PARKER: Bobbi Brown puts best face on DNC

By Penny Parker, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Friday, July 25, 2008

Makeup mogul Bobbi Brown is bringing her bags of beauty to the Democratic National Convention. Her primary function will be as an at-large delegate for her home state of New Jersey, but her side job will be to lead a master class in makeup from noon to 1 p.m. Aug. 26 at Nordstrom Cherry Creek, and to make her team available for any delegate who wants a fresh face.

Will she stick to a blue hue in honor of her fellow Dems? "I'm not a big blue eye shadow fan, but no one is going to be wearing red lips," Brown told me during a phone interview.

Brown, a self-confessed "obsessed" Obama backer, says of all the celebs expected to come to town, she'd most like to do makeup for rapper Kanye West, who's expected to perform for a private MTV party.

"I love him so much; I really do," she said. "I've seen him in concert three times. He's second only to Obama."

Denver and Brown are old friends, says the mega makeup artist who owns a home in Telluride. "I have really fond memories of Denver," she said. Brown's delegation days likely will be filled with breakfast and lunch meetings then the official Pepsi Center sessions from 4 to 9 p.m. each day.

But no matter how busy her schedule, Brown says she'll make herself available to Michelle Obama if she calls. "I've been lucky enough to do Michelle's makeup," Brown said. "I got the call the night before to do her makeup for a black-tie event where she was the keynote speaker. I am totally at her service. If she needs me, I will be there."

Brown is not the only family member who will claim a space inside the Pepsi Center. Her 18-year-old Stanford-bound son, Dylan, got a job as a page before New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine asked Brown to be a delegate.

"(Dylan) wasn't thrilled I was coming," she said. He'll study political science at Stanford. "He obviously takes after his father, because I majored in makeup."

BTW: Brown told me that Corzine has asked Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi to come to the DNC. No word on whether they've accepted the invite. Also, the first 30 women who call 720-746-7200 and ask for the Bobbi Brown counter can sign up for the free master makeup class.

NEWS VIEWS: A major brunch bunch will gather at The Brown Palace hotel Aug. 24 when TV news anchors Tom Brokaw, Chris Wallace and Bob Schieffer host The Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy meet-and-greet in the Grand Ballroom.

"Every major media person will be in attendance for this," said my spy. The 400-guest event, moderated by PBS' Judy Woodruff, is being billed as a Tribute to Tim Russert, the NBC Meet the Press host who died of a heart attack last month. The group will discuss election coverage.

NEW NIGHTCLUB: The old Brix downstairs, 3000 E. Third Ave. in Cherry Creek, reopens tonight as Sapphire Club, under new ownership by real estate developer Justin Henderson. Thursday is '80s night, top 40 DJ Fridays and Saturdays. Hours: 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

WORD I HEARD . . . is that Denver Magazine has hired Dana Butler, an Aspen Magazine vet, as managing editor. Publisher Michael Ledwitz took over as the slick mag's editor-in-chief after he parted ways with former Rocky society scribe Dahlia Weinstein (He says she resigned; she says she was fired). The Aug. 1 issue features an interview with the Obamas.

THE SEEN: Super skater Michelle Kwan dining with a companion at the sushi bar at Sushi Sasa on Wednesday.

Wine guy Marc Mondavi talking about wine trends and signing bottles of Mondavi vino at The Broker on Wednesday.

HGTV's Design Star finalist Matt Locke lunching at Racines on Wednesday. Locke, a Colorado Springs native, or Jennifer Bertrand will be named the winner of the reality series Sunday.

EAVESDROPPING on a man at Elway's during the Band of Heathens patio concert Wednesday: "Have you seen this parking lot? You couldn't fit a pencil in there."

Penny Parker's column appears Tuesday through Saturday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-AM (630). Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail parkerp@RockyMountainNews.com.