Junichoro Koizumi demonstrates his Elvis routine at Graceland
For a moment it was as if the "King" was still alive. Outside the white columned entrance of Graceland, diehard fans in Elvis Presley T-shirts were screaming and waving, and professing undying love.
Inside, hair waving, body crouched over a make-believe guitar, sunglasses perched on his nose, an ageing rocker cavorted around the Jungle Room, belting out the opening bars of Love Me Tender to a hand-picked audience including Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie.
Then the world's most powerful Elvis groupie, Junichoro Koizumi, the prime minister of Japan, broke off his routine to laugh with his host, President George W Bush.
"I want you, I love you,'' added Mr Koizumi, belting out the odd imaginary bar from a few more Elvis tunes as he draped his arm around Lisa Marie. "Hold me close, hold me tight.''
Playing the straight man, moments later Mr Bush stood in front of the mansion and hailed the ties between the two nations.
This, after all, was Mr Koizumi's - and the King's - day. "My dream came true,'' said Mr Koizumi, adjusting his gold-rimmed sunglasses. Then he gave one last blast of an Elvis favourite, before the pair headed off to a barbecue.
The world has become accustomed to unconventional diplomatic routines. There has been panda diplomacy and ping-pong diplomacy. Jack Straw and Condoleezza Rice have inaugurated "courtship" diplomacy. Yesterday Mr Bush unveiled Elvis diplomacy, as he became the first sitting president to visit Graceland.
Since the Japanese leader pointed at the cowboy-boot wearing Mr Bush at their first meeting, five years ago yesterday, and said "High Noon", the two have hit it off.
The White House staff had clearly done their homework. On that first encounter at Camp David, Mr Bush gave his visitor a poster of Gary Cooper. Mr Koizumi returned to the theme in his after-dinner speech at the White House on Thursday, when he said: "I see the image of the United States as Gary Cooper in my favourite movie, High Noon. Marshal Cooper stood up alone against four outlaw men. However, the United States is not alone when facing the evils that exist today."
He said that it was while pitching baseballs with Mr Bush at Camp David in 2001 that their relationship was cemented. But it is his Elvis routine and passion which will ensure him a place in the annals of diplomacy. Mr Koizumi, 64, shares not just a hairstyle but also a birthday (Jan 8) with the King.
The public address system on Air Force One had played Love Me Tender and Don't Be Cruel, and on the breakfast menu was Elvis's favourite, grilled peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Both leaders politely declined.
Their tour was the same enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of fans each year, including the Jungle Room, with its floor-and-ceiling green carpet and animal-head armrests, and the Trophy Room, with Presley's gold records and awards. The bedroom and bath, where Presley died of heart disease and drug abuse in 1977, remained off-limits. The only extra courtesy was that the leaders had Lisa Marie and her mother, Priscilla, as guides.
LOL, Homer was having a good time. This just cracks me up.
Peter Wallsten, Memphis
July 2, 2006
US PRESIDENT George Bush doesn't get a lot of tender love on the world stage these days. But taking his Japanese counterpart on a private tour of Graceland, Mr Bush received a big hunk o' love.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi — calling it a "dream" to see the home of his idol, Elvis Presley — was reduced to giddy giggling as he broke into a serenade for Mr Bush, first lady Laura Bush and Presley's widow, Priscilla, and daughter, Lisa Marie.
"Love me tender … ," Mr Koizumi crooned through a thick accent as he stood with the others in Graceland's famously tacky jungle room — complete with fake-fur-covered furniture, an indoor waterfall and avocado-coloured shag carpet on floor and ceiling.
The Bushes, clearly unaccustomed to such affection, looked on with strained smiles. But Mr Koizumi persisted, belting out another of his favourite Elvis hits.
"Wise men say," he chimed, "only fools rush in."
Lisa Marie Presley wondered where the group could find a karaoke machine. But Mr Bush had heard enough. He tapped his friend on the shoulder and shook his hand, cutting off the performance.
"I thought you were going to do Blue Suede Shoes, " Mr Bush cracked.
The exchange was one of several offbeat but affectionate scenes during Mr Koizumi's "sayonara summit" in the US. The Prime Minister is soon leaving office, and since he first met Mr Bush five years ago the two leaders have forged a close friendship.
Like Mr Bush, Mr Koizumi is a baseball fan and a lover of country music. He also has been a staunch supporter of the war in Iraq and Friday's tour was a reward for that rare loyalty.
Mr Koizumi, who shares Elvis' birthday, is obsessed with Presley's music. Even during a White House news conference that focused on North Korean missiles and military tribunals for alleged terrorists, Mr Koizumi referred to Presley.
"Thank you very much, American people, for Love Me Tender," he said, drawing laughter as Bush all but dragged him from the podium.
Sweet jumpin' jahoseafat. That is 'Cilla and Dubya? I figured the world would cease to exist if ever the two would have met. Man, if a picture says a thousand words, in this picture that word must be: hunka-hunka.
Actually, I'm feeling sorry for Priscilla the most, she is trying to smile, and can't. The botox and plastic on her face make it impossible to move.
I'm thinking now of the Superman Returns scene, with the bullet in the eyeball and the slug going to the ground. A bullet to Cilla's face would have the same effect. It would bounce harmlessly off the plastic/botox/partial human flesh cheekbone, and the slug would crumple up and fall to the carpet.
07-01-2006 09:54 PM
