Top 100: Actors, Bands and Singers Converge to Celebrate Obama --1/19/2009


1. Top 100: Actors, Bands and Singers Converge to Celebrate Obama
Following HBO's multiple Sunday showings of "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial," featuring a "who's who" of artists, a list of one hundred-plus celebrities planning to celebrate Obama's inauguration over the next few days in DC, such as: Beyonce, Steve Carell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jenna Elfman, Jamie Foxx, Tom Hanks, John Mellencamp, Garth Brooks, Bruce Spingsteen and Marisa Tomei. The list is of people and groups scheduled to perform, appear at an event or ball or listed on a host committee (many will participate in more than one event).

2. Updated: Celebs Swarm to DC Giddy for Obama's 'Magic Moment'
[This is an updated item, with two fresh quotes, from Friday's CyberAlert.] "I'm so happy my children have a real hero to look up to" in "a truly scholarly man" who will make an "intelligent, constitutionally brilliant President" at a time when "people are so ready to rejoice and celebrate what is hopefully the return of the foundation of the United States" so "my eyes well up just thinking about" Barack Obama being sworn in since "I'm calm for the first time in eight years," knowing "somebody is in charge that has such intelligence and grace and is so thoughtful." That's some of the giddy excitement expressed by a few of the many celebrities swarming to Washington, DC this weekend for Obama's inauguration which were collected by USA Today for articles in Thursday's and Friday's "Life" section.

3. NBC's Today Show Touts 'Obama Thongs'; Skimps on Bush Farewell
The three network morning shows on Friday almost totally skipped any coverage of President Bush's farewell address to the country on Thursday. Despite having a combined eight hours of air time, NBC's Today, CBS's Early Show and ABC's Good Morning America devoted only 55 seconds total to reporting on Bush's speech. Instead, important topics such as "Obama thongs" and cheddar biscuits were highlighted. Over a period of two hours, The Early Show ignored the speech entirely. Good Morning America, which has a similar running time, allowed a mere 17 seconds. The Today show, which now encompasses four hours of broadcast time, provided the most, with 38 seconds of information about the address. None of the three programs featured any clips of Bush's farewell.

4. CBS's Parting Shot at Bush: Lowest-Ever Approval Rating
Friday's CBS Evening News delivered a parting shot at outgoing President George W. Bush as fill-in anchor Maggie Rodriguez paired how a just-released CBS News/New York Times survey pegged Bush's approval rating "at just 22 percent" -- which she noted "is the lowest for an outgoing President since the question was first asked more than 70 years ago" -- with how "68 percent said they expect Barack Obama to be a good or very good President."


Top 100: Actors, Bands and Singers Converge
to Celebrate Obama

Following HBO's multiple Sunday showings of "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial," featuring a "who's who" of artists, a list of one hundred-plus celebrities planning to celebrate Obama's inauguration over the next few days in DC, such as: Beyonce, Steve Carell, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jenna Elfman, Jamie Foxx, Tom Hanks, John Mellencamp, Garth Brooks, Bruce Spingsteen and Marisa Tomei.

The list of people and groups -- those scheduled to perform, appear at an event or ball or listed on a host committee (many will participate in more than one event) -- was collated from a bunch sources, starting with the AP's Thursday article, "Hollywood on the Potomac: Where the stars will be." See: news.yahoo.com

That was supplemented by the WashingtonPost.com's "Party Central" and its The Sleuth blog: www.washingtonpost.com

USAToday.com's entertainment blog: blogs.usatoday.com

And MSNBC.com's The Scoop blog: www.msnbc.msn.com

Those with an * took part in the Lincoln Memorial event, the rights to which HBO paid the inaugural committee $2.5 million. HBO's page for the two-hour show, with re-run times: www.hbo.com

[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Sunday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Jessica Alba

Marc Anthony

Patricia Arquette

Joan Baez

Angela Bassett

Harry Belafonte

Halle Berry

* Beyonce (Sasha Fierce)

* Jack Black

* Mary J. Blige

Bono

Beastie Boys

Amy Brenneman

* Garth Brooks

Jackson Browne

* Steve Carell

Mariah Carey

Cedric the Entertainer

George Clinton

The Commodores

Elvis Costello

* Sheryl Crow

John Cusack

Billy Ray Cyrus

Miley Cyrus

Tim Daly

Rosario Dawson

Leonardo DiCaprio

Jenna Elfman

Giancarlo Esposito

Melissa Etheridge

* Jamie Foxx

Aretha Franklin

Brendan Fraser

Lou Gossett Jr.

Macy Gray

* Josh Groban

Jasmine Guy

Maggie Gyllenhaal

* Herbie Hancock

* Tom Hanks

Ed Harris

Anne Hathaway

Faith Hill

Ron Howard

Terrence Howard

Jonas Brothers

LL Cool J

* Samuel L. Jackson

Wyclef Jean

Scarlett Johansson

* Jon Bon Jovi

* Ashley Judd

Alicia Keys

Chaka Khan

Carol King

Ashton Kutcher

* Queen Latifah

Cyndi Lauper

Spike Lee

* John Legend

* Laura Linney

George Lopez

Jennifer Lopez

Ludacris

Amy Madigan

Maroon 5

* John Mellencamp

Moby

Demi Moore

Graham Nash

Edward Norton

Edward James Olmos

Sarah Jessica Parker

Rosie Perez

Tyler Perry

Lisa Marie Presley

Tim Robbins

Peter Saarsgaard

Susan Sarandon

Seal

* Shakira

Rick Shroeder

Russell Simmons

Will Smith

Steven Spielberg

* Bruce Springsteen

Sting

* James Taylor

* Marisa Tomei

Chris Tucker

* U2

Blair Underwood

* Usher

Rufus Wainwright

Dionne Warwick

* Denzel Washington

Forest Whitaker

* will.i.am

Oprah Winfrey

* Stevie Wonder

Jay-Z

This list does not include those planning to attend the inauguration but not listed as taking part in any event, such as actresses Gloria Reuben, Kim Raver and Maura Tierney, whose views were quoted are quoted in #2 below.

Updated: Celebs Swarm to DC Giddy for
Obama's 'Magic Moment'

[This is an updated item, with two fresh quotes, from Friday's CyberAlert.] "I'm so happy my children have a real hero to look up to" in "a truly scholarly man" who will make an "intelligent, constitutionally brilliant President" at a time when "people are so ready to rejoice and celebrate what is hopefully the return of the foundation of the United States" so "my eyes well up just thinking about" Barack Obama being sworn in since "I'm calm for the first time in eight years," knowing "somebody is in charge that has such intelligence and grace and is so thoughtful."

That's some of the giddy excitement expressed by a few of the many celebrities swarming to Washington, DC this weekend for Obama's inauguration which were collected by USA Today for articles in Thursday's and Friday's "Life" section.

[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Saturday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

# Actress Gloria Reuben, now in TNT's Raising the Bar and formerly on NBC's ER, will be on hand Tuesday "to watch the magic moment happen" since she yearns for an end to the "hell" of the Bush years. (Screen capture is from Reuben on ABC's This Week in 2006 when she was promoting a play in which she played Condoleezza Rice):
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime situation. The last eight years have been such hell. We're all so excited about the hope of things to come. I really think that's part of it. People are so ready to rejoice and celebrate what is hopefully the return of the foundation of the United States."

# Actor Josh Lucas (I've never heard of him either): "I've been around him and shook his hand. He's a truly scholarly man. I'm very excited that we have this powerful, intelligent, constitutionally brilliant President. I find him very soulful in private."

# Actress Ashley Judd. "A highlight of her inaugural adventure, of course, is her prime seat for watching Obama be sworn in," USA Today relayed: "My eyes well up just thinking about it....I do think that everyone is hungry and excited for change. But I also think there is a very grave collective awareness of the fact that we're in a real pickle. I can't believe that we've got this incredible President-elect, and he is inheriting, oh my gosh, one crisis after another."

# Actress Kim Raver, now on NBC's Lipstick Jungle and formerly on Fox's 24: "[Barack Obama's] presence is so larger-than-life. I'm so happy my children have a real hero to look up to....We're in such difficult times right now and it's very hard for so many people, and for a man as intelligent and charismatic to come along and unite this country -- to watch him bring so many people together -- that's really what America is. To be a part of that will be a really remarkable life moment, I think."

# Actress Maura Tierney, best-known as "Abby Lockhart" on NBC's ER: "I'm calm for the first time in eight years, that somebody is in charge that has such intelligence and grace and is so thoughtful. I feel calm that the country is falling apart, but really that he's in charge now. There's a relief that I feel. After this past administration, I feel really lucky."

The Thursday article, "Inauguration will be a 'magic moment' for celebs, too," by Donna Freydkin and Olivia Barker: www.usatoday.com

The Friday story, "Celebs head for D.C., express hopes for a brighter future," by Kelley L. Carter and Arienne Thompson: www.usatoday.com

IMDb pages:

Judd: www.imdb.com

Lucas: www.imdb.com

Reuben: www.imdb.com

Raver: www.imdb.com
Tierney: www.imdb.com

NBC's Today Show Touts 'Obama Thongs';
Skimps on Bush Farewell

The three network morning shows on Friday almost totally skipped any coverage of President Bush's farewell address to the country on Thursday. Despite having a combined eight hours of air time, NBC's Today, CBS's Early Show and ABC's Good Morning America devoted only 55 seconds total to reporting on Bush's speech. Instead, important topics such as "Obama thongs" and cheddar biscuits were highlighted.

Over a period of two hours, The Early Show ignored the speech entirely. Good Morning America, which has a similar running time, allowed a mere 17 seconds. The Today show, which now encompasses four hours of broadcast time, provided the most, with 38 seconds of information about the address. None of the three programs featured any clips of Bush's farewell. (In contrast, on March 19, 2008, the day after then-presidential candidate Barack Obama's speech on race, these same shows allowed nine and a half minutes of sound bites of the Democrat.)

[This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Friday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Of course, much of Friday's programming recounted the incredible tale of passengers and pilots who survived a water landing on the Hudson River in New York. However, the three shows certainly had time to revel in the frivolous, including silly stories related to President-elect Barack Obama. On Today, host Hoda Kotb held up the latest in Obama thongs. (Kotb and co-host Kathie Lee Gifford giggled at the "Momma Got Hope" logo on the front of one thong.)

Over on GMA, co-host Robin Roberts and others spent over four minutes cooking bacon and cheddar biscuits with Emeril Lagasse. Additionally, co-host Diane Sawyer discussed whether Obama had the right dancing moves for the inaugural dance.

Finally, the Early Show, which had zero coverage of Bush's speech, featured two Obama related segments, one on patriotic arts and crafts and a second on a Harlem school that will be having a group of children perform at Barack Obama's inauguration.

What little coverage there was of Bush's speech often featured Obama. On GMA, guest news anchor Deborah Roberts announced, "President Bush's next public event will be attending Barack Obama's inauguration." Natalie Morales on NBC said of Bush: "And he praised President-elect Obama, calling him a man whose history reflects the enduring promise of our land."

Transcripts of the three January 16 news briefs follow:

# NBC's Today:

7:21am
NATALIE MORALES: And it was President Bush's farewell address last night. He said, while some don't agree with his decisions, he said [sic] he always acted in the best interests of the country and is leaving office filled with gratitude.

8:04
MORALES: President Bush is defending his two terms in office as he prepares to leave office on Tuesday. During his farewell speech last night, the President claimed foreign policy successes in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also said his administration took decisive action to save the nation's economy when it slipped into recession. And he praised President-elect Obama, calling him a man whose history reflects the enduring promise of our land.

# ABC's GMA:

8:10am
DEBORAH ROBERTS: President Bush's next public event will be attending Barack Obama's inauguration. In his farewell address to the nation last night, Mr. Bush recognized that he's had good days and bad days. And he said while some in the nation didn't agree with his tough decisions, they must agree that he was willing to make them.

CBS's Parting Shot at Bush: Lowest-Ever
Approval Rating

Friday's CBS Evening News delivered a parting shot at outgoing President George W. Bush as fill-in anchor Maggie Rodriguez paired how a just-released CBS News/New York Times survey pegged Bush's approval rating "at just 22 percent" -- which she noted "is the lowest for an outgoing President since the question was first asked more than 70 years ago" -- with how "68 percent said they expect Barack Obama to be a good or very good President."

The CBSNews.com summary of the poll pointed out the partisan disparity in assessing Bush: "Views of Mr. Bush's popularity are highly partisan. Only 6 percent of Democrats approve of the job he has done as president, while 57 percent of Republicans approve. Eighteen percent of independents approve." See: www.cbsnews.com

[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Friday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

The short item from Rodriguez on the Friday, January 16 CBS Evening News: "There's no question the economic crisis contributed to President Bush's poor showing in the final CBS News/New York Times poll on his job performance. This poll, out tonight, puts Mr. Bush's approval rating at just 22 percent. That is the lowest for an outgoing President since the question was first asked more than 70 years ago. Meanwhile, 68 percent said they expect Barack Obama to be a good or very good President."

-- Brent Baker