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Gifts for Award Ceremonies

© With the help of Ari Murraine, SuperNova Gifts

Millions of viewers around the world last week tuned into the 44th Annual Grammy Awards and saw numerous references by the presenters to the "gift baskets" they were to receive or didn't receive last year. Ray Ramano from "Everybody Loves Raymond" and Kevin James from "King of Queens" decided to focus their presentation skit for the Grammy Award on giving away Kevin James' loot to the audience. In the end, Kevin fought Ray for his one true "dream" gift, the George Foreman Grill.

According to Ari Murraine of Supernova Gifts at http://www.supernovagifts.com , a supplier of celebrity gift baskets, there is "not one award show without gift baskets for, at least, the presenters...from the NAACP Image Awards to the Screen Actor's Guild Awards." The presenters and performers are given the gift baskets in appreciation for their participation. Charity benefits and fund-raisers also give out gifts to attendees to thank them for their contributions. But the most famous award ceremonies, such as the Grammy's, Academy Awards, Oscars and Golden Globes, give the most extravagant gifts to their presenters and performers.

The 44th Grammy Award bags were valued between $10,000 and $20,000, according to ABC News at http://www.abc7.com . My first thought when researching this article was what do you buy for millionaire stars and musicians that probably have everything? The key to the popularity of the gifts is their personal touch. The committees that are in charge of gifts for these awards choose which items to include in a particular person's bag. Past items have included weekend vacations, lifetime membership of internet services, jewelry, beauty products, champagne, private shopping consultations, cell phones, and various gift-certificates (list provided by Supernova Gifts, a supplier of celebrity gift baskets and studio gift services, http://www.supernovagifts.com ).

Companies donate gifts to the bags or baskets in hope that their products will be associated with a particular star or musician. The best scenario for the donators would be for the receiver of their gifts to really like their product and tell the public about it or even to have a photograph taken wearing or using their product. I would be interested in knowing how many George Foreman Grills were sold after the Grammies!

This unique custom of luxurious gift baskets given to presenters and performers of award ceremonies in the United States reflects the Hollywood glitz and glamour that is often perceived in other parts of the world.

For a peek at the 2002 Oscar gift basket contents to presenters, please see MSNBC's article called "Goody, Goody" at http://www.msnbc.com/news/724875.asp .

The copyright of the article Gifts for Award Ceremonies in Gift-Giving Customs is owned by With the help of Ari Murraine, SuperNova Gifts. Permission to republish Gifts for Award Ceremonies in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.