "goddamned" part of her acceptance speech didn't make the Fox telecast.

8:15 p.m.:  "Oh, well," Field says, upon being informed her bleeped-out remark is going to be one of the top Emmy stories of the night.

8:16 p.m.:  Field's not done not getting upset about either being censored or stepping into a potential political minefield. "Good. I don't care. I have no comment other than, 'Oh, well.' That's my comment," she says, still as sweet as organically grown chocolate mousse. "I said what I wanted to say. I wanted to pay homage to the mothers of the world and let their work be seen and valued."

8:17 p.m.:  But come on, Ms. Field, aren't you even a tad rankled by the network censor? "Oh, well. Too bad. That's a shame," the unshakable Field says. "I had no agenda...I wanted to pay homage to mothers, period—and especially mothers who wait for their children to come home from war."

8:18 p.m.:  Field cracks! Just a teeny, tiny bit. "I think I probably shouldn't have said the 'god' in front of the 'damned.' " On the other hand, she adds, she's surprised she didn't say more words that sent the censors looking for the mute button.

—Filed by Joal Ryan

30 Rock gets some unexpected love. Were you all for the love, or were you holding out for another comedy? Let it rip in the Comments section.