Fri Jul 2, 3:13 PM ET US Secretary of State Colin Powell performs a version of the Village People disco hit song 'YMCA' at the conclusion of Asia's largest security meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Friday July 2, 2004. Powell took to the stage, dressed as a construction worker Friday, with other unidentified US diplomats to deliver their rendition of the 1970's hit song to an audience of Asia Security meeting delegates. (AP Photo / APTV)       However, the following is the Assorted Press follow up story:

July 3, 2004 -- Harry Belafonte, the Calypso performer and present day Bush hater, today called Secretary of State Colin Powell's singing performance "a tragic failure". Both Sec. Powell and Belafonte are of Jamaican descent.

Belafonte, who popularized the Calypso sound, said he was speaking for all African American citizens when he referred to General Powell as a piss poor singer and a mere "house slave" on George Bush's plantation.

The Secretary of State, who like Mr. Belafonte is of Jamaican descent, said, "Who can argue with Harry's success? I have spent my life serving my country, and now I have decided to come out from behind Harry's shadow with a singing career of my own."

Many Americans recall Belafonte's big hit, Day-O (The Banana Boat Song). Capitalizing on this one hit, Belafonte followed with a string of songs like She Loves Me Day-O-O, Lucy in the Sky with Bananas, Don't Rock the Banana Boat, Day by Day-O, I Heard it Through the Banana Vine, and others.