Hollywood

By KIM MASTERS/LOS ANGELES

DreamWorks partner JEFFREY KATZENBERG has taken some ribbing since a photo of him by DIANA WALKER seemingly embracing the Vice President from behind appeared in these pages two weeks ago. Was this an example of Sammy Davis Jr.-hugging-Nixon-like enthusiasm? Not quite. What happened was that Katzenberg was hanging out with SIR ELTON JOHN following John's rehearsal before the state dinner in honor of British Prime Minister TONY BLAIR. Katzenberg had been lobbying John to sing a tune he didn't write for the very-high-stakes upcoming DreamWorks animated film Prince of Egypt. Unfortunately, John doesn't do songs he didn't write. Enter HILLARY CLINTON. (Seemingly a casual drop-by, she was actually there by prearrangement with Katzenberg in the hope that she would find John with STEVIE WONDER so she could urge the two to perform a duet at the dinner.) She greeted them, then asked John if he was going to sing a song for Prince of Egypt. John, smelling a setup, glowered at Katzenberg. After a few minutes of chitchat, AL GORE entered. He greeted the group, expressed admiration for John, then asked (purely by coincidence, Katzenberg swears) if John would sing on Prince of Egypt. At that point, as John feigned exasperation, Katzenberg ducked for cover behind the largest immobile object in sight (cheap joke). At this writing, John is not performing on Prince of Egypt. However, he and Wonder did sing a duet.

--By Kim Masters/Los Angeles