Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The Neighborhood Ball

It looked a little like a "Soul Train" special, but "Neighborhood Ball: An Inaugural Celebration" that took up prime time Tuesday was in fact not only an official inauguration ball, but the first to be attended by the first couple.


Described as the first inauguration ball opened to the people (at least since Andy Jackson), it was also the first ball in memory on a broadcast network, and its pedigree of stars made it pretty good entertainment regardless of your politics.

It began with Will.I.Am, who has popped up for every Obama occasion since well before Wolf Blitzer beamed him down via hologram election night., doing "A Brand New Day," which became a theme of the night.

Mary J. Blige got things moving with "Just Fine." Other than token rock band Maroon 5, it was a high octane R&B night.

And because of its placement in the order of presidential appearance, it peaked a bit early. Immediately after Mariah Carey did "Hero" in a gown cut as deep as the Dow, out came Barack and Michelle Obama to greet the crowd.

Everybody expects his every utterance to be Lincoln-quality. But the first words out of his mouth was: "How good lookin' is my wife?"

Hey, it was his party.

"We got the idea for the neighborhood ball, we are neighborhood people and I cut my teeth doing neighborhood work," he said.

He encouraged those present to use their energy to pitch in and volunteer. "I need you the next four years," he said, "and who knows after that?"

Then he took his wife on a twirl to his chosen song, "At Last," as sung by Beyonce, full of emotion. He'd dance to instrumental versions of "At Last" at subsequent ball stops.

Beyonce was introduced by Denzel Washington who stood in a gaggle of celebs that included Faith Hill, Sting and his wife and Diddy and his mom.

While the couple was there, they had the big all-star moment halfway through the telecast, with Will.I.Am, Mary J. Blige, Maroon 5, Mariah Carey, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Shakira, Faith Hill and Sting helping Stevie Wonder sing his hit "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" to which the president attempted his boogie with ball-goers. (his farewell after this song was cut and tacked to the end of the broadcast, as if he stuck around for the whole thing when he clearly did not).

The show went on anyway - Ray Romano did a little stand up comedy; Jay-Z performed his stately "History," Alicia Keys, sang a great "No One" the same way she has for more than a year, starting at a piano and then tearing up as she walked away from it. Its chorus of "everything's going to be all right" resonated but she looked a little sad the new presndent was there to hear her sing it.


You got the idea the talent pool was running dry by the time acrobats Anti-Gravity came on to bounce around on springs. Yeah, it was the same act they used to lose on "America's Got Talent."

But out came Shakira in a strapless gown so slinky she couldn't do her patented moves while doing a bouncy remake of Van Morrison's "Bright Side of the Road."

It was one of two Van Morrison songs of the night, as it happened. That's because the Bidens' chosen song to dance to was his "Have I Told You Lately" (sung by some off screen singer as if they were on "Dancing with the Stars").

Biden briefly addressed the crowd as if he were Mister Rogers: "Welcome to the neighborhood."

As he started to ramble on, he admitted, "The reason I want to keep talking is I can't dance."

Stevie Wonder came out to do another song; Faith Hill sang her "If My Heart Had Wings," and Sting did his own "Brand New Day" with Wonder reprising his role on the original recording, playing harmonica.

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