Emmy crowd bags megabucks in giveaway goodies

Imagine being showered with elaborate gifts valued at more than a half a million dollars in a three-day period: just for being you. Well, you, if you're an Emmy nominee or presenter.

Just a sampling of the delicious, and over-the-top, gifts destined for your favorite celebs:

• Jasmina Medenica, a former actress in her native Yugoslavia, and now owner of Jazz Hair studio (www.jazzhairstudio.com), sent nominees a $250 gift certificate for at-home spa and hair services.

Her first Emmy nominee client? "24's" president, Gregory Itzin, and his wife, Judie.

• Ghd (good hair day) sent out two of their popular professional-quality ceramic hair styling irons (about $200 each), as well as product, valued at $700, to all nominees.

• To "get a little more red-carpet ready," the L.A. clinic called Dr. Tattoff immediately sent out gift certificates for beauty treatments, administered at their three locations (Beverly Hills, Encino, Irvine): three free laser hair-removal treatments, one free photo-facial and one free tattoo-removal consultation and tattoo-removal treatment. In addition, each friend and/or family member who accompanies the nominee, will receive 50 percent off of the above-described treatments. Value? A cool $2,500. (Bonus trivia: the owners of Dr. Tattoff are James Morel (E! Star Dates creator) and his partner, the recently wed "My Fair Brady" star Christopher Knight.

Believe it or not, all of the above and below are "unofficial" gifts. Presenters and nominees will also receive the official gift basket.

(Note to the giftees: The IRS has decided recipients of awards-related goodies should be paying for same and at some point they will be getting tax forms as reminders to report the value of the gifts as income.)

The suite spot

Meanwhile, the giving method growing increasingly popular is the "gifting suites" offering "complimentary shopping" (spoofed memorably on last season's "The Sopranos"). They're dubbed suites because when they began they were often held in hotel suites. In the early days — just a few years ago — suite gifts were more focused on Emmy beauty prep, offering free hair and make-up before the show. Now? They've become super-sized and many events are held at Beverly Hills or Hollywood mansions.

Here are just highlights of some of this year's stops; most will be open two to three days before the actual Emmys, which will be held at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles:

• Kari Feinstein's Style Lounge: Held at a private home in West Hollywood, this suite will offer VIPs $2,300 in 18-karat gold and diamond jewelry from Ashley Morgan, $2,500 in 18-karat handcrafted Mexican jewelry from Patricia Peckinpaugh fine jewelry, and $1,000 18-karat gold chains with diamonds from Caroline Yu. There's more: services and stuff from Dermalogica, Fit Camp, LORAC Cosmetics, Magic Bullet, Salon Bronze, Spin Spa, Secret Garden Spa, Tacori, Vered Salon (hair extensions), Luma Tweeze (eyebrow shaping) and the Viper Room. Total estimated value? More than $15,000. Phew.

• Silver Spoon Hollywood Buffet: Held at a private residence in the Hollywood Hills; it'll be Cirque de Soleil-themed. Vendors handing out some $15,000 in goodies include Allure Pilates Spa, Akhassa bath and body, Body Factory smoothies, Cusp swimwear, right-hand rings from the Diamond Trading Company, Dove Chocolates, coffee, Franco Sarto shoes, Gorjana jewelry, doggie boas from High Maintenance Bitch, Magaschino, Sheer Cover mineral makeup, Plank yoga bags and mats, and the absolute must-have on the red carpet: undergarments from Spanx. Attendees are encouraged to make a donation at the door to a charity.

• Showtime Gift House and Beauty Lounge: A mansion in Hancock Park is the location for this event, in which VIPs can walk away with a minimum of $30,000 in gifts, including custom computer cases ($1,000), Jane Booke designs (up to $10,000), Quintessentially concierge service (year's membership $3,500), dog bowl and argyle sweater from Hedy Manon, Pearl Swimwear ($400), and much more. Super A-listers will be given Century Watches, which range in price up to $63,350 for the Grace model. Unique (at press time, at least) to the Showtime suite: two hyperbaric oxygen chambers, and guests will be offered a gratis $200 treatment. The other prestige pay cable net, HBO, also has a suite, with gifts including up to $60,000 in closing costs offered by a local L.A. real-estate agent.

• Platinum Guild: The penthouse suite of an exclusive Beverly Hills hotel is the setting for this annual event, which features a multimillion-dollar preview of platinum jewelry, from the top 25 jewelers to be lent to attendees. There will be many gifts and services, including spa treatments from Bliss Spa, Platinum iPod Nanos, a gift certificate from celeb dentist Dr. Joseph Goodman, Paul Mitchell Hair Care, and T3 Tourmaline.

• Hearts on Fire Diamond Indulgence Lounge: Super, super VIP, this suite at a Westside hotel features services and gifts that are all diamond-related. Services include — are you sitting down? — massages with $100,000 in loose diamonds and a $1,000 manicure (with real diamonds placed on each nail). Women will receive Hearts on Fire "perfectly cut diamond necklaces" ($2,500), while male guests get custom diamond cuff links ($750). Diamond-tini drinks will be stirred with a diamond-studded swizzle stick, and designer Marc Anthony will give diamond-trimmed hair scarves, just for nominees.

• Sonya Dakar's "Red Carpet Boot Camp": Skin-care guru Dakar will open her five-level Beverly Hills clinic for the five days leading up to the Emmys to, as she puts it, "prepare Hollywood hopefuls for their close-up." She'll give $10,000 in services and gifts.

GBK Gifting Suite: They'll take over the presidential suite of one of Los Angeles' toniest hotels and hand out gift bags valued at $35,000 that feature Nokia and BizBuzz's newly designed gold-plated cellphone and service valued at over $3,500, and loads of other high-end stuff including a humidor or poker case from Quality Importers and hemp aromatherapy candles that also serve as massage oil.

Excuse us, we have to go lie down for a minute.

Wait, there's more!

For the fourth year, Distinctive Assets will deliver the "Everyone's a Winner" bag (actually rolling luggage) to the nonwinning Emmy actor nominees. This is delivered to their doorsteps the morning after the show. It's quite the consolation prize; at press time, the bag's valued at $36,000 — though new items are submitted on a nearly daily basis up through Emmy Day.

This year's "EAW" bag includes a $1,200 Skybox Package for the Gibson Amphitheatre, a $1,280 subscription to Bacio Divino wine club, a year's supply of Bubble Chocolate (both delivered monthly), a $500 gift certificate from Beverly Hills' Lift M.D. Spa and $500 from Breathe, clothing, drinks, personal training sessions, tequila and vodka, a year's supply of Drink Fizzies (!).

And there's the unique piece of luggage. "Sometimes one of our sponsors will create and brand a piece of private-label luggage, which is our plan this year," says Distinctive Assets president Lash Fary. "It will be a fabulous footlocker provided by Bubble Chocolate."

Terry Estudillo is a freelance writer based in L.A. who occasionally contributes to The Seattle Times.