CELEBRITIES and socialites are vying to be on Washington’s “O-List” – the hottest ticket to social success – in anticipation of Barack Obama’s inauguration. The city has not been this glamorous since the dashing John F Kennedy presided over Camelot.

“Number one: Obama is cool,” said Morris Reid of the Creative Coalition, which has a waiting list of 500 for its star-studded inauguration ball. “He is truly the first pop culture president – the first to have a BlackBerry, get his music from his iPod and walk around with aviator Ray-Bans.”

Some famous names are assured of their place in “Bamelot”, including JK Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, after Obama read them aloud to Malia, his 10-year-old daughter. Rowling is tipped to receive an early invitation to a White House state dinner. “What better way to get the girls an audience with their favourite author?” wondered the Washingtonian magazine.

Jay-Z, the hip-hop star, and his wife Beyoncé, the highest-earning couple in show business, are heading to the capital this weekend for a concert and a round of parties. Obama has Jay-Z on his iPod and mimicked one of the rapper’s moves by “brushing the dirt” off his shoulder when criticised by Clintonistas during the primary campaign.

“There is going to be a pecking order. The unofficial parties are the coolest ones and celebrities always know where they are,” said Reid. “Everyone is rushing here to make sure they are a part of history.”

George Clooney, the film star, is already one of Obama’s best friends and the president-elect exchanged e-mails with Scarlett Johans-son – who performed on Will.i.am’s video Yes We Can – after meeting her on the campaign trail.

Will Smith is said to be Michelle Obama’s “celebrity crush”. Sting and Elvis Costello, the British singers, along with Bono, Bruce Springsteen and Mary J Blige, are also coming to town.

Traditionally staid commemorative events at the White House, such as celebrations of Women’s History Month, will take on a new glamour, society watchers predict. Desirée Rogers, 49, the incoming White House social secretary, will determine who is on the Olist, instantly turning her into one of Washington’s biggest power players.

Rogers, an African-American from Obama’s home town of Chicago, hosted a 50th birthday party for Valerie Jarrett, Obama’s soon-to-be White House adviser, at her Gold Coast apartment in the Windy City during the transition period before Christmas. Socialites in Washington are hoping to follow her example, throwing lavish parties “in honour” of Obama’s aides in the hope of luring the “first couple” to their homes.

George Stevens, a founder of the American Film Institute who hosted many parties for the Clintons in the 1990s, said: “The Obamas will put their stamp on the White House just as effectively as the Kennedys did. There is a buoyancy in this town that I have not felt for a decade.”

Despite the economic gloom, crab fritters, truffled beef, oysters and caviar will be on the menu at a reception for new members of Congress near Capitol Hill. But Rogers is mindful of the need to organise social events for the great mass of internet-based grassroots supporters who propelled Obama to power.

“Not everyone can get to the White House, so we want to find a way for them to participate through the technology we have today,” Rogers told the Washington Examiner.

Adele Alexander, whose husband was the first black secretary of the US navy, said: “The only societies ever to be classified as classless are communist and that didn’t work for long.” Her daughter Elizabeth Alexander, a poet and Yale professor, has been chosen by Obama to read a poem at his swearing-in ceremony.

“There are so many inner and outer circles of power and so many protocol demands,” said Alexander. “But do I think this will be remarkably egalitarian and remarkably more diverse than anythingI have ever seen in this country? Yes. I just don’t see how it won’t be different.”

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