Congress amused itself by changing French Fries to Freedom ones, and Laura Bush snubbed the opening gala of a show celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, a symbol of ancient Franco-American co-operation.
Saturday evening also saw an anticipated 700 million people watch state television's annual TV gala, a variety performance show in which Celine Dion sang her theme tune from the movie Titanic.
In addition to the singing, dancing and comedy routines that populate the official CCTV gala, Mr. Shi's show will feature elements that even he finds difficult to categorize.