All The Details: Inside President Obama's 50th Birthday Party At The White House
Yes, they did the Electric Slide: Stevie Wonder, Chris Rock, Jay Z, Charles Barkley, Tom Hanks, Emmitt Smith, Grant Hill, Whoopi Goldberg, and other celebs dine and dance with the President and First Lady...President Obama and his A-list pals danced barefoot in the dramatically lit Rose Garden to celebrate his milestone 50th birthday on Thursday night, Obama Foodorama was told by guests who attended the "fabulous" but "casual" five-hour barbecue for more than 200 people.
Stevie Wonder gave a "surprise" performance during the celebration; his hit "You and I" was the President and First Lady Obama's wedding song. Revelers included Jay Z; Tom Hanks; Chris Rock; hoops legends Charles Barkley and Grant Hill; Whoopi Goldberg; Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith; and actor Hill Harper. He's one of the President's closest chums from Harvard law school, and star of CSI: NY. Jazz great Herbie Hancock and his ensemble played; R & B singer Ledisi dazzled the crowd.
The night was balmy, and when dinner was done, a DJ spun dance tunes--"like at a Bar Mitzvah," said one guest. The twenty tables for ten in the Rose Garden were pushed aside so guests could dance, led by the President and Mrs. Obama.
"'I'm going to challenge you all to dance,' the President said, and everyone did," said the guest.
That's when everyone's shoes came off, and things kicked into high gear with barefoot jammin.' Among other dances, guests did the Electric Slide, which impressed Chris Rock so much he tweeted about it:
"Just left the Presidents birthday party at the White House. Herbie Hancock played, Stevie Wonder sang and yes they did the electric slide. A great night." Rock wrote (sic).
The celebration was a family affair, too: Obama daughters Malia, 13, and Sasha, 10, mingled with the grown-ups under the watchful eyes of their grandmother, Mrs. Marian Robinson, and their godmother, Eleanor "Mama Kaye" Wilson.
The guests toasted the President throughout the night. Also on hand to mark the Presidential milestone were former governors Bill Richardson and Tim Kaine, and Mr. Obama's staunchest allies in the debt battle--Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. Senior White House staff also celebrated: Chief of Staff Bill Daley, Cecelia Munoz, John Brennan, and Valerie Jarrett. Mrs. Obama's former Chief of Staff, Susan Sher, flew in from Chicago, as did two of the President's closest pals: Dr. Eric Whitaker, University of Chicago Hospital Vice-President, and The Parking Spot President and CEO Marty Nesbitt. Campaign fundraiser Andy Spahn was spotted, too.
On the menu...
There was "not a tie in sight" for the birthday dinner, according to one guest; men wore light summer-weight button downs and trousers, and women were attired in summer dresses--many taking their fashion cue from Mrs. Obama, and going sleeveless. Dinner was grilled chicken and steak, and Chicago-style hot dogs, with salad made with fresh greens plucked from Mrs. Obama's Kitchen Garden, as well as vegetable sides, accompanied by American wines. Tables were covered with simple gray cloths, and anchored by sprays of yellow flowers and greens. There was birthday cake, of course, and pie.
Party favors for departing revelers were tucked into small black paper shopping bags with a shining gold Presidential seal on one side. The President and Mrs. Obama paid for the party out of their own pockets, according to a White House aide.
The politically unfortunate optics of throwing a big 50th birthday party for President Obama when his poll numbers are dropping as fast as the stock market were not lost on the White House, so the President's shindig was not listed on his official Thursday schedule, and it was closed to press. But the big Five-Oh only comes around once, and the party was a long one--guests were screened through the first security check point starting at around 5:00 PM and were still straggling out of the White House after 11:30 PM.
Thursday's bash was the President's fifth birthday party--he was toasted earlier in the day in the Blue Room by White House aides as well as family and friends, as first reported by Lynn Sweet of Chicago Sun-Times. On Wednesday, the President celebrated his birthday early in his hometown, Chicago, with three different campaign fundraising events, where thousands of supporters poured plenty of cash into campaign coffers. Hancock and his ensemble played for those events, too, as did Jennifer Hudson and rock band OK Go.
The First Family will spend this weekend at the Presidential retreat, Camp David, in Maryland.
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