In the know

Competition mounts among weekend’s chichi after parties

For some, the afterparties to this weekend’s White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner are the only parties to attend. And this weekend, revelers will have options as they don black-tie attire and attend some of the year’s most famous late-night parties.

One such party is the annual Bloomberg party, held at the Macedonian Embassy. Among the evening’s most famous guests expected to attend: Laurence Fishburne and wife Gina Torres, Jill Hennessy (“Crossing Jordan”), Anna Kournikova, Sela Ward (“House”), Isaiah Washington (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, William Baldwin and Naomi Judd.

Another afterparty is the Reuters party, which executives are hoping will steal some thunder from Bloomberg, since this year’s event is bigger and hopefully better than before. The Reuters party takes place at the Kstreet lounge from 10 p.m. until 3 a.m.

“Due to demand, we decided to create a house party off-site, which allows us to invite more guests,” said Reuters spokeswoman Samantha Topping,” adding, “We’re taking it to the next level.”

On competing with Bloomberg, she said, “When it comes to Washington, we don’t compete with Bloomberg, we own the space. I mean, really, when it comes to news and world news, we don’t compete with Bloomberg.” And, she added, “Unlike other people hosting events, we respect the privacy of our guests and don’t publish a guest list.” (Word on the street has it that Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report” – who is the entertainment at the correspondents’ dinner — will attend the Reuters party.)

Bloomberg fired back. “We don’t comment on competitors as a point of professional courtesy,” said spokeswoman Judith Czelusniak. “However, our party will reflect the high quality of Bloomberg News: Up to the minute, definitive, dazzling and full of the most important sources in Washington.”

To spruce up its party, Reuters created the Department of Homeland Sobriety, a bar book of party drinks that include the Tongue Twister, Bush’s pre-speech drink; McKinney’s Upper Cut, a fruit-punch concoction; and the Barack O’Bomber a Red Bull libation for the younger set.

A brand new afterparty on the scene this year is Capitol File magazine’s After Party, from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Georgetown’s Caf