Talking of awards, Dolly Parton and Smokey Robinson joined Steven Spielberg, Andrew Lloyd Webber and conductor Zubin Mehta at a ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington this weekend to collect awards for their "contribution to US culture". They even got dinner with Condoleezza Rice. And a meeting at the White House with George Bush. I'm sure they were thrilled.
Spielberg, a high profile opponent of the Bush administration, was keen to stress the non-political nature of the event before socialising with Rice and Bush, saying that any disagreements would "remain in suspended animation for 48 hours". Rice, meanwhile, admitted that she went to a Smokey Robinson gig on her first date, but that her father had insisted on chaperoning her as "there was too much power in Smokey's soul". He's right you know.