Ellen DeGeneres would be best holiday party guest: Poll

New York: Americans would invite comedian Ellen DeGeneres to a holiday party, take a vacation with actor George Clooney and ask first lady Michelle Obama to decorate their Christmas tree, a survey released on Thursday suggests.

The first lady got 38 percent of the vote among Americans asked who should decorate their home for the holidays, followed by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin with 22 percent, according to the study conducted for HomeGoods stores. Given a list of celebrities to select from, 39 percent of Americans picked DeGeneres as their No. 1 cocktail party guest, followed by comedian Whoopi Goldberg with 29 percent and talk show hosts Kelly Ripa with 21 percent and Kathie Lee Gifford with 11 percent. As for a holiday getaway, 43 percent said they would like to spend a day at Clooney`s Lake Como villa in Italy, 27 percent chose Oprah Winfrey`s Santa Barbara estate, 20 percent picked the French chateau of actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and 11 percent liked rapper Jay-Z and singer Beyonce`s New York City home, it said. Following the first lady and Palin on the decorating wish list, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner got 16 percent, comedian Joan Rivers 13 percent and entertainer Lady Gaga 11 percent. The survey was conducted for HomeGoods, owned by TJX Companies Inc., from September 2 to September 8 using 1016 interviews among U.S. adults nationwide. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.07 percentage points. Bureau Report