Sorry you couldn’t all have been here for the “Women of Soul” concert on Thursday. Butt good news: you little people can vicariously enjoy the Women of Soul: In Performance at the White House on April 7 on PBS (9 p.m. ET/PT, times may vary).
The festivities began in the afternoon with Lady M, some of the Women of Soul, and students from across the country for a workshop called "I'm Every Woman: The History of Women in Soul."
And wouldn’t you know it? The one and only time Lady M’s Nickelodeon soul-full get-up might have fit right in…
she chose to wear one of Granny R’s old dusters instead.
And believe me, it was no more charming in the going than in the coming:
At the workshop Lady M shared this sage advice with the youth of America:
“Find your own voice and be proud of it,” she said. “And then, sing your butt off. Or work your butt off. Or whatever you do, do it until your butt comes off. “
I think what she meant was “follow your heart.” In Lady M’s case, were still in-search-of our bliss.
Anyway, when the main event got under way that evening, MO’s frock choice for the soul sister session started to make sense: Lady M swapped Granny the housedress for her Nickelodeon outfit! Damn, that woman is talented with her little Singer sewing machine!
Butt you want to hear about the concert:
“What a lineup!” Obama declared at the outset of a concert that featured a generations-spanning array of soul singers that stretched from musical legends Aretha Franklin and Patti LaBelle to 20-year-old Ariana Grande.
Obama paid tribute to Franklin for turning her signature song “Respect” into “a rallying cry for African-Americans, women and then everyone who felt marginalized.” [ed. forever memorialized in the great movie, The Blues Brothers]
The pumped-up audience gave a hearty laugh but was more than willing to forgive the president for spelling it “R-S-P-E-C-T.” [It was totally TOTUS’ fault, he recently uploaded the new Common Core spelling curriculum]
First up in the East Room lineup was LaBelle, with a thundering delivery of “Over the Rainbow” that had the audience on its feet.
It was a mutual admiration society of sorts as LaBelle thanked the Obamas for their tenure in the White House, declaring, “Baby, you got swag!”
[ed. Oh yeah, baby definitely got swag! (courtesy of the Saudi Arabian King]
The emotional high point came when Franklin, 71, sauntered in, gave a shimmy and declared “Let’s have a party.” Then she went right into “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You).” She was back later to close down the show with what Obama called “one more treat” – a slow, soulful rendition of “Amazing Grace” that turned rowdy at the end.
[ed. Note: Aretha has ditched the blonde prima donna hair for a short, natural crop, and the sleeveless look for covered shoulders. Trendsetter? We can only HOPE.]
Butt hey - in presidential years Thursday was a long time ago! Since then we’ve 1) cast another harsh stare in Russia’s direction and 2) flown to Florida to empathize with the students of Coral Ridge High School who can’t afford to go to college without BO’s financial assistance. Which he’s more than willing to give them in this, his “year of (executive) action.”
Like Lady M, BO took time to impart some hard-earned wisdom to the young ‘uns of Coral Reef:
"When I was your age, I didn't know what I was doing," President Obama told the students. "I was lucky if I got out of bed on time."
That was partially due to the fact that he often hadn’t gotten to bed yet: and not because he was studying.
It’s 3:00 am. A phone is ringing. I’d answer it if I could find my keys.
And speaking of Keys…surprise! We decided to go ahead with our mini-vacay in the exclusive Ocean Reef enclave in Key Largo after all! Since we were all down here any way.
Butt let me assure you that we will be treated just like ordinary people here this weekend: we are going to lose an hour of sleep tonight too. I just HOPE we don’t get any of those 3:00 am phone calls.
Linked By: @MuseumTwenty, @ValCSilver on twitter, and BlogsLucianneLoves, and NOBO2012 on Free Republic, Thanks!
Cross-Posted on Patriot Action Network
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