400 for dinner in Obamas' big tent

A huge tent has been pitched on the White House lawn for 400 guests at President Barack Obama's first state dinner today.

The event is in honour of the visiting Indian Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

Whereas President George W. Bush would hold his 140-person dinners in the formal state dining room, Obama and his wife Michelle have broken with tradition by taking a "big tent" approach.

Secrecy surrounds the event with the White House guarding details of the guest list and menu. Deepak Chopra, the billionaire pioneer in New Age spirituality, announced on Twitter that he would be flying to Washington to attend and was "V honoured to be invited".

Oprah Winfrey, the talk show hostess, is strongly rumoured to have been invited and there is speculation that George Clooney and Brad Pitt will attend what has been dubbed "Washington's equivalent of the Oscars".

According to well-connected Hollywood blogger Nikki Finke, the former DreamWorks partners Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg will also be at the dinner.