Guido Ohlenbostel/ZUMAPress.com; Paul Fenton/ZUMAPress.comNot just anyone could get Barbra Streisand to sing at a hotel function.
But that’s what Babs did last night at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for Sen. Barack Obama.
Her four-song set was followed by dinner and a reception with the presidential hopeful (with some VIP tickets for the evening going for as much as $28,500) at the nearby Greystone Mansion.
“I woke up this morning with this slogan in my head…‘McCain-Palin: Change,” Streisand said, according to a partygoer. “Change what? From bad to worse?”
Basic tickets for the Streisand performance were $2,500 a pop.
So just how much did the night raise for Obama and the Democratic Party?
The grand total was reportedly a whopping $9 million!
“I can’t wait for the morning of Nov. 5 when I wake up and the people who said, ‘Yes we can,’ say, ‘Yes, we did,' ” Streisand said, according to my source.
Among the celebs spotted in the crowd were Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie Foxx, Magic Johnson, Will Ferrell, Jodie Foster, Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones, Rhea Perlman and Tonight Show band leader Kevin Eubanks.
And talk about loyal supporters and/or Streisand fans. I’m told many waited in line for more than two hours to get into the ballroom because security was so tight.
You may want to look for video of Ms. Streisand on YouTube later. Dozens in the audience were seen capturing the entire Streisand affair on their cellphones.
And don’t be surprised if Streisand blogs about the evening. “Whatever the reason, John McCain’s Hail Mary—in the form of vice presidential pick Gov. Sarah Palin—sent a very clear message to America about how he views female voters,” she recently wrote on her official website. “Women, he thinks, will vote another woman into office regardless of the candidate's values, experience and political positions.”
She continued, "This calculated, cynical ploy to pull away a small percentage of Hillary's women voters from Barack Obama will not work. We are not that stupid!"