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South Korea’s Yoon rates his performance of ‘American Pie’ at White House: ‘I sang very well’
- Yoon said he was ‘taken aback’ when Biden asked him to sing ‘American Pie’, one of his favourite songs growing up
- He received a round of applause from guests at the White House state dinner, including Broadway star Lea Salonga and Hollywood’s Angelina Jolie
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While a nuclear defence agreement emerged as the centrepiece of Yoon Suk-yeol’s visit to the United States, the South Korean leader said he thought his impromptu performance of American Pie at the White House state dinner went quite well.
Yoon also revealed that he was bewildered when US President Joe Biden asked him to belt out the iconic 1970s song by Don McLean late last month.
“When President Biden asked me to come up to the stage, I thought I would be given a guitar, but I was pretty taken aback when he asked me to sing,” Yoon told members of his ruling People Power Party on Tuesday.
“We know this is one of your favourite songs, American Pie,” Biden had said to Yoon. “We’d like to hear you sing it.”
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The South Korean leader gamely took the microphone and crooned several stanzas of the song, sparking a resounding applause from the audience that included US First Lady Jill Biden and Hollywood A-listers such as actress Angelina Jolie.
The US leader then gave his South Korean counterpart a guitar signed by McLean, who could not attend the gathering.
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“The next state dinner we’re going to have, you’re looking at the entertainment,” an elated Biden said. “I had no damn idea you could sing.”
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