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“At Last” For President Obama

by David Yi 21 January 2009 448 views 2 Comments E-mail David Yi

The Obamas and their first dance. Source: MTV News

The Obamas and their first dance. Source: MTV News

Beyonce left Sasha Fierce at home yesterday as she humbly performed at both the Inauguration Ceremony and the Inauguration Ball.

A nervous Knowles told Entertainment Tonight prior to the performance that she was “so honored” to be performing for President Obama and First Lady Michelle.

For one of the first times, Knowles showed a softer, almost vulnerable side to the nation and was visibly nervous and star-struck in front of the Obamas.

The Obamas have certainly become celebrities themselves and have transformed into being America’s sweethearts with recent tabloids and newspapers covering their relationship as closely as Brangelina and Maniston.With the recently wrapped inauguration ceremonies yesterday, the media has gone crazy for everything from Michelle Obama’s fashion, to commenting how suave he is in person, to commending how respectful and “cute” the two Obama girls were in their J. Crew attire, taking pictures of every moment of the day.

In D.C., Beyonce’s performance was mediocre, a little hokey, with celebrities walking up on stage behind her, singing along to her croons and trying to keep up with her flamboyant ad libs. Blame it on D.C.’s cold weather, but Beyonce’s vibrato carried on a little obnoxiously, and dragged “America the Beautiful,” into a rendition of oblivion. It was quite peculiar, and even awkward in the middle when, during the transition, she sang, for the filler:  “America, can you feel it, stand up, sing with me…” and you couldn’t help but cringe when she ended in a falsetto that didn’t end in completion. It was all a little too Christmas-y, where the camera panned from celebrities like Tom Hanks and Samuel L. Jackson, singing together, hand-in-hand in a Kumbaya fashion.

Thank the stars (on our flag) that Beyonce’s “At Last” performance at the ball was much, much better than the one earlier in the afternoon. Forget that the singer strangely looks like a giant in the video, her heartfelt song was symbolic. Not only was the song debuted the same year Obama was born (1961), it was what Professor Greg Johnson of the University of Mississippi, said meant more because of the current times. As told to MTV News: “At last the United States has overcome its past fears of people of mixed race, at last the United States has chosen positive vision over the status quo.”


With the Obamas endearingly dancing their first of the night, it was apparent that Beyonce was touched, and at the end of the song, she choked a little, teared up, and bowed in reverance the the First Family of color to ever be in office.

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2 Comments »

  • tila said:

    the obamas are darling!

  • Ray said:

    YES!

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