White House Correspondents Dinner 2012 Guest List: Who Is Sitting With Whom?

Greta van Susteren arriving with Lindsay Lohan? New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie sitting at the same table as Sofia Vergara? Only at the White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner.

The Washington tradition began in the 1920s as a modest gathering of politicians and the reporters who covered them. Since then, it has developed into the Oscar night of the Beltway, the center of a weekend-long spectacle of brunches and after-parties, where the president is expected to make a highly entertaining speech and the country's biggest news outlets race to get the hottest celebrities at their tables.

Nicknamed nerd prom by D.C. insiders, this year's event promises to bring together an interesting mix of policy bigwigs and Hollywood celebrities (some of whom play big-time government officials on television) to munch on Texas Rubbed Petite Filet and Rich Chocolate Truffle Mousse. Jimmy Kimmel is hosting. Below is a rundown on what's up in terms of seating arrangements, courtesy of Politico.

Sitting At ABC's Table

Star factor: Sofia Vergara, Julie Bowen, and Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family); Paul Rudd; Elizabeth Banks; Christa Miller and Bill Lawrence (Cougar Town).

Nerd factor: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie; Barack Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod; National Security Adviser Tom Donilon; U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno.

Sitting At Atlantic Media's Table

Star factor: Rosario Dawson; chef Jose Andres; Sex and the City TV series creator Darren Star; DreamWorks CEO Stacey Snider.

Nerd factor: Obama administration Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Nancy-Ann DeParle.

Sitting At The Huffington Post's Table

Star factor: Daniel Day-Lewis; Dakota Fanning; Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer (True Blood); Darren Criss ( Glee), Nasim Pedrad (Saturday Night Live).

Nerd factor: U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder; Georgetown University law student Sandra Fluke; U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.; White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer.

Sitting At CBS' table

Star factor: Claire Danes (Homeland); Christine Baranski (The Good Wife); Daniel Dae Kim.

Nerd factor: U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan; U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. George J. Flynn; New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly; U.S. Sen. Amy Kobuchar, D-Minn.; U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.

Star/nerd factor: Capt. Chesley Burnett Sully Sullenberger III, who famously -- and successfully -- ditched a US Airways Airbus A320-214 in the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey in January 2009.

Other Notable Dates

Zooey Deschanel and Kate Upton are guests of Bloomberg.

Fox News' Greta Van Susteren is bringing Lindsay Lohan. Kim Kardashian and her mother, Kris Jenner, are also reportedly sitting at the same Fox News table.

CNN's Piers Morgan is bringing Goldie Hawn.

See the entire list at Politico.