Jennifer Hudson: First star of the Democrats' big night
DENVER -- Whoever designed -- and approved -- the easy-to-deride backdrop for the Democratic stage show at Invesco Field that opened a few minutes ago probably deserves to worry about their job security.
But whoever arranged for Jennifer Hudson -- she of "Dreamgirls" fame -- to sing the "Star-Spangled Banner" as this unique session of the Democratic National Convention began probably should hit up Barack Obama's campaign for a raise.
Hudson -- no surprise on this -- delivered a stirring rendition of the tough-to-warble anthem.
In the best tradition of politicians linking themselves with Olympic athletes, the early crowd at the stadium was led in the Pledge of Allegiance by gold-medal-winning gymnast Shawn Johnson.
No word on Johnson's political allegiance, but the point is somewhat moot -- she's too young to vote.
-- Don Frederick
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
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The backdrop, the stadium, and the 84,000 Americans,
looked great on this historic night.
Jennifer Hudson, made me feel every word of the National Anthem.
Here it for yourself.
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00017963.html
Posted by: MrUniteUs | August 29, 2008 at 03:38 AM
"the easy-to-deride backdrop... "
We do all know that virtually every American civic building is based on Greek Revival architecture, right?
Since the backdrop actually looks like the East Colonnade of the White House, what exactly are we deriding here?
http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/grounds/kennedy-garden.htm
Posted by: Sid | August 29, 2008 at 07:26 AM
"the easy-to-deride backdrop... "
We do all know that virtually every American civic building is based on Greek Revival architecture, right?
Since the backdrop actually looks like the East Colonnade of the White House, what exactly are we deriding here?
http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/grounds/kennedy-garden.htm
Posted by: Sid | August 29, 2008 at 08:00 AM