One $weet Sixteen

A new Range Rover. Christian Dior sandals. A shopping trip to L.A. But the birthday bash is what really takes the cake.

A red Lamborghini pulls in front of Love nightclub and everybody's surging onto the street, peering into the car's windows. The crowd clamors: Is that her? Is tonight's star finally here? And, man, that's a nice ride.

The rest of the motorcade is all Bentleys and Ferraris and the like -- about 10 cars, led by a police escort. The doors of the Lamborghini lift up, and Ayse Halac (it is her!) climbs out onto the red carpet. Emerging from two Maybachs are the rappers Soulja Boy and Bow Wow, who put their arms around her. Trailed by flashing cameras, the three walk into the club together, through glass doors etched "Ayse Halac, Sweet 16."

Wait, wait. This is a birthday party?

Ayse Halac, as it turns out, is a high school sophomore from Leesburg, celebrating her 16th birthday Thursday night at the Northeast Washington club. And the crowd of "paparazzi" are in fact a posse of girls in short dresses with little digital cameras -- friends of the club owner's daughter, brought in to complete Ayse's chosen theme of "Hollywood Chic."

Soulja Boy and Bow Wow are performing, and Ayse's mom threw in some extra money to fly in R&B singer Mario on a private jet to croon "Happy Birthday" -- a last-minute surprise for the birthday girl.

Love, which organized the event under the Halacs' direction, is decked out with 10 chandeliers, a six-foot-high ice sculpture and giant photographs of Ayse on the walls. Fifty television screens continuously loop even more photographs of Ayse (pronounced AYE-sha).

Seventy-two LED panels, brought in just for the night, show a live feed of her entering the club. The 15-foot JumboTron outside the club displays Ayse's face, the first time a non-celebrity has graced that screen.

Everywhere Ayse looks, Ayse is looking right back. Ayse with Nicole Richie, Ayse swimming with dolphins, baby Ayse in a tiara. But even though real-life Ayse is smiling at all the attention, she seems quiet, almost subdued, and smooths her hair compulsively. When Soulja Boy hands her the microphone in the middle of his performance, she giggles and says, "Just have a good time tonight," before thrusting it back at him.

Her older sister Sibel, 19, who masterminded the party, is much more engaged, dancing on couches and chatting up Bow Wow.

Cost of the party: $300,000.

Did her dad flinch at the price tag? Not really, "Just as long as it was what I wanted," Ayse says.

Her father, Ahmet Halac, immigrated from Turkey 17 years ago with almost nothing to his name. But he's made a fortune in the iron industry since then, and has become known for his fleet of luxury cars and fantastic parties. Standing in a raised VIP lounge and watching a shirtless, tattooed Bow Wow singing to and dancing around his daughter, he is radiating pride.