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First Lady Michelle Obama Says The President 'Sings All The Time'

Posted 2/1/12 8:59 am EST by in Barack-Obama, Television


During a January 19 fundraiser at New York's Apollo Theater, President Barack Obama caused a sensation when he launched into a brief, spontaneous a cappella take on Al Green's classic "Let's Stay Together" that set the Internet on fire. Not only did his campaign take the clip and turn it into a ringtone, but all the attention lifted sales of the song a whopping nearly 500 percent.

Now, the First Lady is saying that the president's performance wasn't necessarily an isolated incident and he "does have a beautiful voice, and he sings to me all the time."

When pressed by Jay Leno during an appearance on "The Tonight Show," Michelle Obama told the host that the president "sings a lot of Al Green, Marvin Gaye, a little Stevie [Wonder]. He likes the classics."

Watch:

Check out President Obama's performance of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" after the jump! Read More...

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So You Wanna Have Dinner With President Obama?

Posted 11/23/11 1:22 pm EST by in Barack-Obama


Barack Obama

By Uptin Saiidi

As Republican presidential hopefuls continue on the road to the primaries, President Barack Obama’s campaign for re-election is in full force and trying creative ways to find donors. And not just from the ultra rich.

Last month, the campaign ran a promotion that for a minimum donation of $10 you’d be entered into a lottery to have dinner with the President.

The campaign made true on its promise as four people from across the country were chosen and traveled to Washington, D.C. to dine with Mr. Obama. In a video released by the campaign, their trip is documented leading up to the dinner at a nearby DC restaurant.

One of the winners was Juanita, a teacher from Colorado who worried, "I just hope I remember the questions I’ve been wanting to ask him."

Ken, a United States army veteran from Arizona, claimed, "It’s going to be the most special moment I’ve ever had in my life."

Casey has a small software development company in Minneapolis and was just eager to hear about the day-to-day life of a President. "What does a president’s day look like?" he asked. "Dudes like me never get to hear about." Read More...

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Looking To Make A Difference? MTV And The White House Want To Know What You Are Up To!

Posted 11/3/11 9:15 am EST by in Activism, Barack-Obama, Contest!


Worldwide, the voice of young people has been impacting politics more than ever. It's a movement Barack Obama has been embracing since well before he took office as President of the United States and his commitment to the youth of our great country has not wavered. Now, Pres. Obama is challenging students across the country to share their ideas as part of the White House's Campus Champions of Change contest.

"The White House Champions of Change program highlights the stories and examples of citizens across the country that represent President Obama’s vision of out-innovating, out-educating, and out-building the rest of the world through projects and initiatives that move their communities forward," the White House said. "Many of the most innovative and effective ideas are coming from young people on college campuses across the country."

Entering the competition is easy. Full details and the entry form for the competition can be found on the program's website and for more information on the competition, visit MTV Act blog.

In early 2012, the five teams with the most public support (yeah, the public will decide which campus programs they think are best! Democracy!) will visit the White House and will collaborate with mtvU and MTV Act to create features on their projects that will air on mtvU and be featured on MTV.com. The winning team will host an episode of mtvU’s popular program, Dean's List.

If you are a socially conscious college student looking to affect change, this competition is for you!

For more, visit MTV Act.

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Jennifer Hudson Serenades President Obama On His 50th Birthday

Posted 8/4/11 1:00 pm EST by in Barack-Obama, jennifer-hudson


Jennifer Hudson, Barack Obama and Marilyn Monroe

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

President Barack Obama turns 50 today! And he got serenaded by a movie star songbird. Wait … that part sounds familiar.

On May 19, 1962, President John F. Kennedy celebrated his 45th birthday at NYC’s Madison Square Garden with 15,000 of his closest friends. Many celebrities were in attendance at the celebration, including Marilyn Monroe, who … um … might have known the president pretty well (according to some people).

Wearing a sheer, rhinestone-studded dress (which sold at auction in 1999 for $1.26 million), Monroe’s take on “Happy Birthday” was a sultry showstopper. After the performance, President Kennedy told the crowd, “I can now retire from politics after having had Happy Birthday sung to me in such a sweet, wholesome way.”

Jennifer Hudson’s performance for Obama was markedly less scandalous. Wearing a short black dress, the Oscar-winning actress took the stage in Chicago at a fundraising event. (Wait … Obama held a fundraiser on his birthday? This guy’s all business! Someone get him a cigarette or something.) We suppose she did sex things up a little bit by standing next to fire-tempered silver fox Rahm Emanuel to lead the sing-a-long. But that’s it. Nothing crazy here. As usual, things were dignified and professional. (Boring!)

Compare Monroe’s famous serenade of Kennedy to Hudson’s group sing for Obama after the jump. Read More...

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Obama On Torture: A Slippery Slope, By Kim Stolz

Posted 4/24/09 5:41 pm EST by in Barack-Obama


From FoxNews.com: Once again, President Barack Obama’s campaign promises and statements about “changing Washington” have come back to haunt him. The young, vibrant candidate who stole Iowa from Hillary and took the presidency by storm with exclamations of “hope” and “Yes We Can”s is now in the hot seat and realizing that revamping a centuries-old system is not as easy as winning an election. Continue reading at FoxNews.com …

It'll Take President Obama More Than 100 Days, By Kim Stolz

Posted 4/21/09 5:51 pm EST by in Barack-Obama


FROM THE HUFFINGTON POST: President Obama is nearing the end of his "First 100 Days." While important policy decisions, both foreign and domestic, are at hand, the president and his team must also think hard and be cautious of what kind of "personality" the White House will be perceived to have by everyone watching. Every decision Obama makes has the capacity to make him look strong, weak, timid, hawkish, radical, compromising, and the list goes on. In addition, in 2009, which he has forecasted to be a "difficult year," it is more than likely that he will be called all of those things, but will have to stay focused and strong in his decision-making.

Continue reading Kim's opinion of President Obama's decision-making at HuffingtonPost.com.

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President Barack Obama Probably Not Going To Pass A Puff-Puff-Give Initiative

Posted 3/26/09 7:41 pm EST by in Barack-Obama


President Barack Obama By Rya Backer

President Barack Obama had an online town-hall meeting today, during which a wealth of causes and dilemmas alike were discussed, namely many of the issues that had been discussed during Tuesday’s televised press conference. However, what made the event unique was that anyone was welcome to ask a question — a liberty that prompted over 100,000 submissions. It was an accomplishment that didn't go unnoticed by the commander in chief, as he stated, "When I was running for president, I promised to open the White House for the American people. This is an important step toward achieving that goal."

We tuned in and, honestly, it seems like a good amount of our fellow Americans would rather, uh, tune out. Regarding people's suggestions to bolster our terrible economy, Obama explained:

"We took votes about which questions were gonna be asked, and I think 3.5 million people voted. I have to say that there was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high, and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation ... and I don't know what this says about the online audience, but ... this was a fairly popular question. We wanted to make sure it was answered. The answer is no, I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy."

Sorry, guys. Guess you'll have to wait around for President Snoop Dogg for that sort of economic improvement and job-creation strategy. Until then, keep buying Funyuns and playing Wii!

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President Obama Compares Washington, D.C. To 'American Idol'

Posted 3/20/09 8:32 am EST by in American Idol, Barack-Obama


President Barack Obama's appearance on "The Tonight Show" Thursday was memorable for many reasons, including the way he compared life in Washington, D.C. to being on "American Idol" -- with everyone being Simon!

LENO: Now it's only [been], what, 59 days now, right?

MR. OBAMA: Yes, 59 days.

MR. LENO: And so much scrutiny. Is it fair to judge so quickly? I mean --

MR. OBAMA: Well, look, we are going through a difficult time. I welcome the challenge. You know, I ran for president because I thought we needed big changes. I do think in Washington it's a little bit like "American Idol," except everybody is Simon Cowell.

MR. LENO: Wow. Wow. That's rough.

MR. OBAMA: Everybody's got an opinion. But that's part of what makes for a democracy. You know, it's contentious and people are hitting back. I do think, though, that the American people are all in a place where they understand it took us a while to get into this mess, it's going to take a while for us to get out of it. And if they have confidence that I'm making steps to deal with issues like health care and energy and education, that matter deeply to their daily lives, then I think they're going to give us some time.

What do you think? Is America giving the Obama administration a fair shake? Should we be more Paula than Simon? Sound off below!

Get your "Idol" fix on MTV News' "American Idol" page, where you'll find all the latest news, interviews and opinions.

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Is President Obama Painting Himself Into A Corner By Setting Iraq Deadline?

Posted 2/25/09 7:35 pm EST by in Barack-Obama, iraq, veterans


President Barack Obama
During his address to Congress last night, President Barack Obama focused on the state of the economy, bringing a young and energetic voice to an otherwise grim situation. While he came off stern and concerned, the president offered uplifting statements as well, saying, "We will rebuild," and arguing the potential success of the $787 billion stimulus package, which has gone from a bill to a reality in recent weeks.

Any overarching presidential speech of this decade would be remiss if it didn't include a plan for Iraq, Afghanistan and our troops. Beyond the overwhelming youth involvement and enthusiasm, there are a few things that stuck out as major promises in President Obama's campaign, like the planned 16-month troop pullout from Iraq. Democrats and young people across the nation applauded Obama for his plan, which was in strict opposition to that of former President Bush and, of course, opponent John McCain.

So when Obama gave the time frame of 19 months last night in his speech, there were a few furrowed brows. While the campaign promised 16 months, apparently the Pentagon and military officials argued for 23 months — and so, through a "meeting of the minds," as Obama called it, they arrived at a compromise of 19 months. Compromise? In Washington? Fresh. And certainly a departure from the more ... didactic and unilateral decision-making of our 43rd president. I think we can forgive the three-month difference in place of the bigger promise kept, which was to bring compromise, and a president who listens to his entire Cabinet before making a fair and balanced decision.
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Is President Barack Obama Growing A Mustache?

Posted 2/25/09 1:43 pm EST by in Barack-Obama


Last night, while millions of Americans listened intently to Barack Obama's plan for lasting prosperity, I, too, sat transfixed. But not so much by his words, exceptional though they were. Rather, I was fascinated by the situation that's apparently developing on his upper lip.

Now, it might've been due to the HD set I was watching his address to Congress on (BTW, Nancy Pelosi in HD = yikes), or perhaps it was the lighting or the angle, but from where I was sitting, it appeared fairly obvious that President Obama is growing a mustache.

Look closely at the photo of him. Note the shadow on his upper lip — there's definitely something happening there. This is huge! This is historic! The president of the United States is growing a mustache! The ramifications of this will reverberate long after the stimulus package has been spent.

Read More...

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