LEA Salonga was among the artists who performed at the White House State Dinner for South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol.
As seen in photos of the event, Salonga was accompanied by the United States Marine Band Chamber Orchestra and the United States Army Band Herald Trumpets.
Aside from Salonga, the other performers who were also invited at the State Dinner were Tony nominee Norm Lewis and former “Wicked” star Jessica Vosk.
Both US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon personally welcomed and greeted them after their song numbers.
At one point of the evening, Yoon gamely sang his own rendition of Don McLean’s “American Pie.”
“We know this is one of your favorite songs, ‘American Pie,'” Biden said to Yoon, having pulled him up onto the stage at the end of the evening to listen to singers perform the classic.
“Yes, that’s true,” the 62-year-old Yoon admitted, saying that he had loved the Don McLean song, released in 1971, since he was at school.
“We want to hear you sing it,” said Biden.
“It’s been a while but…” Yoon responded, offering only token resistance as he took the microphone.
Yoon belted out the first few lines of the song a capella, triggering rapturous applause from the crowd and delighting Biden and the First Lady.
“The next state dinner we’re going to have, you’re looking at the entertainment,” Biden told the crowd, referring to Yoon.
Then he turned to the South Korean president and said: “I had no damn idea you could sing.”
Biden told Yoon that McLean could not be at the White House to join them but had sent a signed guitar, which the US president gifted to the South Korean leader.
Yoon is currently on a six-day state visit to Washington. (ABS-CBN News/Agence France-Presse)
