Murren says state dinner was ‘lovely’
Guess which members of America's first family may be lobbying for a return trip to Las Vegas?
That tidbit of information surfaced during Wednesday's state dinner held for the president of China at the White House and hosted by President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.
The lone Las Vegans on the invitation list were MGM Resorts International CEO and chairman Jim Murren and his wife, Heather.
While going through the receiving line, Heather Murren mentioned to the first lady that she met the president during his first visit to MGM Resorts' CityCenter last year.
"The first lady replied that her girls love Las Vegas and she's looking forward to coming back," Heather Murren said during a telephone interview Thursday.
The Murrens were among about 200 invited to the dinner in honor of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
She called it "a lovely evening from beginning to end with an enormous sense of history and heritage."
The first question to come up during conversations on Thursday?
"The women all asked what everyone was wearing, and the men all wanted to know who was in the room circulating," she said.
"If the intention was to give a warm and elegant impression to the visitors from China, they certainly accomplished that."
A lot of the female guests gave a nod to China by wearing red, Murren said. She wore a floor-length, draped red velvet gown with Asian-inspired flowers appliqued over a mesh back, with gold sandal heels and classic pearls. It was designed by James Galliano, who is the former chief designer of Christian Dior.
The dinner was held in the State Dining Room, Blue Room and Red Room. After dinner, they went to the East Room for the entertainment.
The Murrens were seated in the State Dining Room at a table that included former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who was seated next to Heather Murren.
She didn't recall specifics of the table conversations other than it was "discussion at a very high level" with "talk about the financial crisis and other topics like that."
She's a member of the federal Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.
MGM has plans to open several nongaming luxury hotels across China with partner Diaoyutai, the first of which will open in Beijing later this year.
MAY I RECOMMEND
Name the most popular free sights and sounds of Las Vegas, and this one always comes up: Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens. The Chinese New Year display, which features a Year of the Rabbit theme, is open now through March 5.
SIGHTINGS
Hockey great Wayne Gretzky, dining at Lavo (Palms) on Wednesday with friends. Upstairs in the nightclub: Jack Osbourne, with friends. Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Jon Secada, dining at Nove Italiano (Palms) Wednesday night. He's performing at the Tropicana on Saturday. Chris Phillips of Zowie Bowie, mixing his Tab soda with Pop Rocks at I Love Yogurt in Summerlin on Wednesday and living to tell about it. Miss Arkansas Alyse Eady, the first runner-up in the Miss America pageant last Saturday, wowed 'em on David Letterman's show Wednesday with her ventriloquism act involving yodeling puppets. Aloe Blacc, who is performing at Book & Stage (Cosmopolitan) through Saturday, taped an appearance on Conan O'Brien's show Wednesday night.
THE PUNCH LINE
"Contestants are required to sing with ventriloquist dummies like Miss Arkansas." -- From Letterman's "Top Ten Changes to 'American Idol.' "
Norm Clarke can be reached at (702) 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.
