Bush, Koizumi sing a duet at White House welcome

The president's gift of a jukebox to the Elvis-loving Japanese leader prompts crooning

By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON - It's not every day that two world leaders croon to each other, I Want You, I Need You, I Love You.

Clearly President Bush has special feelings for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, and he put them on full display from morning until night Thursday at the White House.

The love fest began with an elaborate welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn and an exchange of gifts inside afterward.

Koizumi gave the sports-loving president a bike and an enlarged version of the Japanese postage stamp that features Babe Ruth. The Bushes gave the Elvis-loving prime minister a refurbished 1954 jukebox that includes 25 songs by his favorite singer.

"Prime Minister Koizumi searched the keys and found I Want You, I Need You, I Love You," first lady Laura Bush said. "He and the president sang a duet."

In the evening, the Bushes hosted a formal dinner, the eighth of their White House tenure. The dinner was in honor of Koizumi, who leaves office in September after five years in office.

The divorced Koizumi did not have a date. He made his entrance between the president and Laura Bush, who wore a taupe dress by Bill Blass with cherry blossoms hand-painted on the Chantilly lace bodice.

The guest list included two Japanese-American Olympic athletes — speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno and ice skater Kristi Yamaguchi — astronaut Soichi Noguchi and baseball great Hank Aaron.

Bush paid Koizumi the ultimate compliment, comparing the prime minister to Elvis, who Bush noted also once visited the White House.

"Like you, he had great hair," Bush joked during the dinner toasts. "Like you, he was known to sing in public. And like you, he won admirers in countries far from home."