Local
Big-name talent likely to be highest cost of inaugural balls
By: Leah Fabel
Examiner Staff Writer
December 10, 2008
Big talent could be the deciding cool factor for the more than 50 balls and parties set to take place during the week of Barack Obama’s inauguration, but it won’t come cheap.
One local planner aware of someone trying to deliver diva megastar Beyonce Knowles said he was told the pop phenomenon normally demands half a million dollars for her performance alone, but could be willing to drop it to about $300,000 out of patriotic fervor.
Stars like Alicia Keys with just a bit less glow are rumored to have dropped to $150,000 for the privilege of performing during the historic festivities, from a regular price of about $300,000.
On top of the base charge, party hosts need to pay for any backup musicians and singers, sound and lighting, and transportation to and from the event.
Entertainment “is probably the biggest single cost item,” said Paul Garner, a 20-year planner with Rockville-based Gala Inc. “Even if the talent donates time, you still have to pay for what comes with them.”
Stacie Hawkins, committee chairwoman for the first Historically Black Colleges and Universities Inaugural Gala Ball, is working with a budget of about $150,000, she said, for what she hopes will be a $300 per ticket, 1,500-person event.
Respected R&B singer Rashan Patterson will entertain the crowd on the evening of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday for significantly less than a Beyonce-style headliner, but Hawkins said she wasn’t worried.
“Patterson was at the top of our list — he’s very cool,” she said.
And of course the biggest star of all won’t cost anything more than the right ticket - which could cost thousands, depending on the party.
“Obama would supersede everybody,” Garner said. “Oprah is having a party, the biggest media celebrity there is, and if Obama walks in, she’s second place.”
Likely stops for the president-elect are the 10 official balls yet to be announced by Obama’s inaugural committee. But while guests will be treated to his presence, they won’t receive much else.
“The official balls are basically decor and a cash bar and pretzels and peanuts,” Garner said. “The most important thing will be the entertainment.”
One local planner aware of someone trying to deliver diva megastar Beyonce Knowles said he was told the pop phenomenon normally demands half a million dollars for her performance alone, but could be willing to drop it to about $300,000 out of patriotic fervor.
Stars like Alicia Keys with just a bit less glow are rumored to have dropped to $150,000 for the privilege of performing during the historic festivities, from a regular price of about $300,000.
On top of the base charge, party hosts need to pay for any backup musicians and singers, sound and lighting, and transportation to and from the event.
Entertainment “is probably the biggest single cost item,” said Paul Garner, a 20-year planner with Rockville-based Gala Inc. “Even if the talent donates time, you still have to pay for what comes with them.”
Stacie Hawkins, committee chairwoman for the first Historically Black Colleges and Universities Inaugural Gala Ball, is working with a budget of about $150,000, she said, for what she hopes will be a $300 per ticket, 1,500-person event.
Respected R&B singer Rashan Patterson will entertain the crowd on the evening of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday for significantly less than a Beyonce-style headliner, but Hawkins said she wasn’t worried.
“Patterson was at the top of our list — he’s very cool,” she said.
And of course the biggest star of all won’t cost anything more than the right ticket - which could cost thousands, depending on the party.
“Obama would supersede everybody,” Garner said. “Oprah is having a party, the biggest media celebrity there is, and if Obama walks in, she’s second place.”
Likely stops for the president-elect are the 10 official balls yet to be announced by Obama’s inaugural committee. But while guests will be treated to his presence, they won’t receive much else.
“The official balls are basically decor and a cash bar and pretzels and peanuts,” Garner said. “The most important thing will be the entertainment.”
