No business like Shvo business.

There's no business like Shvo business. Or at least that's the feeling one might have gotten attending last week's publicity party organized by chic real estate marketing firm, Shvo Marketing Group, for developer Leviev Boymelgreen's new downtown condo building at 20 Pine Street.

Going head to head with a similarly high profile party being thrown by developer Gary Barnett for the groundbreaking of his planned condo, The Avery, the 20 Pine shindig featured a blistering set by Grammy winning R&B singer John Legend. Not to be outdone, Barnett's gathering boasted a performance by pop star, Seal.

Infused with popping flashbulbs and ogling crowds, the buzz-laden, celebrity charged night--the type usually reserved for Conde Nast fashion parties and movie openings--may come to represent a star studded turning point in the business of marketing new high end condo projects.

After all, the Boymelgreen and Barnett parties weren't purposeful competitors in some kind of Coke versus Pepsi marketing contest. Edan Shiboleth, the director of finance and investment for Boymelgreen, swore that, at least on the Boymelgreen side, they had no idea both parties would fall on the same night when they booked Legend.

Rather, it is the latest, and perhaps most lively, effort yet to ward off the increasingly frequent murmurs of a weakening condo market.

"It may not translate into direct sales, but I think that a lot of people are going to remember how Seal came to play for Gary Barnett and how John Legend played for Leviev Boymelgreen," said Shiboleth. "The envelop is definitely getting pushed and having big name artists is the next level."

The event, which also honored the downtown charity, The New York Academy of Art, attracted 600 guests that included society figures and celebrities such as Liev Schreiber.

While Shvo has given no hint that the star-studded treatment will become the norm in his high-end campaigns, the marketing guru is said to be eager to repeat the infusion of fashion to luxury development that has garnered 20 Pine such attention.

For the first time in New York, fashion icon Giorgio Armani, collaborated on the interior design of a residential project when his Armani/ Casa Interior Design Studio took on 20 Pine, creating what it defines as "a luxurious and sophisticated living environment." According to sources, Shvo will be lining up some more big fashion names to design future high-end projects he will be marketing.

It has been well reported that developers have employed actors and athletes to generate buzz about their properties that they hope in turn will translate into brisk sales or leasing.

In its marketing of the Cipriani Club Residences at 55 Wall St., the project's owner the Cipriani Group bagged actor Mickey Rourke and model Naomi Campbell as tenants--most likely by offering them residences at substantially reduced prices--in order to infuse the project with a celebrity presence.

A recent GVA Williams showing of commercial space in New Jersey featured the Yankees' Tino Martinez.

Now Barnett and Boymelgreen's entry into the music scene represents the latest addition to the overall celebrity trend, which many residential market observers have predicted will help the developers buffer their projects from the effects of a market that is potentially softening.

But if it means more parties like Barnett's and Boymelgreen's, maybe a weaker condo market isn't so bad after all.