HBO will air the star-studded inaugural event from the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday which includes such headliners as Beyonce, U2, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Usher, Shakira, and Sheryl Crow.
Although this cable network is only available for a monthly fee to subscribers, Sunday's celebration will be free to anyone that wants to watch.
HBO also aired this event in 1993 when President Bill Clinton was first inaugurated. For some reason, the cable network skipped it in 2001 when George W. Bush was moving to Washington, D.C., as reported by the Associated Press:
Beyonce, U2, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Usher, Shakira, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban and James Taylor are among the musicians scheduled to perform Sunday afternoon. The president-elect and his family are due to attend, with Obama expected to speak.
Other performers include Stevie Wonder, Renee Fleming, Garth Brooks, Mary J. Blige, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend and Jennifer Nettles. Historical passages will be read by Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington, with other celebrities expected to join them.
HBO will televise the show at 7 p.m. EST. [...]
HBO televised a similar inaugural concert in 1993, for President Clinton's first term in office.
HBO will be offering an open feed to its cable and satellite distributors on Sunday, meaning the pay cable network will be given free to anyone who wants to watch it.
Hmmm. I guess Republican inaugurations aren't important to HBO.




















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The subliminal message
January 13, 2009 - 11:12 ET by KC MulvilleThe subliminal message is that the Beautiful People are welcoming and celebrating Obama -- so shouldn't you?
Why didn't HBO have a similar event for Bush? Because people tune into HBO looking for porn, and they knew they wouldn't find any at the Bush inauguration.
Home Box Office should change its name to...
January 13, 2009 - 11:18 ET by R D Helm...the Hail Barrack Obama channel.
I can't believe that people actually pay real money to have that hideous service cabled into their homes each month. I got rid of it years ago, and have missed it not at all.
-Dave
“Them that’s going get on the wagon. Them that ain’t get out of the way.” -While there is still time.
That's really OK with me if
January 13, 2009 - 11:23 ET by pitter43That's really OK with me if HBO is parading obama's coronation and passed on President Bush's inauguration. I'm passing on obama's coronation unless I hear that shots have been fired while listening to the radio.
Disgusting
January 13, 2009 - 14:11 ET by ProssI'm passing on obama's coronation unless I hear that shots have been fired while listening to the radio.
That's disgusting. I hate BHO's politics and meteoric rise to the political fame via the liberal media as much as any self respecting conservative. However, to wish assassination on an elected official is a horrible thing to hope for regardless of ones politcal affiliation.
"We will not tire, We will no falter, We will not fail." President George W. Bush, October 26, 2001
Pross, well said. Disagree
January 13, 2009 - 15:04 ET by amiesPross, well said. Disagree with the politics as much as you want but to actively hope for harm to befall someone is just sick.
agreed
January 13, 2009 - 15:05 ET by jazzact13I agree, Pross. I don't know if pitter really wishes that, but how the posted was worded could give that impression.
"Thoroughly worldly people never understand even the world; they rely altogether on a few cynical maxims which are not true."
Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Bruce, Bono, Mellenhead, Crow & Taylor...
January 13, 2009 - 11:23 ET by SickofLibsaka LibtardFest 09.
The little 'speeches' you know they're gonna give will be almost worth watching... but not really.
Especially Bruce - virtually every track on his last album was devoted to Bush-bashing.
Re: B.S.
January 13, 2009 - 12:00 ET by Andante..."Especially Bruce - virtually every track on his last album was devoted to Bush-bashing."...
I see where B.S. will be doing the half-time show at the Super Bowl. I expect him to make some kind of political statement. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the fans. I'd love to see him get booed off the stage.
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"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
Thomas Jefferson
bruce
January 13, 2009 - 12:11 ET by SickofLibsI'm sure he'll work something in. He'd be pretty stupid if he really shoots his mouth off, though.
Love his music (mostly), hate his politics (totally).
Glory Days
January 13, 2009 - 12:20 ET by AndanteI liked his Glory Days (reminds me of someone I know ;-)
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"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
Thomas Jefferson
SoL, Bruce Springsteen is a waste of sound waves.
January 13, 2009 - 12:26 ET by R D Helm'nough said.
-Dave
“Them that’s going get on the wagon. Them that ain’t get out of the way.” -While there is still time.
contact HBO
January 13, 2009 - 11:37 ET by guefyJust for fun, I went to the HoBO.com website and contacted them to see if they could replay the Bush inaugeration. I mentioned that somehow many of us missed it, but remember Clinton's being on there.
LOL. All I remember about
January 13, 2009 - 12:26 ET by kgLOL. All I remember about Bush's was how the press complained about it, the cost etc.
"Forget change, I want improvement!"
HBO
January 13, 2009 - 11:50 ET by DoktorFrankenHussein's Bullcrap Overload.
The One shall be Crowned and his most loyal subjects will be there to lift his Mighty Robes. If they make a song for this (''We Are The One, We Have Been Waiting For'' - sung to the tune of ''We Are The World'') I will hurl.
Who gives a rat's butt? Anyone?
Most of the "stars" mentioned......
January 13, 2009 - 12:01 ET by richard.....are of limited talent anyway. Springsteen couldn't carry a tune if his life depended on it. He always looks dirty, sweaty and unshaven. Mellenkamp and Taylor are so passe' it's beyond commenting. Crow is just that, a simpleton crow! But the worst of them all is Bono. This guy sucks to the max. His show is half bad music and half infomercial about his personal beliefs. His idea of talent is to change his colored sun glasses a half dozen times during a show. AND...and, this guy is Irish, so keep your ridiculous thoughts and suggestions about our country to yourself. And did I mention, he also can't sing worth a crap. Only the dimwitted dope smokers think this guy is cool. He's a get-over, that laughs all the way to the bank, with his loot from the brainless that follow him around.
With the cast of noted performers in attendance, the only one I didn't see was Ray Nagin from New Orleans. He could have proclaimed that DC is today officially a "chocolate city."
Can I get an Amen?
Amen!
January 13, 2009 - 12:19 ET by DoktorFrankenSure they're past their prime and mediocre talents. But I watch to see their wardrobes.
Yikes! More bile taste than usual. I will halt this bout of sarcasm immediately.
Lovely "liberals"
January 13, 2009 - 12:02 ET by iveseenitallIn a similar story regarding those "loving", "tolerant" "liberals", the DC Metro commuter service will be putting Barry Obama's picture on its' tickets on inauguration day. They didn't do this during the two Bush inaugurals. The last time they did it? You guessed it, 1993. No bias there, right? I wrote to their Board of Directors. No response, of course. Hypocrites!
NEVER.NEVER trust a "liberal"
A liberal is being inaugurated, so Hollyweird cheers
January 13, 2009 - 12:05 ET by Mary Louise Turner*Sigh* Once again, HBO and the Hollyweird gang reveal their true colors. Inaugurations only matter if a leftist is being sworn into office. Otherwise, forget it...
We conservatives should no longer consume anything that comes out of Hollyweird. Between the profanity, the disgusting contempt for anything remotely conservative and liberal pandering, it's too much for any average conservative to bear.
Bush had an inaugural?
January 13, 2009 - 12:34 ET by Gary HallBush had an inaugural?
I do remember all of the media attention on the vile and angry protestors lining the parade route. It was a rainy cold day. The media was very depressed and dark.
HBO is Correct
January 13, 2009 - 12:35 ET by AgnosticBecause of the "Star-studded" part I would have to give HBO a pass on this because they will make money show celebrities be idiots and that is a good business decision.
A person may be won over with logic and reason but the masses must be bought with spectacle and platitudes. - 2008 Elections
Who cares about them?
January 13, 2009 - 13:42 ET by ckbennetttnI used to think that the music you listened to, the movies you liked mattered, and to a degree I believe it does but only in the way it negatively affects you. Entertainers are far too self-important, self-congratulatory to be of any worth. It is way past time to part ways with these people. We would be hard-pressed to identify one positive thing rock music has done for this world. Like Laura Ingraham said, "Shut up and sing." I care far more about what my family's, neighbor's, coworker's, fellow churchgoer's views are on things than what Bono, Springsteen or Sheryl Crow think about something. Furthermore, my family, coworkers, etc. are better informed.
“I am the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal.” --Barack Obama
I'm confused
January 13, 2009 - 14:21 ET by Prester JohnFor the last 4 years or so we've been told that we were living in a Fascist dictatorship lead by the evilllll BushChimpMcDumbAss and that all elections were cancelled until further notice since everybody was going to get drafted and sent to Iraq so they could have their heads blown off for Chimpy's amusement (as expressed by Congress critter Stark Dumbass-CA).
Did I miss something?
I don't think anyone
January 13, 2009 - 14:43 ET by ConservativeRexI don't think anyone needed further proof of who's music not to buy. These knuckleheads must think that there is not a Conservative audience that buys and enjoys CD's or those who own MP3's etc.
I guess they can afford to ignore us.
So?
January 13, 2009 - 14:46 ET by StarAZBog woo. No one can afford HBO any more, and it we could, there is nothing on it...Case in point--the Coronation.
I meant...
January 13, 2009 - 14:51 ET by StarAZI meant "big," not bog...but did you notice HBO and BHO...if I were into conspiracies...
Bono???
January 13, 2009 - 15:02 ET by amiesWhat's the difference between Bono and Jesus? Jesus doesn't think he's Bono
"The president-elect and
January 13, 2009 - 15:06 ET by Texasteacher"The president-elect and his family are due to attend, with Obama expected to speak."
...I'd hope he'd have the time to come down from the mountain for his own coronation...
I know it'll piss my wife (history teacher) off royally, but I've had enough of his s*** already so I'm not watching.
You know, they should just do what they're all wanting to do. Just like the muslims, we will have "prayers" at a certain time on Fridays. It's when they gather around and talk about how great their lord and savior is. Then they ---censored--- themselves while looking at a picture of a shirtless obama on the beach with a halo over his head. Oh wait, Chris Matthews already has that going...
Making a List and checking it twice...
January 13, 2009 - 15:24 ET by UtherpendI will be keeping a list of those stars attending and especially those giving speeches. When my list is complete I will not continue to give them my hard earned dollars any longer.
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you."
Given the political
January 13, 2009 - 15:29 ET by fitzfongGiven the political leanings of some of this network's programming, this event doesn't come as a huge surprise. That said, it's a calculated business decision by HBO...and the network's right to make that decision. And, as I believe the actual popular demand for this inauguration is wildly overstated, I think it will prove to be an unwise decision. But if HBO can afford to take a loss, more power to 'em.
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitzfong.blogspot.com
Shameless opportunistists...
January 13, 2009 - 16:50 ET by JPR1all of them.
Especially Bono. The guy will run to any corner of the globe to promote himself.
Springsteen is a fraudulent Springsteen.
Mellencamp, Taylor, Crow: has-beens of the shallowest kind.
Garth Brooks the token CW act? Someone twisting his arm?
Who's Jennifer Nettles?
Usher
January 13, 2009 - 18:16 ET by zoro7957..................I don't know `bout ya all, but I alwayz vote who ever Usher votes for, cuz he seems really smart.
George Bush Inauguration
January 13, 2009 - 21:47 ET by shawn228Could George Bush have gotten a star studded turn out like this one?
I'm sure he would have had not problem getting Hank Williams Jr and Toby Keith, but other than country could he have gotten such star participation?
He had my vote
Oh ...of course not
January 13, 2009 - 21:58 ET by bigtimerOh ...of course not shawn.
Btw...who cares now anyway.
Let's move on.
O's the One!
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
HBO is pathetic
January 13, 2009 - 22:51 ET by jefflebowskiI used to subscribe to HBO when they showed movies. Cancelled my description because of that tool Maher and have not missed it one little bit. Why feed the hand that bites me?
Angry White Dude
www.angrywhitedude.c...
Same here AWD. "America
January 14, 2009 - 00:21 ET by bigtimerSame here AWD.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Great points bt ;-)
January 13, 2009 - 23:34 ET by shawn228You said a mouthful.
He had my vote
Nope No Bias
January 14, 2009 - 00:46 ET by NorthCoasterNope No Bias at HBO!
The BHO and Billary channel.
And isn't QVC and the Home
January 14, 2009 - 01:16 ET by RR GOPAnd isn't QVC and the Home Shopping Network getting in on the act, too?
Did they or HBO even have live feeds on 9-11?
I always thought those were channels where if the sky was literally falling, they'd keep running whatever they had on no matter what.
One of the 24% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 89% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.