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Beyonce Selected to Sing for Obama’s Inauguration Night

By Tiffany Wilbert | January 16, 2009

Beyonce will sing for Barack and Michelle Obama’s first dance on inauguration night Tuesday, The Associated Press reports.

Which song she will perform is not being disclosed by the Presidential Inaugural Committee.  “It is our hope that we can keep the song a secret until the moment,” said spokeswomen Linda Douglass.

Beyonce had expressed shortly after the presidential election that she was eager to participate in the inauguration.  “Whatever they want – if they need me to volunteer, the need me to sing, I’m there, and I’m ready,” she told a reporter.

Along with the first dance honor, Beyonce is also set to perform at Tuesday night’s Neighborhood Ball which will air on ABC.

Other stars performing along with Beyonce include her husband Jay-Z, will.i.am, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Shakira, Sting, Faith Hill, Mary J. Blige, Stevie Wonder and Maroon 5.

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Babs’ Most Fascinating People of 2008

By Hilary Dickinson | December 6, 2008

Barbara Walters presented her 16th annual edition of “The Ten Most Fascinating People” Thursday night with a list of some obvious choices and a sprinkling of “huhs?”.

The most obvious choice for No. 1 was President-elect Barack Obama. As Walters said herself, “Who are we going to pick other than President-elect Obama, I mean really?”

Viewers heard more about how Obama is a symbol of hope for America and asked him if the expectations for him to cure the economy and save the planet are too high to which he replied, “I can meet expectations of a government that is competent and honest and every single day is trying to make lives of ordinary Americans better.”

One new thing we learned, however, is that Obama never expected to be President – he wanted to be an architect, basketball player or judge.

Someone who does think he could be President is No. 10 on the list, Will Smith. He could potentially play a President because he said Obama would want Smith to play him in a movie; but, Smith also said if he really wanted to be President he could. “If I absolutely chose to, absolutely,” he said. “But I’m not ever going to choose to. I like being in movies.”

In fact, he’s starring in “Seven Pounds” opening in two weeks, which seemed to be the only reason why he was on Walter’s list.

Tom Cruise, who came in at No. 2, also seemed to be on the list because of his upcoming movie, “Valkryie.” Walters said this time interviewing him he appeared to be a “weathered and wiser Tom Cruise.” He is now keeping mum on his previously outspoken Scientology beliefs and, as Walters said, “He is no longer the boy wonder we fell in love with, the cocky young stud who finds his heart at the last minute or the hero who defeats evil with ease. Now he’s grown into something far more daring and interesting.”

While Smith and Cruise are uber-famous stars, Walters put a low-profile actor, Frank Langella, on her list at No. 4. And surprise, he’s also in a movie coming out: “Frost/Nixon.” Langella is not a star, but Walters said he has finally found stardom with his Tony Award for playing Richard Nixon in a play and now his role in the screen adaptation.

If Walters wanted to pick an actor who has finally made success, she should have picked the No. 1 comeback actor right now, Robert Downey, Jr.

But, at least Langella is honest. In regards to if he wants to win an Oscar he said, “It would be disingenuinous and absurd for an actor to say it doesn’t matter. Of course it does. Very few people win an Oscar. Wouldn’t it be great to be one of them?”

Someone who has won quite a lot of accolades is record-breaking Olympic swimmer, Michael Phelps, who won eight gold medals this year. Enough said there.

Enough also said with No. 8 on the list. Teen sensation Miley Cyrus has her own hit TV show, her new solo album not as Hannah Montana and a hit movie, “Bolt.” Not to mention that little scandal with the photos in “Vanity Fair.” She did admit that she sometimes worries, “Am I just it for now? But I live for the moment so I’m loving this and taking it all in.”

And it wouldn’t be a recap of 2008 without talking about Sarah Palin and her uncanny impersonator, Tina Fey. Walters put Palin at No. 3 because she showed that the celebrity lifecycle applies to politics as well. In under three months she went from, “hopeful unknown, to white hot star, to tarnished disappointment, to comeback tour.”

Fey, who came in at No. 7, didn’t think her impression was mean or sexist towards Palin: “There’s a strange double standard of a woman portraying another woman,” she said. “We stuck to things that at a lot of times she herself said.”

Another political commentator, Rush Limbaugh, made the list at No. 6. The conservative radio host appeared to make the list simply because he was a popular commentator on this year’s election who was one of the few to defend Palin. After some grilling on Walter’s part regarding his opinion on Palin, women aging in our culture and his contract of $38 million a year, Limbaugh described himself as “a harmless, lovable little fuzzball.”

Lastly, the pregnant man, Thomas Beatie, appeared on the list at No. 5. We’ve heard all about how Beatie became a man but used his female reproductive organs to give birth to a baby girl in June. What we did learn, however, is that the pregnant man is now pregnant once more. “You’re going to go through this again?” Walters asked.

All in all, a list of some obvious picks and also some “so whats?” Joy Behar, Walter’s co-host on “The View” also had some bones to pick with the show when she appeared during the end credits.

“What exactly do I have to do to get on this show? Miley Cyrus is 16 years old. I have brassieres older than her. Should I skin a moose? Become a man and then get pregnant? Maybe I’ll jump over a couch.”

Maybe next year, Joy.

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SNL’s Post-Election Blues

By Hilary Dickinson | November 19, 2008

“Saturday Night Live” had the presidential election to thank for garnering its highest ratings in years - even hitting 14 million viewers, the highest amount since 1994, when Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin appeared. Plus, it’s hard to say if the 33-year-old comedy show made a bigger star out of Palin or if the election made a bigger star out of her uncanny impersonator, Tina Fey.

But now that the election is over and the great Amy Poehler has left the show, will “Saturday Night Live” fizzle out or will it manage to stay in the spotlight as Palin has?

“Role Models” star Paul Rudd hosted Saturday’s first post-election episode and delivered a mediocre performance. Although he said what we all were thinking in his monologue when he joked about how much of a bummer it is to host “SNL” after the election is over similar to how the technical awards at the Oscars are a letdown compared to the big acting awards.

He turned out to be kind of right about the show being a letdown. The show was alright but not as funny as recent episodes. Americans voted for Barack Obama, but the show would have been better off if McCain won because Fey’s Palin impression is much funnier than Jason Sudeikis’ Joe Biden. The absence of Poehler was also well-noticed, and Abby Elliot and Michaela Watkins looked more like extras than the two newly hired comediennes.

Just as Palin overshadowed Republican presidential candidate John McCain, Justin Timberlake outshined Rudd when he popped up in a few scene-stealing moments. He did a two-minute, one-man version of how he would host the show complete with his Barry Gibb impersonation and his um… male anatomy music video with Andy Samberg, and he also danced in a leotard and high heels in a skit as musical guest Beyoncé’s back-up dancer.

The latter skit was just one of “SNL’s” many gay skits (think the French kissing family, Rudd and Samberg painting each other in the nude, Snagglepuss and two New Jersey guys proclaiming their love for each other) in perhaps a commentary on California’s Proposition 8 banning gay marriage thereby proving that even though the election is over, “SNL” is still the go-to-place for political satire and commentary.

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Obama Still Good for Ratings

By Judith Brown | November 19, 2008

Maybe it’s the newness of it all, or maybe he really is that interesting. In any event, President-elect Barack Obama gave his first post-election in-depth interview to 60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft. And the verdict is in: the man can definitely pull in a crowd!

The episode, which aired just yesterday, with the President-elect and future first lady boasted an estimated 24.5 million viewers – more than any episode of any prime-time show this entire season – and the largest viewing audience for 60 Minutes in nearly ten years…Now if he can only keep up this trend during the State of the Union Address (a real yawner!) we’ll know he’s the real deal.

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Bittersweet Victory

By Rohan Raj | November 3, 2008

Hours before this momentous election day comes news that bears sadness on the soon-to-be first black president of the United States. On Monday, Madelyn Payne Dunham, Barack Obama’s grandmother, died from cancer at age 86.

Obama learned of Dunham’s death while he was campaigning in Jacksonville, Fla.

“She’s gone home,” Obama announced to tens of thousands of supporters congregated at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. “And she died peacefully in her sleep with my sister at her side. And so there is great joy as well as tears.”

Last month, Obama took a break from campaigning and flew to Hawaii to be with Dunham as her health declined.

Her influence on Obama’s manner and the way he viewed the world was substantial, the candidate told millions watching him accept his party’s nomination in Denver in August.

“She’s the one who taught me about hard work,” he said in August. “She’s the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me.”

Obama’s half sister agreed, much of who Obama is comes from his grandmother.

“From our grandmother, he gets his pragmatism, his levelheadedness, his ability to stay centered in the eye of the story,” she told The Associated Press. “His sensible, no-nonsense (side) is inherited from her.”

“So many of us were hoping and praying that his grandmother would have the opportunity to witness her grandson become our next president,” said Hawaii state Rep. Marcus Oshiro, an Obama supporter. “What a bittersweet victory it will be for him.”

Republican John McCain issued his condolences. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to them as they remember and celebrate the life of someone who had such a profound impact in their lives,” said in the statement made by John and Cindy McCain.

The Obama family is planning a small, private ceremony.

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“Sweet Baby, James” To The Rescue!

By Kris McKusick | October 19, 2008

Associated Press reports that James Taylor will play five upcoming free concerts in North Carolina in support of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Taylor has concerts scheduled in Charlotte, Asheville, Chapel Hill, Raleigh and Wilmington beginning this Sunday.

Taylor was raised in Chapel Hill (home of the Tar Heels), and has at times used his celebrity to highlight political candidates in the state. The Grammy winner will encourage Obama supporters to hit the polls early in North Carolina.

Obama has been investing heavily in the state to try and swing a state that hasn’t voted for a Democratic president since 1976. Republican rival John McCain has been increasing his presence to defend the state. 32 years is a long drought for the Democrats, though. They’re due.

Look out McCain! It’s ‘Sweet baby James’ to the rescue for Barack Obama.

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