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Page 14
March 02, 2011
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White House Jams to the Motown
Musical pioneers perform with current stars
(AP) — The White House rever
berated like a long-ago basement
sound studio in Detroit as the likes
of John Legend, Seal, Jamie Foxx,
Nick Jonas and Sheryl Crow chan
neled their inner Motown before
Michelle and Barack Obama.
M usical p io n ee rs Sm okey
Robinson and Stevie Wonderjoined
in for the celebration of all things
Motown.
O bam a on T hursday called
Motown's music "the soundtrack
of the civil rights era," and credited
the pioneering record label's tight
lyrics, catchy melodies and deep
soul with helping to "blur the line
between music that was considered
either black or white."
Foxx, Seal, Legend and Jonas
launched the East Room concert
celebrating the Motown sound with
a high-energy medley in which the
four took turns as backup dancers,
complete with some smooth dance
moves to the likes of "Get Ready,"
"The Way You Do the Things You
Do," "Can't Get Next to You" and
"Ain't Too Proud to Beg."
he joked
Obama and the singers paid hom
age to the genuine Motown greats
in the lineup: Robinson and Won
der.
And M otown founder Berry
Gordy was in the audience to hear
Obama recount his record label's
modest beginnings in a basement
on West Grand Boulevard in De
troit, decorated with a banner out
side that read "Hitsville, USA."
"At co n certs in the South,
Motown groups literally brought
people together — insisting that
the ropes traditionally used to sepa
rate black and white audience mem
bers be taken down," Obama re
counted.
Robinson teamed up with Crow
to sing one of his earliest hits,
" You've Really Got a Hold On Me."
Seal performs during "The Motown Sound: In Performance at the
And then he turned the stage
White House" program on Thursday in Washington. D.C.
over to "another guy who was here
right from the beginning" — Won
Not to be outdone, the trio of tion of "Heard It Through the Grape der.
Natasha Bedingfield, Jordin Sparks vine" that left Foxx, who also served
W onder performed "You Are the
and Ledisi took a Supremes-esque as the program's host, to joke that Sunshine of My Life" and kicked off
turn singing "Stop! In the Name of nowadays the story was more likely the finale that brought all the artists
Love."
to be "heard it through my Twitter." back on stage for "Dancing in the
Legend delivered a soulful rendi
"I'm going to tweet it right now," Street."
Earlier on Thursday, Legend and
Jonas performed before cheering
teenagers at a workshop in the State
Dining Room that served as a tuto
rial on the history of the genre.
"Times have changed but the
amazing thing is that that music is
still relevant," Legend told report
ers after he had delivered a room
filling rendition of Wonder's "Love's
in Need of Love Today."
Michelle Obama told the young
people that the color-barrier-shat-
tering music of her youth "was so
much more than just a soundtrack.
It was a heartbeat."
"As Motown rose, so did the
forces of change in this country,"
she said
The first lady in tro d u c ed
Robinson and Gordy as "true trail
blazers," adding: "There wouldn't
be an Usher if there wasn't a Smokey
Robinson. You know, there wouldn't
be an Alicia Keys without a Gladys
Knight."
And she confessed to a soft spot
for one Motown artist in particular:
"Who's my favorite?" she asked
aloud.
"Stevie Wonder, yes indeed."
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(AP) - Another child of Will and
Jada Pinkett Smith is set to star in the
remake of a Hollywood classic.
Ten-year-old Willow Smith is set
to play the title role in "Annie."
The film is being developed by
Overbrook Entertainment, which the
Smiths co-own, along with Shawn
"Jay-Z" Carter and Sony Pictures.
Last year, 12-year-oldJaden Smith
starred in a remake of "The Karate
Kid," which raked in $343 million
worldwide.
Sony's Columbia Pictures first
brought "Annie" to theaters in 1982.
The movie was based on the
Broadway musical in which a red
headed orphan's life is transformed.