President elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama walk down the steps of Lincoln Memorial to a crowd of thousands for “We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration” on Sunday.
The historical event included a diverse array of talent featuring musical performances and historical readings from celebrity figures as Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Queen Latifah, Tiger Woods, Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Usher, John Legend, Shakira, Heather Headley and Stevie Wonder.
VIDEO RECAP OF THE EVENT
( Photos: GETTYIMAGES )
Love michelle!!!
Michelle is so fierce…WERK!
BEAUTIFUL.
Everyone looks nice!
This is so awesome! As I was watching today on tv I felt proud to be an American! It was such a wonderful thing to see every race in the crowd… Truly Beautiful!
I am so excited about this week events…..I took off work and put on the request form “to watch history”……B & Mary’s fits are fantabulous….and of course the 1st fam looks great….I friggin LUV their chemistry…
God bless the Obamas
His daughters are so cute!!
This whole concert was beautiful , and beyonce brought it home at the end .
Awesome display of unity for our country!!! The performances and readings were great. Garth Brooks really got everyone moving!
I am beyond proud and excited for this moment. This just goes to show everyone what faith in God, an education, dedication, and determination, among many things can achieve. The first family looks AWESOME. The girls are super cute, I’m down for being a nanny, lol.
Nice!!
loved it…everyone did a great job (shakira was definetly not needed..she can’t sing) but other than that…everything was great, and everyone looked good..
oh and michelle looks NIIICEE!! and the 2 little kiddies are so cute..
Marys oufit is AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And is it me or is John Legend getting sexier every day…DAYUM!!
I’m soooo blessed to be living in this moment in time, to see what so many of our ancestors didn’t see but fought for, to be able to have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else, to be a living body in what was only a vision to some several decades ago, to be treated and accepted for what and who i am.
This is what i believe GOD wants the world to be. A nation that represents unity, honor, trust and dedication. A nation that leads the way in defeating evil and all that it represents. A nation that leans on GOD for guidance and mercy. I can only hope and pray that the next four years of obama’s presidency will be a deserving one for all kinds!!! May GOD continue to bless this nation and protect everyone, everything that lives and breaths on our soil. And may he also have that same protection over us when we need to leave our country,
WOW, I’m just so overwhelmed and excited to be and American, The land of the FREE.
God Bless!!!
I should have went to DC today..I didn’t know the concert was today…they kept this on the hush. I certainly would have been there. I chose to stay home and watch football…I was depressed when the Ravens lost, but then I remembered Barack is our president. Because in Bmore, Obama’s inauguration and the Ravens’ playoff game are just as equally important.
Everyone looks lovely.
Booyah! to those who said Beyonce wouldn’t be performing at this amazing event….
Musicians are blessed to be on stage at this event & perform with Stevie Wonder as well.
It’s 85 degrees in Los Angeles and all the celebs are either freezing their tails of in Utah or Washington. Best three-day weekend in a long time.
Why did Obama let these morons hijack his weekend? Most of these people know little to nothing about politics nor do they care about everyday Americans. They are just there for shameless self-promotion.
But Michelle looks nice!
Ahhh I shoudve went! This is such an exciting time!
The Obamas look so beautiful.
It was great but people like Beyonce should not have been invited… she was only there to promote herself and boost her ego. This is the same chick who performed for George Bush like she was Tina Turner. Her performance was good, but she was not a good pick.
#18 couldn’t have said it any better: I do believe there were only three SINCERE singers on that stage who weren’t trying to get their promo on : Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, and John Legend. Beyonce is just riding the Obamas to get “I am..Sasha Fierce” publicity. Shakira is droppin a new album this year, so her appearance is questionable. Her Peruvian a$$ just came out of no where to get some publicity on
Michelle Obama definitely has style and grace. It makes me cry everytime I see Michelle on t.v. because, for so long the world has seen the negative side of black women. The caricatures we see on t.v., hear about in music. And finally, the world will see a positive black woman that is crushing the stereotypes. The impact Michelle will have on black girls and women internationally will be amazing to watch. Now, black girls can dream of being married to men in powerful posistions. I know growing up, it always felt like we were excluded as far as marriage material in terms of first ladies, royality. And now, we have a black woman as the First Lady, the wife to the most powerful man in the world. This is beautiful.
I, truly hope that black women in Hollywood will take note, and stop being overly sexualized. Not sexual appeal, but overly sexualized, there’s a difference. If Michelle can carry herself with class and dignity, than celebrities can follow.
Im not trying to be cynical.. But all this is starting to seem like one big joke.. Whats going on???
And I must add one more thing….HBO made millions off of today’s concert due to sponsors….This inauguration is about THE OBAMAS….and NOT Hollywood. Honestly, I think the Obama transition team should have asked the stars to not come in town. Because I’ll tell you what, most of those celebs have only come to DC when they had concert at the Verizon Center. And you know what- they will not be back for another 2-3 years. They should not be in town, using this inauguration to their advantage. We didn not elect them in office, we elected OBAMA.
yes, @23….Michelle is a woman of class, style, pride and grace….but black men still gonna be drooling over Buffy the Body and Melyssa Ford, the vida guerras, the Angel lola luvs, all those video whores. There may be CHANGE in Washington, but there will always be some sistas out there who will never CHANGE. But maybe Michelle will teach these non-classy sistas a lesson or two
Yeah I questioned some of the choices in the performances, as well. Makes me wonder how much POLITICS do “some” of these celebs actually know, or are they just caught up on the fact that the man is BLACK, & they just want to represent in that aspect.
When Obama was ELECTED PRESIDENT of the USA, it seemed like forever until Inaguaration day. My God it took forever. But now it is only a couple of days away. WOW. At my job my boss is letting us all watch the inaguaration on the television. I know I am going to cry, just like on Election night. Okay…
MARY: Love, love, love that she went back to the short blonde hair cuts. They have always looked good on her. & the WHITE outfit is HOT!
DENZEL,
QUEEN LATIFAH,
JAMIE FOX & STEVIE WONDER-Good to see all of these celebs come out and perform/speak. DENZEL, JAMIE & QUEEN are all GREAT actors & STEVIE is a living LEGEND.
WILL I AM-put on a good performance. I got to see his performance soon as I turned to this program.
I only seen a small part of this on TV101 this evening. But I will be sure to catch the whole thing eventually. I am curious to see what these artists sang for this Historic occassion. BEYONCE (I am hoping she did sing something fitting for the moment & spared everyone from the “oversinging of riffs” in which she usually does it. Glad to see she covered up “appropriately”), MARY (hoping she didn’t do all the screaming & yelling she usually does in her live performances)–I love me some Mary okay (since whats the 411?), but her live performances can be a bit much on the ear drums. USHER…what did he sing? & FERGIE too?
As I watched the concert today, I reflected upon where we are as a country, and I just felt so proud to be an American. In my many years of living, I’ve never been patriotic, but I’m definitely feeling that way. The performances were great, and the program was well organized. Very classy, and of course, the Obamas looked great.
I’m not sure why one (TIFF) would believe that Beyonce was only there to perform for selfish reasons but NOONE else? I’m not sure why so many feel the need to “hate” on her! She did an amazing job today, and was an excellent CHOICE for the finale. PLEASE remember the performers are selected, and even though, one might desire to participate, he or she still has to be invited. Beyonce is one of the most talented performers of this generation, and I’ve come to conclude that is why she has accrued so many haters.
Also, the performance where she did Tina Turner, was not for Bush, but a tribute to Tina Turner. Please check your facts!!!
Some f y’all still can’t accept the fact that beyonce was invited. She is not there for promo becuz she isn’t performing songs off the album. How in the hell can u say she is promoting her album when she isn’t even singing a song from the album. U ppl kill me. She had a great performance but yet u still think she isn’t a good pick. Give props where they are due and stop hating on this successful woman who is proud of her country. Like they say, WE SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST
@ yea whateva. Im sad the ravens lost too.
but they did good. These celebs should stop. Phonyness at its best. Lol
I loved it all!!! Beyonce did a GREAT job, Mary J did great and Shakira sounded dreadful. @ TIFF and YEA WATEVER Get over Beyonce already she’s already gon Platinum, and will go platinum again by the end of 2009…She did it b/c this isnt about her its bigger than her album and this very day as well as Tuesday will go down in history. YOU HATERS KILL ME!
Mary J ,Bruce, and Beyonce did there thing! I was SO HAPPY TO SEE THE RAVENS LOOSE TO MY STEELERS!!!!! YAAAAAAY WE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!!
Tanya. Shut up. Lol. Go Ravens.
@ 28 I agree with you totally, and I also dont understand why people think that she would put her album before something so important like this. I think Bey would like to be a part of history just like the rest of us would jump quick if we had the chance. Plus she really doesnt need publicity anymore to sell her music she already has a set amount of loyal fans that will eat up everything she puts out
However, she did perform a Tina Turner song for Bush, in fact she performed Proud Mary along with Jewel and she did a hell of a job too
There were performers there that are big into social causes and humanitarian work. Bono is probably the most involved out the performers. He has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize before. Believe it or not Shakira is also big into charities and things that stir up social consciuosness. There were others there as well. It seems that most of the ones that are known to be involved in politics and social causes were the non African American performers.
I would venture to say that most of the Black performers and readers were not as politically involved as they should have been before Mr. Obama’s campaign. But neither were a lot of Black people in general. How many years went by when there was less than 50% of Black people voting before this election? For a lot of people it’s all about just having a Black president and it doesn’t go beyond that.
I want to start off by saying GO CARDINALS!!!!!!
WE are the phuckn BEST!!! On another note Beyonce did a fab job, she broug me to tears and Mary J Blidge did a spectacular job as well as John Legend.
OMG this is history in the making and right now I am so proud we selected Barack for pres. I thought just about all the performance besides Shakira and Will I Am were very good but nonetheless I still enjoyed it all. On that note people(hate to be negative on such a great day but mainly the haters) will be the first to come out and say this isn’t about Bey it’s bigger than that which I agree 100% but they will be the first to call her out and make something about her when a thousand others are involved. SMH give it up she was invited just like lots of others and as usual did a fantastic job. Don’t start this hating mess as yall always say this isn’t about her so please leave the hate and negativity on another post for a change and be happy that we are all here to experience the events and history that is taking place. Darn negative folks always around to mess something up.
I just finished watching it (I live in CA), I thought everyone looked nice and did a good job.
Garth Brooks and Stevie Wonder were my favorites lol
haha, the real sasha .
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this is such a joyous week and Im so happy!!!!!
they should have had FARRAKHAN speak.
AYE, anyone know who is officially singing for the DAY!!!
happy mlk day manana
yo can we leave beyonce alone? its 2009. Get OVEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR IT! No one knows what she’s thinking or who she really is so stop fucking judging her. She went their to sing her song and be supportive like everyone else. The hate against this woman is blood curdling. Seriously get a life. My President’s black, my range rovers blue, stop the fuckin hate cause this woman’s better then YOU!
Wonderful concert! A little disappointed that Beyonce was a part of it. Still not cool with her since her less than respectful treatment of Jennifer Hudson and her latest comment on the Jacksons. Funny – she claims she went to the best private schools with this upper-class upbringing, but she still can’t put a sentence together.
And what’s up with Rosario Dawson? Didn’t I see her splashed all over the media last year supporting McCain? They even showed her at his rallies.
Aside from that, I was totally impressed. The show was put together very well!!
this was a beautiful concert, everyone did an amazing job and i am sooooo excited for tuesday it isn’t even funny……OBAMA….btw i love how jamie foxx represented for CHI-TOWN….lol
Congratulations to all of the performers at the Lincoln Memorial concert for a job well done. Such a beautiful celebration for our Fisrt Family. Bravo.
Beyonce was vocally on point and looked beautiful and happy while doing so. The Obama family love her, so it really does not matter what the naysayers thinks. Malia was snapping pictures of Bee while Sasha was singing along.
It’s a shame that the ignorance on this post has to outweigh the true meaning of this concert. The concert was NOT about Beyonce, what she had on or who she is supposedly copying… Please on this board have become so predictable when it comes to Ms. Knowles. She’s not going anywhere anytime soon, so those that despise her so much need to just get over it!!!!!
I stan for Malia Obama.
Great concert, great First Family, great lineup. And oh, the girl who sang America The Beautiful at the end in front of the choir?
SHE was great, too.
I’m proud that my vote this year helped get these inspiring people into office.
Speaking of predictable…
And did I miss an interview with the Obamas claiming they LOVE Beyonce? And of course the Obama girls are singing along with her, the whole world knows the words to all of Beyonce’s songs. Geez! No big surprise there.
My bad for not making my comment more positive. I am not a “naysayer” against Bee. I am one of her biggest fans. She is one of THE most hardworking sistahs out there. She has definitely earned her place in the music world. That doesn’t mean she’s not human. And as humans, we have flaws. I just pointed out two that I found less than respectful given her status. The girl is definitely bad. I just didn’t see that it was necessary to say what she did. The Jacksons contribution to the music world is just as important (and enjoyable) as Beyonce’s.
The concert was da bomb. The message of the concert was da bomb. The Obamas are da bomb! Frankly, your use of the word “ignorance” on this post when referring to “whomever” is just as distasteful as Bee’s remarks.
why is jamie giving biden the side-eye,lolol!! a joyous occassion it was!!
I followed Obama for 4 years and I know which celebrities SUPPORTED OBAMA FROM JUMP. Half the celebs there did not SUPPORT OBAMA UNTIL HE WON. Bunch of hypocrites.Absolutely disgusting. Bandwagon coattail riders. You silly posters are so damn gullible with ooh and ahhing over celebs who attending this “circle jerk for their egos and face time”. These mofos are riding Obama’s coattails for their own success. Where were they during the PRIMARIES?
Stevie, Will.I.Am. Bono, Springsteen, Mellencamp, supported OBAMA from jump street. SMMFH @ you starry eyed fool giving big ups to johnny come lately celebs.
And screw Beyonce. This isn’t about her ego, greedy self IT’S ABOUT OBAMA. History doesn’t give a shit about “when I say George you say Bush two face Beyonce. She’s evil, backstabbing, greedy person.
And yes, everything Beyonce does is for HER ADVANCEMENT OF HER CAREER. you think she’s doing this out of the kindness of her heart? where was she during the primaries? during the general election? She only supported Obama when he won. When Obama won, she begged to perform for Obama and her daddy paid for her to do so. Corrupt and evil people. She’s a tacky, low class performer. Does she even know Obama’s platform? She’s overexposed and I’m tired of seeing her. She’s and Jayz are corrupt and greedy people. What a phony beeotch.
I am proud of Obama for what he’s achieved and for Springsteen, campaigning in PA, Will.I.Am, the stars in both Will.I.Am videos, John Legend, the Kennedy’s, Oprah, Emmit Smith, John Cougar Mellencamp, Jennifer Hudson, Jessica Alba, Scarlet Johannsen, Regina King, Tyrese, for putting their FULL SUPPORT behind Obama, not Beyonce/Jayz/Puffy, bunch of social climbing negroes out for their own career advancement. Azzholes.
Agreed with the Beyonce comments. She was just there to promote her career. But I give it to her or (her people), for booking the big gigs when it counts.
Michelle looked great! Can’t wait to see he dresses.
The girls are amazing
And OBAMA is just so freakin cute!
He is going to do an amazing job…I can just tell!
Garth Brooks was amazing, as well as Mr. Stevie Wonder. Sharkia is that chick blessed with many many talents, she took a couple of years off to go back to school. Beauty=Brains. Bon Jovi was good as well with that woman “Change is going to Come”. Beyonce and Mary looked nice but the voices were shakey.
Sharika RUINED the Stevie Wonder performance….I am VERY surprised that no one is mentioning her goat singing…..oh prob because ya are fighting over Beyonce….she did an admazing job (except when she told everyone to stand up in the middle of the song…as if they were not already standing up in the freezing cold since morning time)….Mary’s performance was okay (I think it was the song that she picked that I was not crazy about and she was very much conservative singwise)
THE OBAMA’S ARE THE BEST. THEY ARE THE PERFECT COMBINATION OF CLASSY, HUMBLE AND GRACEFUL! GOD BLESS THEM AND OUR COUNTRY!
I’m so proud of him; this is a strong black man;
He is in my prayers everyday.
This was a beautiful & historical moment.
THIS IS OUR FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT’S HISTORIC CELEBRATION AND YOU ALL ARE FUCKING WHINING ABOUT BEYONCE….YALL AINT GOT NONE BETTER TO COMMENT ON???..FUCKIN PATHETIC ASS BITCHES!!
Why all the hate on BEY? She did a great job as did all of the artists. This is an historic event, shut the negativity up and keep moving.
Michelle looked classic. The girls didn’t seem very interested in BeYawnSay like the stans thought she would be. The First Family boogied to Stevie, Usher and Shakira. Bono, Springsteen and Stevie was all we needed.
THIS EVENT WAS ACTUALLY GOOD FOR BEYAWNSAY.
Payola didn’t buy her the glory and attention. She was just another artist among many many superstars, and legends. There was nothing exhilarating about her performance and her frumpy appearance.
In fact, BeYawnSay has become so cliche, she’s actually tolerable.
Dicktracy, you got that right. These stans are acting like the Obama’s were only entertained by Beyawnsy.
The Obamas are ICONIC and made HISTORY. They’re style is being emulated even as we speak. Michelle is the best example of a black women out there, not popping their coochic talking about Single Ladies, DIVA, and other dumbed down songs. Michelle is a history making ICON and First Black First Lady. She didn’t throw people under the bus for her success. How refreshing.
I don’t know about the rest of those folks, but does ANYBODY remember seeing Rosario Dawson supporting Obama since his election? Anyone at all?
@ BEYONCEISDESPERATE
I agree with you…