As Washingtonians recuperate from the storm that was the White House Correspondents Association dinner weekend, media types have been quick to assess how it all went down, what was great, and what was not so great.
In an article titled "The Coolest D.C. Party is Still Lame," Time.com asserted that as hard as Washington tries, it will always be the dorky sibling to New York and L.A., saying, "So each year, nearly three thousand Beltway tribe members and their guests gather at the Washington Hilton ... to dine with the current president of the United States and pretend for a night that we actually belong to a cool crowd, a hip scene, an exclusive network of movers and shakers that everyone wants to join."
The piece went on to describe how the Secret Service closed down the men's room—possibly because the president was being held in an adjacent room—vetoing access to tuxedo-clad notables like Wolf Blitzer. (Variety confirmed the story, adding that Newt Gingrich, too, was barred.) All in all, "The dinner itself was an unspectacular spread of white wine, white fish, steak and cheese cake."
British actor Rupert Everett agreed, telling the Reliable Source that the evening was "one of the most hideous events I've ever been to."Calling the evening "D.C.'s media prom night", Variety.com said, "Yes, journalism awards were handed out—the original purpose of the dinner—but while that was happening, the din of partygoers asking one another about sightings of the famous ... all but drowned out the announcements."
Added a WashingtonPost.com blogger, "I'm not sure what the attraction is for celebs who attend the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner and after-parties. D.C. isn't exactly L.A. or Cannes and the Washington Hilton isn't exactly the Roosevelt Hotel."
Of newly naturalized citizen Craig Ferguson's performance as host, the AP said, "The Scottish-born Mr. Ferguson found middle ground between the tepid impersonations of entertainer Rich Little last year and the merciless satire that Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert delivered in 2006." Gawker added to the sentiment, saying, "Not the awkward disaster of Stephen Colbert's too-mean performance nor the intriguingly terrible anachronistic trainwreck of Rich Little's live death of last year."
According to the Reliable Source, the comedian got his biggest laugh when he addressed The New York Times' opinion that the dinner undermines the credibility of the press. Said Ferguson: "Funny, I thought that Jayson Blair and Judy Miller took care of all that." The column added, "We probably would have loved his other jokes, too—but the sound system and his thick Scottish accent rendered most of his act unintelligible."
Yeas and Nays unscientifically reported, however, that Bush beat Ferguson in the laughs department thanks to his jokes that Hillary Clinton couldn't make it "because of sniper fire” and “Senator Obama’s at church."
In terms of the after-parties, Page Six said that Bloomberg's "was such a disaster, half the invitees couldn't get in." For those who did (as we reported here), "the rain was leaking through the roof, and there were buckets on the floor to catch the drops."
Yeas and Nays said yesterday that while "the crowd was happily warm, dry and dancing," at the Capitol File fete, "it did have to deal with [Pete] Wentz’s unexpected dive into the crowd (so unexpected, in fact, it almost dropped him)."
Politico, meanwhile, weighed in on the weekend's "smallest and most elite grouping" over at Christopher Hitchens's Vanity Fair party, "which extends until just a few hours before the Sunday morning talk shows commence, [where] guests did what they do at these sorts of things—downed cocktails, mingled, talked shop, talked nonsense, or just perused Hitchens' bookshelves. (Note, too, that smoking was permitted, maybe even encouraged by the classy Vanity Fair ashtrays throughout the Hitchens pad.)"
In an article titled "The Coolest D.C. Party is Still Lame," Time.com asserted that as hard as Washington tries, it will always be the dorky sibling to New York and L.A., saying, "So each year, nearly three thousand Beltway tribe members and their guests gather at the Washington Hilton ... to dine with the current president of the United States and pretend for a night that we actually belong to a cool crowd, a hip scene, an exclusive network of movers and shakers that everyone wants to join."
The piece went on to describe how the Secret Service closed down the men's room—possibly because the president was being held in an adjacent room—vetoing access to tuxedo-clad notables like Wolf Blitzer. (Variety confirmed the story, adding that Newt Gingrich, too, was barred.) All in all, "The dinner itself was an unspectacular spread of white wine, white fish, steak and cheese cake."
British actor Rupert Everett agreed, telling the Reliable Source that the evening was "one of the most hideous events I've ever been to."Calling the evening "D.C.'s media prom night", Variety.com said, "Yes, journalism awards were handed out—the original purpose of the dinner—but while that was happening, the din of partygoers asking one another about sightings of the famous ... all but drowned out the announcements."
Added a WashingtonPost.com blogger, "I'm not sure what the attraction is for celebs who attend the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner and after-parties. D.C. isn't exactly L.A. or Cannes and the Washington Hilton isn't exactly the Roosevelt Hotel."
Of newly naturalized citizen Craig Ferguson's performance as host, the AP said, "The Scottish-born Mr. Ferguson found middle ground between the tepid impersonations of entertainer Rich Little last year and the merciless satire that Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert delivered in 2006." Gawker added to the sentiment, saying, "Not the awkward disaster of Stephen Colbert's too-mean performance nor the intriguingly terrible anachronistic trainwreck of Rich Little's live death of last year."
According to the Reliable Source, the comedian got his biggest laugh when he addressed The New York Times' opinion that the dinner undermines the credibility of the press. Said Ferguson: "Funny, I thought that Jayson Blair and Judy Miller took care of all that." The column added, "We probably would have loved his other jokes, too—but the sound system and his thick Scottish accent rendered most of his act unintelligible."
Yeas and Nays unscientifically reported, however, that Bush beat Ferguson in the laughs department thanks to his jokes that Hillary Clinton couldn't make it "because of sniper fire” and “Senator Obama’s at church."
In terms of the after-parties, Page Six said that Bloomberg's "was such a disaster, half the invitees couldn't get in." For those who did (as we reported here), "the rain was leaking through the roof, and there were buckets on the floor to catch the drops."
Yeas and Nays said yesterday that while "the crowd was happily warm, dry and dancing," at the Capitol File fete, "it did have to deal with [Pete] Wentz’s unexpected dive into the crowd (so unexpected, in fact, it almost dropped him)."
Politico, meanwhile, weighed in on the weekend's "smallest and most elite grouping" over at Christopher Hitchens's Vanity Fair party, "which extends until just a few hours before the Sunday morning talk shows commence, [where] guests did what they do at these sorts of things—downed cocktails, mingled, talked shop, talked nonsense, or just perused Hitchens' bookshelves. (Note, too, that smoking was permitted, maybe even encouraged by the classy Vanity Fair ashtrays throughout the Hitchens pad.)"
