The Remote Island

Musicians Will Be Limited To One Song Each At HBO's Inaugural Celebration

Posted by Jake Kalish

 

Performers will include Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, U2, John Mellencamp, Sheryl Crow, Herbie Hancock, Shakira, Mary J. Blige, James Taylor, Josh Groban, Usher, Garth Brooks, Renee Fleming, John Legend, and, of course, Obama's personal fave, Stevie Wonder. And each will be limited to one song. So what will they play? Your guess is as good as ours...

So Barack Obama's HBO-televised Sunday night concert will be called We are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration At The Lincoln Memorial. The event starts at 2:30 p.m. (here's a full list and schedule of inaugural activities)  but HBO will broadcast starting at 7 Eastern time. This is made even more interesting by the news that each performer will be limited to one song. So what will they play? We like this game, guess with us.

Springsteen - The Rising. Easy call. Next.

Stevie Wonder - Signed, Sealed, Delivered. Easier call. Now it gets tricky.

U2 - We were going to say Beautiful Day, but given the name of the concert, they might go with One, in which case Mary J. Blige could sing with them. But then, we suppose, she couldn't do her own song, lest she exceed the one-song limit and promptly get kicked out of the country for life. We like Mary J. Blige, we don't want to see her deported. 

Usher - We hope he goes with Yeah!, if only because that would get Lil' John  onstage, And anytime Lil' John and Hillary Clinton are in the same place, anything can happen.

And so on. Mellencamp has a whole lot of America songs, most of which seem inappropriate for the inauguration of a black guy from a big city. But he can make it happen. John Legend can't do America The Beautiful because Aretha's doing that on Inauguration Day. This is tricky - what are your guesses? 

PREVIOUSLY:

HBO'S GOT THE OBAMA INAUGURATION CEREMONY

OUR OBAMA ARCHIVE


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About Jake Kalish

Jake Kalish is the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights http://www.amazon.com/Santa-vs-Satan-Compendium-Imaginary/dp/0307406709/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1208807460&sr=8-1

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    Jake Kalish is a freelance journalist and humorist whose work has appeared in Details, Maxim, Stuff, New York Press, Spin, Blender, Men's Fitness, Poets and Writers, and Playboy, among other publications. He is also the author of Santa vs. Satan: The Official Compendium of Imaginary Fights.

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