Correspondents Dinner Guest List Starts to Form (updated)

CBS invites Couric, Rahm Emanuel, Margulies, O’Donnell — and a former “Idol” contestant; ABC adds Bigelow, Boal

The list of Hollywood stars attending the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner May 1 is starting to eke out.

Following a leak from FishBowl DC Wednesday, CBS News officially announced its list. Included are Katie Couric, Harry Smith, Congressman Eric Cantor, Rahm Emanuel and primetime stars Julianna Margolis ("The Good Wife") and Chris O’Donnell ("NCIS: LA").

Also a CBS invitee: Ayla Brown, a former "American Idol" contestant who also happens to be the daughter of new Massachusetts Republican Sen. Scott Brown.

ABC News guests for the dinner include "Hurt Locker" director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal, a network spokeswoman said Thursday. They will be the guests of Martha Raddatz, now the network’s senior foreign affairs correspondent.

(Updated Thursday a.m.: The Huffington Post said its guests will include Scarlett Johansson, John Cusack, Bill Maher, Ari Emmanuel, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski.)

.Jay Leno is the keynote speaker at this year’s award, repeating a role he had done several times before. Leno was asked before his fight with Conan O’Brien started.

The dinner raises money for scholarships for students.

Traditionally the correspondents’ dinner is the ultimate mix of the year of Hollywood and Washington with celebs imported by media organizations for the dinner capping a weekend of events mixing the two cultures.

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