But that's how the day has panned out for frantic marquee hosts inside the infamous Birdcage enclosure as a tug-o-war between various sponsors breaks out to have the much-photographed couple installed in their teepee.

The press alerts started early in the day. First Emirates announced the celebrity couple, dubbed "Jasarl", would be arriving in their marquee at midday sharp.

Then another alert arrived, this time from Birdcage newcomer Kennedy jewellers, which had paid handsomely to have Karl and his Today colleagues do an outside broadcast from Melbourne on Friday. Kennedys was telling reporters Jasarl would arrive in their tent at 11.45 am.

In the end Emirates won out, with the couple posing for the obligatory photos, but only after Karl, solo, had done an emergency dash to Kennedy's to have his snap taken.

It's been a busy couple of days for Jasarl, who were among guests at retailing heiress Fiona Myer's Toorak mansion on Friday night.

They left early, though, around the same time as the champagne ran out - much to the horror of celebrity caterer Bruce Keebaugh, who was last seen frantically dashing to the bottlo for yet more cases of Dom Perignon.

No sign of Roxy Jacenko's personal paparazzo, but she has arrived at Flemington with her former jailbird husband Oliver Curtis, having outbid fellow socialite Skye Leckie at a charity auction to win her tickets to get into the coveted Birdcage. That win was much to the chagrin of several other marquee publicists, conscious of their brand being ambushed by the Roxy-effect.

Deputy Prime Minister Julie Bishop turned heads, even her own, appearing beneath a giant flying saucer-sized hat. The West Australian admitted her topper was a tad awkward in the high winds but boyfriend David Panton did an admirable job keeping her grounded in the Birdcage. 

Pop star Natalie Imbruglia made a long-awaited return to the microphone in the Myer marquee for the entertainment of the embattled retailer's VIP guests. Richard Umbers appeared to be enjoying himself, while there has been no sign of his bete noir, billionaire retailer Solomon Lew.

Melissa George flew into Melbourne direct from New Orleans where she is appearing in a new television series opposite Sean Penn.

A guest of Kennedy jewellers, she told PS she had no time to suffer any jet lag.

"Jet lag is for people who are not happy with where they are ... this is fabulous, I love coming to Melbourne for the races," she enthused, having been accompanied to Flemington by her beaming mother Pamela from Perth.

Once again the marquee hosts have excelled in creating over-the-top demountable gin palaces, from the three-level Lexus shrine to design and glamour, to the undisputed winner of this year's best marquee, Mumm champagne. Their pitch was to create a yacht club, complete with its own super yacht moored outside, smack in the middle of the Birdcage.