Party's On In D.C.

Perhaps the theme for the Bush inauguration should be changed from "Celebrating America’s Spirit Together" to "The Show Must Go On." After the 35-day recount in Florida and threats of protests and foul weather, the festivities welcoming George W. Bush to Washington are in full swing.

A 10-minute fireworks display at the Lincoln Memorial kicked off a weekend of inaugural events Thursday. And the fireworks weren’t the only sparks flying during the opening celebration as the crowd of thousands went wild for one of the event’s participants.

No, we’re not talking about President-elect Bush. Or Vice President-elect Dick Cheney. Or Colin Powell. Or even Muhammad Ali, who walked out on stage and shook hands with Bush during the ceremony. It took the event’s headliner, Puerto Rican pop phenom Ricky Martin, to get the crowd screaming.

"There’s a lot of excitement here today," Bush said after being introduced by Cheney, just before Martin’s performance. "I’m not sure if it’s because people came to see you (Cheney) or Ricky Martin."

"This is a very partisan act," Rosa said. "This is a betrayal of everything that every Puerto Rican should stand for."

Martin never responded to Rosa’s comments but, regardless of his friend’s opposition, he did wind up singing one of Rosa’s songs, The Cup of Life, eventually dragging the Bush and Cheney families on stage with him.

Before Martin and the fireworks show, the crowd, which sat under ovecast skies and in temperatures in the mid-30s, was treated to an Army Golden Knights parachute drop and performances by Jon Secada, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., Wayne Newton, Brooks and Dunn, and Charlotte Church.

Bush and his wife, Laura, along with Cheney and his wife, Lynne, then headed off to a series of $2,500-a-plate candlelight dinners.

The high-priced dinners, officially sanctioned by Bush’s Inaugural Committee, are just a few of the weekend's pricey events. In fact, the committee raised $35 million, which may make this the most expensive inaugural ever, eclipsing Bill Clinton’s 1993 mark of $33 million.

Because of the situation in Florida, Bush’s committee actually pulled in the $35 million in a much shorter time period than in past years. The majority of Bush's inaugural contributors wrote checks for $100,000 each, a fact that has some groups complaining about those donors' potential influence on Bush.

"The problem is that people who have $100,000 to spend are going to be in a different class than the rest of us," Larry Makinson of the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign finance watchdog group, told CBSNews.com.

And those high rollers aren’t just limited to "official" inaugural committee events.

Along with Troy Aikman, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and a 2,200-pound bull named Casper, Friday night’s Texas Black Tie and Boots Ball – sponsored by the Texas State Society - is loaded with corporate sponsors.

The event’s $50,000 sponsors include energy company Enron, BP Amoco, Raytheon and Verizon; $25,000 donors include 3M, Boeing, Compaq, Motorola, Texaco, Bristol Myers Squibb and Lockheed-Martin; and $10,000 givers include AFLAC, Brown & Williamson, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, the National Rifle Association and Shell Oil.

Saturday night also features eight official inaugural balls in seven locations around D.C. A number of other private galas sponsored by environmental groups, technology companies, the Millennium Arts Center and George Washington University, among others, are also on tap.

Needless to say, all of these affairs surround Saturday’s inaugural ceremony, scheduled for noon, in which Bush will be sworn in as president.

The biggest concerns for Inauguration Day, however, are the weather and the protesters.

Washington, D.C.’s 3,900 police officers along with over 3,000 officers from other agencies are preparing for hundreds of thousands of spectators Saturday, including thousands of protesters. For the first time, however, the National Park Service has put up five miles of chain link fence along the National Mall, drawing the ire of protest groups.

On Friday, a federal judge ruled that the rights of protesters were not violated by the heavy security arrangements.

"We should be allowed our First Amendment rights of free speech to protest at the inaugural," Justice Action Movement spokesperson Lauri Apple told CBSNews.com. "This is not a private inaugural."

As for the weather, the National Weather Service was predicting occasional rain mixed with sleet and temperatures in the 30s. But, no matter what the forecast is, the show will go on, though bad weather could drive the ceremony indoors into the Capitol Rotunda.

"The swearing-in of the president of the United States takes place on Jan. 20 at noon regardless of weather," Inaugural Committee spokesman Ed Gillespie told reporters Thursday.

And, it seems, regardless of a few other hurdles as well.

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