HONOLULU - Renowned Hawaii singer Willie K sang the Israeli national anthem and then an Italian aria. The multiracial Honolulu Boy Choir sang about their mixed heritages. And all types of international cuisine were consumed for lunch.
The state Legislature's opening day on Wednesday is usually a festive affair. This year it had an extra edge, a day after inauguration of Barack Obama, the first Hawaii-born and first African-American president.
His name seemed to pop up every five minutes during all the speechifying.
But throughout the day, as legislators were sworn in and entertained, there was an underlying air of concern wafting through the corridors of power about the state's financial condition, which is just short of dire.
''Very worried,'' is how House Majority Leader Blake Oshiro, D-Aiea-Halawa, put it.
Still, the difficulties of the moment did not lead to any shift of power at the Capitol.
In the House, Calvin Say, D-St. Louis Heights-Wilhelmina Rise, was again elected speaker, while Lynn Finnegan of Mapunapuna-Foster Village will continue to ride herd over a smaller band of Republicans. Over in the Senate, Colleen Hanabusa, D-Nanakuli-Makua, was re-elected as that body's president, and Fred Hemmings of Lanikai-Waimanalo remained leader of the GOP's two-man caucus.
The sliding economy also did not appear to curtail the traditional post-ceremonial buffets in legislators' offices Wednesday afternoon, which was probably good news to the several Honolulu restaurants that catered the affairs.
For example, Rep. Joe Bertram, D-Makena-Kihei, offered humongous vegetarian summer rolls; teriyaki chicken graced the table at the office of Rep. Sylvia Luke, D-Pacific Heights-Punchbowl; and the Filipino cuisine at the office of Rep. Kymberly Pine, R-Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point, seemed to be a hit, judging from the long line to get in.
The entertainment also was stirring.
Willie K won several standing ovations in the Senate for his rendition in Hebrew of ''Hatikvah'' and for ''Nessun Dorma'' in soaring Italian. The Boy Choir won accolades too for its performance, including one song about a Swedish and Irish father and a Hawaiian-Chinese mother.
''What does that do to me if I am a quarter of these?'' they sang, being part of a society of mixed races, including Obama, who's father was a black man from Kenya and mother a white woman from Kansas.
Over in the House, the Moanalua High School Chamber Orchestra wound its way from classical tunes to ''Baby Elephant Walk,'' followed by a dozen students from the Nanakuli High and Intermediate School who danced and sang on the House floor.
But in more serious moments on both sides of the Capitol, Obama and budget blues seemed to be the keywords of the day.
Hanabusa mentioned the new president four times in her speech, and Oshiro and Finnegan referenced him as well. Even Gov. Linda Lingle, a Republican who criticized Obama during last year's campaign, evoked the Democratic president's desires for more collegiality in Washington in telling reporters of her hopes for less partisanship in Hawaii as the Capitol's leaders negotiate over the budget.
Lingle cited the history she has had with the legislative leadership over the last six years, and the need to build mutual trust, as reasons for being coy when queried about various budget fixes.
But she did let on that a grand solution ''will take us being more open-minded than perhaps we have been.''
Democratic leaders, in their floor speeches, also struck a conciliatory tone.
''These are the times . . . when we stop looking for political points and start looking for solutions,'' Hanabusa said.
But they also cautioned that compromise, even in difficult times, has limits.
''Don't get excited,'' Oshiro warned in his address. ''It's not like we're going to be singing 'Kumbaya' and holding hands.''
