ABC

The City of Mexico D.F. has yet to recover from the hangover of the party thrown this last weekend by Aztec multi-millionaire Carlos Slim Helu to honour Sofia Loren. The Sumaya Museum, owned by the telecoms tycoon and richest man in the world, was packed with international stars including John Voight, Andy García, Larry King, Laura Pausini and Miguel Bosé, who wished to be at the Italian diva’s side on her 80th birthday.

En esa lista de asistentes también figuraba la canaria Sandra García-Sanjuán, conocida en nuestro país por haber fundado la gala Starlite de Marbella. La empresaria y su esposo, Ignacio Maluquer, son amigos íntimos de Slim desde hace años y viajaron expresamente a México para celebrar el 80 aniversario de Loren. La amistad de García-Sanjuán con el fundador del gigante Telmex es tan estrecha que el propio Slim acudió a la última edición de la Starlite Gala, celebrada el pasado mes de agosto en la Costa del Sol. No por nada a esta mujer la llaman «la reina de los bastidores», apodo que se ha ganado por su trabajo como nexo entre grandes marcas y famosos de la talla de Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz o Pau Gasol.

Also in attendance was Sandra García-Sanjuán, from the Canary Islands, well known in our country as the founder of the Starlite gala in Marbella. The businesswoman and her husband, Ignacio Maluquer, who have been close friends of the Slims for years, came specially to Mexico to celebrate Ms Loren’s 80th birthday. The friendship between García-Sanjuán and the founder of the Telmex telecoms giant is such a close one that Slim himself attended the latest edition of the Starlite Gala, held last August on the Costa del Sol. That goes to show why this lady is known as the “queen behind the scenes”, a byname she has earned through her efforts as a liaison between leading brands and celebrities of the stature of Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz and Pau Gasol.
During the party, the businesswoman rubbed shoulders with prestigious Italian jewellery maker Giorgio Damiani; Telmex executive Arturo Elías (Slim’s son in law); PRI politician Miguel Alemán, and Carlo and Edoardo Ponti (sons of the Italian actress and film director Carlo Ponti). According to García-Sanjuán, one of the most emotional moments of the night was when, almost at the beginning of the evening, Laura Pausini made a surprise appearance on the stage to sing happy birthday to Loren in Italian. Another very special moment was when the birthday cake was brought out to mariachi music and when Eduardo Ponti dedicated the song “Las mañanitas” to his mother.

The Venezuelan Angelina Jolie

Paul Anka, who was unable to attend the party as he was on tour in Europe, wished to accompany the lead actress of “Marriage Italian Style” with a video in which he sang “My Way” adapting the lyrics to Sofia Loren. Clearly nobody wanted to miss the birthday celebration of one of the most charismatic and iconic actresses of the 20th century who, as Laura Pausini said “is not a diva, she is the diva par excellence”.

Another anecdote involved Venezuelan show host Patricia Zavala, the fiancée of Carlos Slim’s nephew (known as «Bobby»), who has a strong physical resemblance to Angelina Jolie. Such is the resemblance that Jon Voight, father of the Hollywood, actress, said to Zavala: “You really remind me of my daughter”.

After the dinner, the guests visited the exhibition «Yesterday, today and tomorrow” celebrating the six decades of Loren’s career through a display of some of her personal objects, including underlined and annotated original scripts, photographs, accessories and costumes, jewels designed by the eternal «sex symbol», and even the two Oscar awards and some of the five Golden Globes that the Italian diva has acquired over the course of an entire life devoted to the film industry.

Noticia publicada por ABC. Ver noticia original aquí