Students to sing Obama’s favorite song in welcome

JAKARTA: Students of Besuki Elementary School in Menteng, Central Jakarta, will sing one of Barack Obama’s favorite songs should the US president visit the school later this month.

Obama studied for a brief period at the school during his short stay in the country with his late mother, Ann Dunham.

Zubaidah, the art coordinator for the school’s welcome ceremony for Obama, said she had obtained a list of Obama’s top 10 songs from the Indonesian presidential guard.

The students will learn to sing the easiest song, she said as quoted by kompas.com, adding they had chosen Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On.

“The other songs are more difficult to learn,” Zubaidah said.

The other songs include Gimme Shelter by the Rolling Stones, City of Blinding Lights by U2 and Sinnerman by Nina Simone.

Several Indonesian classics will also be sung to welcome Obama, should he turn up at the school, including Syukur and Gebyar, the latter also being one of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s favorite songs. — JP