Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Best Dance of the Night!

1 comment:

hollybeth75 said...

I think the dance was sweet and nice. I wonder what I would think if I looked at my husband, who just got elected to this position. But honestly my main thoughts as I watched this was about the song and Beyonce's rendition of it (not that great and I like Beyonce). I LOVE Etta James and wondered why SHE wasn't singing it. It is one of my favorite songs actually. Anyhow I saw this article today and laughed:

Etta James Says, 'I Can't Stand Beyoncé'
Feb. 4, 2009, 8:42 PM EST
MSN Entertainment

If you were wondering why Beyoncé and not Etta James was asked to serenade the president and first lady with "At Last" during their first dance at an inauguration ball on Jan. 20, you're not alone.

Etta, 71, whom Beyoncé went blonde to portray in last year's "Cadillac Records," is wondering the same thing, and she candidly expressed her displeasure during a concert stop in Seattle last week.

"You guys know your president, right?" she asked the crowd amid cheers (listen to it here. "You know the one with the big ears? Wait a minute, he ain't my president, he might be yours, he ain't my president. You know that woman he had singing for him, singing my song -- she's gonna get her a-- whipped. The great Beyoncé ... But I can't stand Beyoncé. She has no business up there, singing up there on a big ol' president day ... singing my song that I've been singing forever."

Granted, Etta's version of "At Last" has long been a standard, but Beyoncé has performed it many times over the last several months, and the chanteuses happily posed together at the "Cadillac Records" premiere in November.

In a post-inauguration chat with the New York Daily News, Etta's son insisted she was delighted by Beyoncé's performance.

"She thought it was great," said Donto James, who explained that his mother wasn't feeling well enough to travel to Washington, D.C. "She's gotten emotional, just like everybody else. ... She was honored."

Beyoncé's rep has yet to comment on the kerfuffle