Kelly Ripa and hubby Mark Consuelos gettin' frisky!

Given that it was our second evening in a row at Cipriani's – albeit at the midtown franchise on this occasion – our usual penchant for the venue had been dampened somewhat, and the inclement weather certainly wasn’t helping. But the UNICEF Snowflake Ball managed to turn our well plucked frowns upside down in a glittering evening of philanthropic revelry, with celebrities in a multitude of fields pitching in to lend a hand. The sumptuous menu was designed by revered chefs; the entertainment led by a veritable swing legend, and the auction prizes donated by some of America’s hottest talent. It is fair to say that UNICEF, like the bartenders, got the mix just right.

Katy Perry was the evening’s surprise A-List attendee, swishing through the foyer’s revolving doors in a fishtail dress designed by another of the evening’s guests, Naeem Khan. The couturier’s wife, jewelry designer Ranjana Khan, recently ventured into reality TV land with several appearances on The Real Housewives of New York and was quick to dispel her involvement with any of the cattiness the show has become famed for.

“Being on RHONY was fun, but I didn’t get caught up in the drama,” she told The Observer on the red carpet. “My friend Carole [Radziwill] wanted me to be involved with the last season, and she’s returning for the next one, so I know she might want me to do something again.” Did Mrs. Khan just let an inside secret slip, perchance? Ms. Radziwill is yet to officially confirm her involvement with season six, but you heard it here straight from the jeweler’s mouth. The Observer 1, RHONY 0.

Indeed, spilling secrets seemed to be a trend throughout the evening, with Manhattan’s favorite crooner Tony Bennett revealing: “Lady Gaga called me last night from Peru. She wants to do an album together and we’re going to do it, just me and Gaga. It’s going to be a big swinging album with a big hot band.” Well, perhaps it wasn’t quite the juicy nugget we initially imagined, given that Mr. Bennett has been quoted as saying that the "Poker Face" singer called him the previous night from New Zealand with the idea for a collaborative record. That quote happened three months ago.

Given that Mr. Bennett is at the ripe old age of 86 and still put on a glorious show – some of which was without a microphone – we’ll forgive this little slip. But please be more careful next time, Tony, when toying with our Gaga-fueled emotions.

From genuine secrets to recycled ones, there was one couple on the red carpet who weren’t attempting to hide a thing – step forward Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. The fruity pair didn’t miss a beat when volunteering to talk about their ahem, romantic interludes, with Ms. Ripa divulging: “We have an Indonesian holiday themed bedroom, and a bed from Bali. Which may or may not have broken once.” Quick, somebody call Poirot, we’ve got a cryptic case of too much information on our hands.

After the duo’s domino effect of smut polluted The Observer’s innocent mind, we went in search of some good clean fun at our table, where we dined with the chefs who put the menu together. Best-selling author and UNICEF ambassador of 12 years Marcus Samuelsson had drafted in help from fellow restaurateurs Michael Anthony and Marc Murphy, who co-created a meal trumped in deliciousness only by their company. As they wined and dined us with a feast of truffle lobster salad and Wagyu steak, the flavors of the food were perfectly enhanced by the Wynton Marsalis Quintet, whose jazzy tunes rose to the very top of Cipriani’s lofty ceilings.

Just edging out the edibles in terms of success was the auction, which contributed to the event's staggering $2.5m raised for the very deserving charity. A backstage pass with Selena Gomez, who was decked out in a floor length Dolce & Gabbana number for the event, scooped two high bids of $20,000 apiece, contributing to the money raised by other high bidders on lots for Lady Gaga tickets and a day on the Knicks’ court as player Tyson Chandler’s personal guest. The guests were not left wanting when it came to an eclectic mix of goods, and spunky auctioneer Courtney Booth of Sotheby’s coaxed the cash from the crowd’s pockets with ease.

There was just time to honor Harry Belafonte before the evening came to a close, and he undoubtedly made a deserving recipient of the Audrey Hepburn Humanitarian Award for his commitment to the charity over the past quarter of a decade. With the audience on their feet as he took to the stage, the emotion in the room was palpable.

It was clear that UNICEF was close to the hearts of all of the evening’s attendees, including Uma Thurman and Téa Leoni, and as we slunk out of Cipriani’s once more, the prospect of returning didn’t seem quite such an imposition.

Cipriani 42nd Street, 110 East 42nd Street, reception at 6:30pm, dinner and program at 7:30pm, after party at 10:30pm, tickets and information can be found at http://snowflake.unicefusa.org/snowflake-ball/

While most of us were eating cold noodles and watching Project Runway, another major Hollywood actor joined the industry’s growing brigade of charitable stars.

Orlando Bloom recently took a four-day tour of Nepal on a UNICEF-supported visit, which took the 30-year-old actor to the impoverished western districts of Kaski and Chitwan.

“Another Hollywood movie star might feel strange in a remote and impoverished area of Nepal, but [he] seemed perfectly at ease,” the humanitarian organization reports. Indeed, Mr. Bloom apparently took to certain Nepalese customs swimmingly. In one village, Mr. Bloom, who seemingly has no confirmed projects currently underway, had his forehead smeared with red “tika” by local women, who also offered him garlands of flowers to wear.

Later, when he visited another village, Pokhara, Mr. Bloom played a small role in a “mini-drama” that some three-dozen area children were recording for a radio program. The play was reportedly about “the plight faced by young girls in a hostel without a female warden.” Mr. Bloom played a helpful fellow guest with advice to share. “Talk about your problems,” he read from the script. “There’s no need to feel shy. It’s always good to talk about issues that concern you.”

Orlando Bloom visits UNICEF programmes for children in Nepal [UNICEF via HuffPo]

HUD recognizes agencies for their outstanding performance at the New York Hall of Science in Queens.

Sarah Jessica Parker, now a UNICEF Ambassador, hosts a Halloween Party at the UNICEF House.

The Public Service Commission holds a public hearing on the Long Island City power outages at the Hellenic Center in Astoria.

The Stonewall Democrats hold their monthly meeting at the LGBT Center featuring Alan Van Capelle and Hank Sheinkopf.

DL21C and NYU Law School Democrats host "Blogs and Politics: A Critical Look at New York's Political New Media Landscape."

Public housing tenants protest vacancies and mismanaged elevator repairs in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

A forum on new voting technology will be held at the New York Society for Ethical Culture.

Russell Simmons and Rabbi Marc Schneier lead a panel discussion on black and Jewish race relations at Columbia University.

Nita Lowey addresses a summit on hunger and homelessness at the Generoso Pope Foundation in Tuckahoe.

Nick Spano and Vincent Leibell discuss Internet safety laws at the offices of Westchester District Attorney Jane DiFiore.

—Nicole Brydson

You will see that it has top billing on the NBC website. Here the headline is "How to Help Iraq's Orphans." NBC then suggests that viewers give money to Unicef, No More Victims, and two other nonprofit groups.

I don't think that's enough. By twice doing this story, for the edification and diversion of Americans in their kitchens, NBC has established a special connection that it should honor—a connection not to a generic group of Iraq orphans, but to these 56 girls. On last night's report, Engel said that masked men had lately come to the door of the orphanage. He showed the girls cowering in a back room. Will these girls now be a special focus of terrorism? The thought is almost too horrible to consider, but it should be on NBC's mind. What threat has this tearjerker exposed these girls to? What threat does life in Baghdad—a life far outside NBC's bunkered bureau and flakjackets—expose them to?

Last night, Williams said that adoption by Americans was impossible. But there is an obvious answer. These girls should be evacuated. NBC should take steps to achieve that, even if that means getting them into the NBC bunker. My best guess is that evacuation means Syria, where in January I saw some of the hundreds of thousands of former neighbors who were now living peaceful lives. And my wife's cousin, who teaches in Damascus, told of teaching Iraqi refugees, some the victims of kidnaping.