Powell Gets Down at ASEAN Meeting
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JAKARTA, Indonesia — U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell donned a hard hat and tucked a hammer in his belt Friday to perform a version of the Village People’s hit “YMCA” at the conclusion of Asia’s largest security meeting.
Tradition dictates that the meeting wrap up with a night of song and dance, provided by the diplomats themselves.
In 1997 Madeleine Albright, then secretary of State, bowled over the ministers when she performed a musical skit dressed as Eva “Evita” Peron.
On Friday, Powell danced alongside five other U.S. officials sporting costumes that included an American Indian headdress.
The group blasted out a version of the 1970s disco classic, to the delight of foreign ministers from across the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.
“President Bush, he said to me: ‘Colin, I need you to run the Department of State. We are between a rock and a hard place,’ ” Powell and his colleagues sang to the tune of the disco classic.
The after-dinner show, an annual highlight of the ASEAN Regional Forum, is a time for ministers to loosen up after discussing security issues.
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