Friday, January 16, 2009

Update: "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial"

KICKING OFF INAUGURAL OPENING FESTIVITIES, TO BE SEEN EXCLUSIVELY ON HBO JAN. 18

Bettye LaVette And Pete Seeger Added To Musical Lineup

Jack Black, Steve Carell, Rosario Dawson, Tom Hanks And Laura Linney Added To Lineup Of Readers


Two additional plays have been confirmed for WE ARE ONE: THE OBAMA INAUGURAL CELEBRATION AT THE LINCOLN MEMORIAL, the Opening Celebration for the 56th Presidential Inaugural, to be presented exclusively by HBO on SUNDAY, JAN. 18. In addition to the previously announced 7:00-9:00 p.m. (ET/PT) presentation, the special will also be seen live on HBO at 2:30 p.m.(ET)/11:30 a.m. (PT), as well as at 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT) later that evening. In addition, the event will be streamed live on hbo.com.

HBO will televise the event on an open signal, working with all of its distributors to allow Americans across the country with access to cable, telcos or satellite television to join in the Opening Celebration for free.

HBO will also make the concert available to the Spanish-speaking community on its multiplex channel HBO Latino (2:30-4:30 p.m. ET/PT). All speeches and readings by featured guests will be voiced-over in Spanish, while musical performances will be presented in their original format. The event will also be presented at 7:00 p.m. (ET/PT) and 11:30 p.m. (ET/PT) on HBO Latino the same day.

Musical performers scheduled for the event include Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, Bettye LaVette, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher Raymond IV, Pete Seeger, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, U2, will.i.am and Stevie Wonder. Among those reading historical passages will be Jack Black, Steve Carell, Rosario Dawson, Jamie Foxx, Tom Hanks, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah, Laura Linney and Denzel Washington. The Rt. Reverend V. Gene Robinson will give the invocation. Rob Mathes will be the music director and arranger for the backing band, which will support all of the artists.

- http://www.pic2009.org/

- http://www.hbo.com/weareone/

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