Karaoke diplomacy ends Brunei meet

Powell gets in the groove ahead of his performance

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei -- Foreign ministers and diplomats attending the ASEAN meeting in Brunei have wrapped up four days of talks by letting their hair down with a show stopping series of karaoke performances.

In a now traditional last act at the meeting of Southeast Asian Nations and their security partners, delegates from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer took turns to wow their colleagues with their singing prowess -- or lack thereof.

Although Thursday evening's performances took place behind closed doors and despite the fact that alcohol, the usual fuel for a robust karaoke turn, was absent in "dry" Brunei, most observers gave high marks for the spirited routines.

Powell's own gig was much anticipated after last year's performance in Hanoi ended in a steamy clinch with then Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka.

At the 1997 Asean gathering in Malaysia Powell's predecessor, Madeleine Albright, famously brought tears to Asian eyes as she climbed onto her chair and sang "don't cry for me ASEANies", to the tune of the famous Evita song.

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This year it was the Americans' turn to kick off the party.

They began with a well-rehearsed multi-media presentation complete with video showing everyone from the Chinese National Peoples' Congress to President Bush himself begging Powell not to repeat last year's embarrassment.

"Look Colin, we're a proud nation," Bush was seen to say in a mock live link-up. "I hired you to be the best. Start practicing Colin, just don't let me down."

'Beat the Russians'

Diplomats exchange musical tips

Recalling the he had heard no end of gloating from President Putin about the Russians' "spectacular" performance last year, Bush then ordered his top diplomat to polish up his act.

"I want you and your staff to be better than the Russians this year," he said. "Got it?"

Even Powell's wife Alma came in on the act, calling him to warn that "after last year's ASEAN, the children could not go out of the house for weeks."

"Do not embarrass the family again that way and definitely no rolling around on the floor with any foreign ministers," she said.

Undeterred Powell went on to recall -- with the aid of photographs -- supposed past glories as an Elvis impersonator and a Bolshoi ballet dancer partnered by Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

All of which was merely build up to the obligatory crooning -- this year's crowd pleaser being a tortured rendition of "Some Bruneian Evening" to an approximation of the tune from the South Pacific hit "Some Enchanted Evening."

His performance was received with loud, if diplomatic applause -- as befits an audience of, well, diplomats.

'Good break'

Alexander Downer: Always ready to step up to the mike

"The Americans were hilarious," enthused Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar. "It was a good break after all this talk on terrorism," the Associated Press quoted him as saying.

Also receiving high marks was the routine from Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer -- a man ASEAN regulars say can always be relied on to deliver an uninhibited, if not necessarily musically accomplished, performance.

This year was no exception, stretching both the bounds of musical tolerance and perhaps the bounds of taste as he implored the Indian foreign minister "please don't fry us" with his country's nuclear weapons.

Downer, dressed Hawaiian style replete with wig and shades, warbled his way through a rendition of "Spirit in the Sky" reworked as "Going to Brunei."

The lamest effort of all though came from Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda who was obviously so intimidated by the other performances that rather than risk his own embarrassment he put his wife up on stage instead.

She belted her way through a respectable version of the karaoke perennial "My Way" with her husband only joining in for the final two words.

The song and dance spectacular concluded with all delegates lining up to labor their way through the Abba hit "I Have a Dream."

"We will be together, It's not a fairy tale," they crooned. "We will see the future, We will never fail."

Perhaps the best advice to all of them is: don't give up the day job.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.