OBSERVER: Social butterflies AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS
Rudy Giuliani and Bono - the undisputed pop stars of this year's World Economic Forum - made quick departures from the global get-together in New York to see something truly important: the Super Bowl.
Giuliani, New York's wildly popular former mayor, was spotted in the luxury seats of the Louisiana Superdome paying close attention to the game. Irish rock star Bono and his band, U2, made it on to the field, singing hit songs during the half-time extravaganza.
During the WEF's gathering, the spotlight was often on Giuliani. A co-chairman of this year's global get-together, he appeared frequently at the Waldorf-Astoria, where he was cheered like a returning war hero.
But the usually hyper-confident Giuliani - who was prohibited by law from seeking a third term - seemed a bit embarrassed when Raymond Gilmartin, chief of Merck, referred to him as "mayor of the world".
"I don't think you get elected to that," Giuliani said at one WEF session. Then, upon a moment's reflection, he seemed to warm to the idea. Without elections, he said, "there are probably no term limits for it, which is OK".
Giuliani's super status afforded him a privilege that few WEF attendees enjoy. Appearing on a panel (besides Gilmartin, there was Tom Ridge, President George W. Bush's director of homeland security; Don Carty, the top man at American Airlines; and Dick Fuld Jr, the head honcho at Lehman Brothers), Giuliani wore an American flag pin on his lapel - the kind of patriotic flourish many Americans have made part of their post-September-11 wardrobe.
But the real shocker was that Giuliani was the only one on the high-voltage stage not wearing the ubiquitous WEF badge, the passport to the gathering.
As he has done frequently since the attacks on the World Trade Center, the ex-mayor (and current consultant and big-ticket speaker) encouraged visitors to open their wallets. "Spend a lot of money while you're here," he said. "Leave as much of it here as you can afford."
During his visit to the forum, Bono was also doing his best to get cash for his latest cause: improving health conditions in the poor countries of the world.
The rock star said he had grown accustomed to spending time with unusual acquaintances. Gazing through his blue wraparound sunglasses, he recalled a meeting with Sonny Callahan, a Republican congressman from Alabama, to discuss debt relief for poor countries. Callahan wasn't too impressed, Bono said. "I think it may have been the way I was dressed."
The great thing about hanging out with Republicans, Bono said, is that "it is very unhip for both of us".
Bill Gates, the rock star's new ally in the fight for money for global health, said he and his people were doubtful at first about Bono, wondering whether he was serious - or just a "celebrity flash in the pan".
Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder, asked whether Bono had "done the numbers". It turned out he had.
Told that Bono had been lecturing on "Hipic conditionality", which is all about heavily indebted poor countries and not the hipness of rock stars, Gates laughed: "He's really into this stuff. He's for real."