What President-elect Barack Obama has on his iPod may soon be a state
secret, but musicians Stevie Wonder, Garth Brooks, and Pete Seeger
all got the president-elect moving at a pre-inaugural concert on Sunday.
Obama, his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha sat sedately
along with Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill as Bruce
Springsteen sang “The Rising" and Mary J. Blige did a knockout
performance of "Lean on Me."
Early in the show, Obama's daughter Sasha,
7, fidgeted and a seemingly bored Malia, 10, laid her head on her
mother's shoulder. Obama chatted occasionally with Biden as the
two families sat behind bullet-proof glass at the side of the stage.
But there were signs of life when Garth Brooks
took the stage, first singing "American Pie" and then
"Shout," during which the first lady-to-be shot her hand
into her air with Sasha.
Another highlight was Bettye LaVette's soul-drenched
vocal performance of the Sam Cooke classic "A Change Is Gonna
Come" in a duet with rocker Jon Bon Jovi on the steps of the
Lincoln Memorial.
Then came Stevie Wonder, Usher, and Shakira
-- the most diverse set of performers in a remarkably diverse show.
Wonder and Usher are African-American while Shakira is a Colombian
of Lebanese descent. With Wonder's "Higher Ground," the
Obamas were on their feet and even did a bit of dancing.
Obama stood up with his family as Jamie Foxx
shouted, "Chi-town, stand up!" The president-elect also
laughed heartily at Foxx's imitation of his sometimes monotone,
staccato style of speaking.
The Obamas sang along to "This Land
is Your Land," performed by Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger,
and a grandson of Seeger, as did the gigantic crowd that stretched
from the Lincoln Memorial down to the Washington Monument.
They also sang with Beyonce as she performed
"My Country 'Tis of Thee."
Jon
Bon Jovi, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, John Mellencamp, and Irish band
U2 also performed. Speakers included Steve Carell, Queen Latifah,
Denzel Washington, and Tiger Woods. The Lincoln Memorial is a touchstone
for African-Americans. It was here that Marian Anderson sang in 1939
after being barred from Constitution Hall because of her race and
where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.
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