$20 Million Party Gets the Atlantis Dubai More Bad Press

November 21, 2008 at 9:10 AM | by Jenna | Comments (2)

As you know, last night was the $20-million grand opening gala at the Atlantis Dubai on Palm Jumeirah. While the resort has been open for a while now (and has not been getting such lovely press due to allegedly craptastic service and some structural disasters), last night's celeb-studded grand opening gala was supposed to turn heads and generate a lil' bit of good publicity for the $1.5-billion resort.

But instead, based on the event's coverage we've seen so far today, everyone just seems to be asking how the property can justify such an over-the-top display of wealth and extravagance in the midst of a global economic crisis.

But! Nevermind that. It seems that the Atlantis spent most of that 20-mil on fireworks and on jetting celebs to the party. The guest list ran the gamut from the megastars to the obscure: Michael Jordan, Lindsay Lohan, Wesley Snipes, Mary Kate Olsen, Shirley Bassey, and Mischa Barton were among the famous faces in the audience for Kylie Minogue's huge(ly expensive) performance.

And possibly one other celeb was on hand — which we're not too happy about. Unless this AP article is inaccurate, it's possible Sammy the Shark was still around for the shindig:

The rest of the 113-acre resort is dedicated to family entertainment with a giant, open-air tank with 65,000 fish, stingrays and other sea creatures, including a rare whale-shark captured by the hotel in the Gulf and considered a hostage by environmental activists.

Excuse us, but we thought Sammy had been released? Shouldn't he be long gone by now? When is that happening?

[Photo: Getty via CNN]

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