"This is a night to have a good time," said Rita Wilson, who arrived with husband Tom Hanks. "We sent [the Clintons] our message of support a week and a half ago." Steven Spielberg, on hand with wife Kate Capshaw, noted that the President's through-the-roof approval ratings "are exactly as I feel about him." And Barbra Streisand, clad in a cleavage-baring velvet gown she designed herself, clutched the arm of fiancé James Brolin as she declared: "Whatever [Clinton] does behind closed doors is his business. We did elect him President, not Pope."
The hosts, for their part, showed no signs of strain as they warmly entertained the Blairs, who have been likened to the Clintons in their home country—he for his youthful charisma, she for her law career. Even the gowns of the two women were similar in color. "We just think alike," said Hillary of her gold Pamela Dennis dress and Cherie's Ronit Zilkha ensemble. Together the two couples greeted an eclectic mix of invitees including John F. Kennedy Jr. (who bowed to Hillary and Cherie), Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (with longtime Jackie O beau Maurice Tempelsman) and Carol Channing. The President, for his part, seemed ebullient, dispensing hugs and witty asides ("This guy's got a better plane than I do," he quipped to Air Force One star Harrison Ford).
After an East Room dinner of honey mango chicken, grilled salmon and chocolate replicas of Big Ben, Elton John serenaded the assembled with five songs (one British tab wisecracked that he was planning to sing "Scandal in the Wind"), and Stevie Wonder crooned "My Chérie Amour" to the Prime Minister's wife. And though Wonder chided the crowd for "sing[ing] like you're at a library meeting" when few joined in on "Sir Duke," the partying went on well into the night. For Clinton, who danced until 1 a.m. with his wife and, at one point, in a group with Elton John, his guests' mere presence spoke volumes. "This has been a great night," he said. "Hillary and I are very grateful."
KIM HUBBARD
LINDA KRAMER in Washington
- Contributors:
- Linda Kramer.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
