Burlesque diva Dita von Teese main attraction at t Vienna Opera Ball

DBurlesque diva Dita von Teese was the main attraction at this year's Vienna Opera Ball. She bathed in a giant glass of champagne and later fled from the media throng into a women's bathroom. The opera's ballet troupe, meanwhile, interpreted a soccer match on stage.

Burlesque diva Dita von Teese monopolized the hype preceding this year's annual Vienna Opera Ball, and didn't disappoint at the Vienna State Opera on Thursday night. And it wasn't just her dip into a giant glass of champagne that stole the show.

Von Teese attended the posh annual event as the guest of Austrian construction mogul Richard Lugner. Each year since 1992, Lugner, 75, has invited a famous foreign female to accompany him to the ball. Von Teese, ex-wife of goth-rocker Marilyn Manson, is a performer known for a routine that emulates 1940s burlesque shows.

Her champagne bath went off without a hitch. But afterwards, besieged by journalists and photographers, von Teese fled into a women's bathroom -- and re-emerged only under the cover of police protection. While ball-goers spun across the dance floor late into the night, von Teese disappeared shortly after midnight.

"Dita had enough," said one opera employee.

In addition to Von Teese's champagne bubble bath, the ball featured a performance by the opera's ballet troupe. The theme of the ballet's main performance was soccer, to preview the 2008 European Football Championship that will take place this summer.