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Entertainment behind the scenes
Tearful Oprah pledges “whatever it takes” to elect Obama
It’s no surprise talk show host Oprah Winfrey was wowed by Sen. Barack Obama’s speech in Denver. After all, she endorsed him last year and may have swayed early primary voters in Obama’s direction.
But O went beyond just being enthused by Obama’s speech on Thursday, as the presidential candidate accepted the Democratic Party nomination. “Just seeing him on stage, I cried my eyelashes off,” Winfrey told a reporter with the TV show Entertainment Tonight.
Rapper Kanye West, 31, who was with Winfrey, was also effusive about the speech. “It changed my life,” West told ET. In reaction to West, Winfrey went on to say it changed her life, too. “We have to do whatever it takes to get him in office,” she said.
The Democratic National Convention in Denver was a virtual who’s who of celebrity backers with actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer G
arner, who are married, showing up. There were director Steven Spielberg, actor Forest Whitaker and singer Jennifer Lopez, and that’s not even counting the stars — including Stevie Wonder — who performed on-stage at the DNC.
Daughtry, Everclear to rock Democratic convention
In this presidential election year, partisan politics have ruled the roost. But the Grammy Foundation plans to buck that trend by bringing live shows to both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions.
First on deck is the Dems’ gathering, which starts this Monday, Aug. 25. The Grammy Foundation announced this week that to accompany the convention in Denver, Colorado, the organization will have a concert in the city featuring performances by Grammy-nominated rockers Daughtry and Everclear, as well as the Flobots, a Denver-based band that combines alternative rock and hip-hop.
The show will happen on Aug. 26, and benefit the Grammy Foundation, a charitable arm of The Recording Academy that works to promote arts education and cultural preservation. The Recording Academy gives out the top U.S. music awards, the Grammys.
In 2000, the band Rage Against the Machine famously rocked fans outside the Democratic National Convention in a Los Angeles show that ended in clashes between police and protesters.
This year’s Grammy Foundation events promise to be decidedly less explosive affairs. The organization has pledged to use the events to inform party leaders about issues in the music industry.
The four-day Republican National Convention starts on Sept. 1 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. On Sept. 2 The Recording Academy will host “The Songwriters Circle: The Songs We Love” in Minneapolis. Grammy-winning songwriter Brett James, who wrote the song “Jesus Take the Wheel,” recorded by Carrie Underwood, will perform along with rising star Greg Laswell, another singer-songwriter.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis)
