Fortunately this year the cheesiness was slightly mitigated by the fact that in honor of the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, the Strauss waltzes were replaced by the slightly less kitsch melodies of Wolfgang Amadeus.



However, fears that everything would get too tasteful proved unfounded when American "actress" (i.e. ex-Playboy model) Carmen Electra rocked up and delighted photographers with her décolleté. She timed her entrance to perfection, by walking in at the same time as Austrian President Heinz Fischer, and upstaging him with one breathless kiss at the photographers -- admittedly the country's head of state isn't one for blowing kisses.

The event, which has now marked up half a century, is held on a special dance-floor is built on stage level right across the hall of the opera. It is attended by some 4,600 guest who must fulfil the criteria of a) owning a floor-length ball-gown / white-tie and tails dinner suit and b) knowing how to waltz. Which is probably why Carmen Electra ended up leaving early -- although the excuse she gave was that her dress was too long to dance in.