Were you on the official guest list for Pres. Obama's first State House Dinner?
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The Obamas prepare to host first state dinner. NBC’s Norah O’Donnell has a preview of one of Washington’s hottest social events since the inauguration – the first official state dinner hosted by President and Mrs. Obama.
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Obama-India state dinner: A big tent, a "Dreamgirl" and "Jai Ho!'"
Enough about Afghanistan and India-U.S. relations.
Let's talk about tonight's big, fancy, black tie dinner.
The menu? No meat. Instead, a selection that includes roasted potato dumplings or green curry prawns. Preceded by potato and eggplant salad and white house arugula with onion seed vinaigrette. Dessert features pumpkin pie tart and pear tatin. Wines are from California, Oregon and Virginia.
The entertainers? There's Jennifer Hudson, who won an Oscar for her turn in the film Dreamgirls.
Also A.R. Rahman, who won two music Oscars this year for his work on Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire. Expect a special version of that film's bouncy theme song, Jai Ho!
Kurt Elling, a Grammy-winning jazz singer and composer, will perform, as will the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Marvin Hamlisch.
About 400 guests will be in a big tent pitched on the South Side of the White House for the formal state dinner honoring India. The tent allows for nearly three times the crowd that could squeeze into the state dining room.
The guest list includes at least one Indian-American Republican: Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Also Hollywood types such as Steven Spielberg and super agent Ari Emanuel. And CBS anchor Katie Couric and New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
First lady Michelle Obama has brought in a celebrity chef, award-winning Marcus Samuelsson of Aquavit, a Scandinavian restaurant in New York City.
"These state visits and dinners are a really important part of our nation's diplomacy," Michelle Obama said today. "Throughout history, they've given U.S. presidents -- and the American people -- the opportunity to make important milestones in foreign relations."
State dinners are a long-standing White House tradition. Since the time of George Washington himself, presidents have conduced business over meals with lawmakers and the occasional foreign diplomat.
Tonight's state dinner closes a circle of sorts.
The first formal state dinner that we know today was held Dec. 12, 1874, when President Ulysses S. Grant and his wife hosted King David Kalakaua of the Sandwich Islands -- also known as Hawaii, the future state that in 1961 became the birthplace of one Barack Obama.
Obama is the ninth president to break official bread with a leader of India. The Associated Press has a rundown here.
President Harry Truman feted Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1949 at the Blair House across from the White House, under renovation at the time. The meal ranged from roast turkey to toasted Triscuits.
In 1956, Dwight Eisenhower served Nehru a lunch of oysters on the half shell and roast leg of lamb. He also brought him to his private home in Gettysburg, Pa.
John F. Kennedy's state dinner for India featured the first live orchestra; before then, there had been taped music.
Both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also held state dinners for India.
The Clinton meal included a main course of wild Copper river salmon with red kuri squash and rice bean ragout. Dessert included mango and banner lotus, litchis and raspberry sauce, honey almond squares and chocolate coconut bars.
The Bush menu: Chilled asparagus soup and lemon creme, pan-roasted halibut and ginger-carrot butter and basmati rice with pistachio nuts and currants. Chocolate lotus blossoms and a trio of mango, chocolate-cardamom and cashew ice creams were served for dessert.
Jennifer Hudson's on deck for Pres. Obamas' 1st State dinner
Soul singer and Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson will perform at the White House state dinner Tuesday night, a representative at her label, Arista Records, says.
The 28-year-old Chicago native should make a fitting addition to what promises to be a star-studded evening on Pennsylvania Avenue. Hudson first rose to fame as a contestant on "American Idol" in 2004 and made her big-screen debut in 2006's "Dreamgirls" -- a performance that earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
It won't be the first time Hudson has flexed her gale-force pipes in front of the Obamas; she performed the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention in Denver. But tragedy struck in October 2008, when the entertainer's mother, brother and nephew were found slain in Chicago. Since then, Hudson has returned to the spotlight slowly. She was absent from Washington's inaugural festivities in January but performed a concert at DAR Constitution Hall in April.
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Sources: USA Today, MSNBC, Washington Post, Huffington Post, WSJ, ABC News, Boston.com, Wikipedia, Google Maps
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