By Craig Kartchner
When it comes to the 2002 Winter Games no expense is spared.
Governor Leavitt has invited half-a-dozen heads-of-state and nearly 800 other important leaders to attend his black-tie celebrations before the opening and closing Olympic ceremonies. Cost of admission is a paltry $1,000 a plate.
The all-day event, to be held in the Fine Arts Museum adjacent to Rice-Eccles Stadium, will feature nine musicians and dance groups from Peter Breinholdt to Ballet West, said Ralph Johnson, the event coordinator in charge of finding local talent to the celebrations.
' tried to keep the performers local,' Johnson said. But Grammy award-winning All 4 One and country group Lone Star will also perform.
Johnson and other employees of his company, Meetings America, have donated their time to make the events go smoothly.
Perhaps shining brighter than the performers are the guests themselves.
Invited are President Bush, Vice President Cheney and even a crown prince. Dozens of IOC members, SLOC members, and Olympic committee members from several countries will also be present, Johnson said.
'We have such great talent in this state,' said Amy Hansen, head coordinator of the events. 'These performances are an incredible opportunity to showcase artists who normally wouldn''t have the chance to perform for this type of an audience.'
Hansen, daughter of Representative Jim Hansen, R-Utah, works for Events West, the company that plans celebrations and other events for the governor.
Johnson said despite the high-profile guest list, the general public was also invited to the celebrations until tickets sold out recently.
Still, the majority of the guest list is corporate-sponsored, Hansen said.
Companies like Zions Bank, AT&T and Verizon are sending some of their best employees and customers to hob-nob with the government reps and other important figures, she said.
Many of the artists are as thrilled about playing for the prestigious guests as the corporate representatives are about socializing with them.
'It''s such an honor to play at the event,' said Justin Utley, a singer/songwriter from Salt Lake City. Utley nearly missed the honor altogether.
'They emailed me to ask me to play, and I thought it was just spam mail, so I didn''t open it for a long time,' he said. 'It''ll be a great experience, so I''m glad I finally figured it out.'
Oprah Winfrey is also rumored to be in attendance at the celebration before the closing ceremony Johnson said. She will announce the winner of an award for the most inspirational athlete of the games, which will be selected by an online poll at Winfrey''s site.