Rice to Play Piano Piece at ASEAN Dinner
By KATHERINE SHRADER Associated Press Writer
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Colin Powell danced to "YMCA," and Madeleine Albright did an Eva Peron impersonation. But Condoleezza Rice decided to play a classical piano piece.
The annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations dinner, which is closed to the news media, has traditionally given world figures a chance to show a more playful side.
But the current secretary of state said that given world events, a lighthearted skit wouldn't be appropriate.
Instead, Rice, an accomplished pianist who has performed with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, said she'll play a Brahms piece to fit her "serious mood" at the dinner Thursday.
In 2004, Powell performed a "YMCA" routine wearing a hard hat and a hammer tucked in his belt — after the garb of The Village People disco group that had the big hit in the '70s. Albright, dressed as Eva Peron, belted out a reworked version of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" in 1997, and the next year sang a duet called "East-West Story" with then-Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov.
Last year, former Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, attending for Rice, joined other U.S. officials in a rendition of "Oh My Darling, Clementine." They wore jeans and bandanas.
Rice said she had a couple of Brahms works to choose from. It will be "a reflective piece," she said. "It's a serious time."
July 27, 2006 - 7:10 p.m. EDTCopyright 2006, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Find this article at: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/Asia/Rice_Piano.html
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