Oscar presenters get £14,000 gifts

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Presenters and performers at the Oscars ceremony on 24 March are set to be winners too - of a £14,000 goody bag of presents and vouchers.

While Academy Award winners walk away with a statuette on 24 March, stars including Kevin Spacey, Mel Gibson, Jennifer Lopez, Tom Hanks and Sting will take home the most valuable bag of gifts in Oscars history.

Handbags for all

The bag will contain a £1,000 watch, and a £280 handbag from American designer CJ & Me.

It will also offer vouchers for a reclining chair worth up to £1,400, and a bed - in any size from single to king - valued at anything between £700 and £1,200.

There are even vouchers for a £420 teeth-whitening session and a stay at trendy Mexican spa resort Esperanza, worth £1,400.

Endorsement

The goody bags are put together by the Academy Awards organisers from thousands of products and services sent to them by manufacturers.

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Companies are keen on the publicity value of having the endorsement - and the word "Oscar" on their product.

The gifts to presenters and performers at Hollywood awards shows have become more and more lavish in recent years.

Celebrities have come to expect gifts like digital cameras, designer leather jackets and portable televisions at the Oscars and other similar ceremonies.

Goody bag excess has become public knowledge and at the last Grammy awards, Pamela Anderson joked: "I'm only here for the gift basket."

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But product placement expert Eric Dahlquist was sceptical about the commercial value of the gifts to the companies that provide them.

He told the Toledo Blade: "I'm sure these folks will enjoy their chairs.

"Whether they endorse them, though, is another matter altogether."

The Oscars ceremony will be broadcast live on BBC Two on Monday 25 March from 0045-0500 GMT and reported live on BBC News Online.