Woman dressed as burlesque Obama for Berlusconi, court told

Jim Watson / AFP - Getty Images, file

US President Barack Obama (right) greets the President of Italy Silvio Berlusconi upon his arrival for dinner during the Nuclear Security Summit at the Washington Convention Center in Washington in 2010.

By Reuters

ROME -- One of the young women who attended Silvio Berlusconi's "bunga bunga" parties told a court on Friday that she dressed up as a burlesque version of U.S. President Barack Obama to entertain the former Italian prime minister.

In testimony during a trial against the 75-year-old Berlusconi on charges of paying for sex with an underage prostitute, Marysthell Polanco said she had also dressed as prosecutor Ilda Boccassini.

Boccassini, known as "Ilda the Red" because of her hair color and what Berlusconi says is her communist political sympathies, is one of the prosecutors in the ongoing trial.

"I dressed up as Boccassini with a toga to make him laugh, and also as Obama," Polanco told the court.

Witness: Italian ex-PM Berlusconi hosted strippers dressed as nuns

Polanco, a 28-year-old from the Dominican Republic, said the parties were innocent fun accompanied by burlesque -- but not pornographic -- entertainment.

Berlusconi: 'Elegant dinners'
In April, Berlusconi said the parties were "elegant dinners" where there was sometimes entertainment that he called a "burlesque game."

Previous witnesses who attended his parties painted a more sordid picture, including nudity, mimicked sex, and one described two women wearing nasty versions of nuns' habits and performing a raunchy pole dance.

Berlusconi to 'Ruby the Heart-Stealer': 'I'll cover you in gold ... just don't say anything'

Berlusconi is charged with paying Moroccan-born Karima El Mahroug for sex in 2010, when she was 17, and then abusing the powers of his office by getting her freed from police custody after she had been arrested for theft.

Berlusconi denies all wrongdoing.

Berlusconi accused of plagiarism by Italian rapper

He had a close rapport with former U.S. President George W. Bush, earning several invitations to Washington and even to his Texas ranch, but he never was able to establish a similar relationship with Obama after repeatedly describing him - and later his wife - as "suntanned."

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May

2012

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Cornish dancers take to the streets on Helston Flora Day

Matt Cardy / Getty Images

The Helston Town Band leads dancers through a private home as they take part in the Early Morning Dance as part of the Helston Flora Day celebrations on May 8, 2012 in Helston, England. The dance, which starts at 7am and is the first in a series throughout the day, goes all over the town and even in and out of houses and shops.

Getty Images reports — Helston Flora Day celebrates the passing of winter and the arrival of spring. The streets of the town of Helston in Cornwall, south west England, are filled with revelers from early morning, with musicians and dancers weaving in and out of shops and houses.

The highlight is the midday Furry dance which was traditionally the preserve of the town's gentry. For this dance, the men wear top hats and tails while the women dance in their finest dresses.

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