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Behind The Scenes At 'Be The Change'

Posted 1/19/09 8:08 pm EST by in Barack-Obama, inauguration

By Garth Bardsley and Ryan Kroft

Washington, D.C., is all about acronyms this week. There's PEBO (President-elect Barack Obama), who tomorrow becomes the POTUS (President of the United States). And today, we had our first meeting with the PIC (Presidential Inaugural Committee), the hosts of tomorrow's Youth Inaugural Ball (YIB?), which will be broadcast live on MTV (Music Television!) tomorrow at 10 p.m.

The PIC representatives showed us exactly where Kid Rock, Kanye West and Fall Out Boy will be performing, and gave us the lowdown on where the brand-new president, Barack Obama, will appear and dance with his wife, Michelle. Since the guests of the ball are all youth who were dedicated to making Barack the 44th president of the United States, it's sure to be an emotional night. We also learned where we, as floor producers, will be as we help out the host of the show, Sway, along with our two guest reporters for the night, Usher and Rosario Dawson.
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Fall Out Boy Sure Do Love Performing At Inaugural Balls

Posted 1/19/09 4:36 pm EST by in Barack-Obama, Fall-Out-Boy, inauguration

Fall Out BoyBy Daniel Montalto

Fall Out Boy are one of those bands that I always enjoy talking to. They're all intelligent, well-informed and, most important, they're funny as hell. Whenever you're talking to them, the conversation can quickly turn from seriously intellectual to absurdly juvenile and back again. Interviewing them is basically like messing around with your friends, and getting paid for it.

Yesterday, I interviewed Fall Out Boy about the amazing honor of being here in D.C. to witness to Barack Obama's inauguration and about the fact that we're going to have the first African-American president in the country's 200-plus year history. As ardent supporters, the guys were in town to celebrate the inauguration by performing at both Sunday night's Mayor's Ball and Tuesday night's Youth Ball. Read More...

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Volunteers Follow Barack Obama's Community-Service Lead

Posted 1/19/09 3:19 pm EST by in Barack-Obama, inauguration

Brandon RouthBy Erica Anderson and Gil Kaufman

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a rousing morning of speeches about the importance of community service at Ballou Senior High School, attendees took inspiration from President-elect Barack Obama — who painted walls at nearby Sasha Bruce House for homeless teens — and clocked in for their own tour of service. To the tune of the Ballou High School Majestic Marching Knights band, playing a funky, horn-fueled cover of Madonna's "4 Minutes," hundreds of volunteers walked excitedly down a steep hill to Abram Simon Elementary.

Once inside the gymnasium, Mayor Adrian Fenty gave a keynote address to the enthusiastic kids, who were packed into the room awaiting their assignments for the day. Read More...

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When Shepard Fairey Met Barack Obama...

Posted 1/19/09 12:44 pm EST by in Barack-Obama, I Met Barack Obama, inauguration

By Benjamin Wagner

Shepard FaireyA rock-and-roll street artist with an anti-establishment streak, healthy arrest record and penchant for subversive images might be the last person you'd expect to share a few words with the future president of the United States.

But times have changed, right?

There's a solid argument that Shepard Fairey's iconic Barack Obama portrait helped put the Illinois senator into the White House, a fact that the soon-to-be president seems to appreciate.

"I have met Barack Obama twice," Fairey said. "He was very, very genuine, very nice.
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Marc Anthony Drives The Ladies Wild At Latino Inaugural Ball

Posted 1/19/09 11:17 am EST by in Barack-Obama, inauguration

Marc AnthonyBy Lauren Silverman

WASHINGTON, D.C. — At the Latino Inaugural Gala on Sunday night, before Latin fusion band Yerba Buena brought the funk, Representative Hilda Solis of California spoke some words of inspiration from the stage.

Solis was recently appointed by President-elect Obama to be Secretary of Labor (the first woman to hold this powerful position), and she riled up the crowd up with her Spanish rhyme, "Se oye, se siente, las mujeres están presente!"("You hear it, you feel it, the women are here!") Read More...

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When Usher Met Barack Obama ...

Posted 1/19/09 10:46 am EST by in Barack-Obama, I Met Barack Obama, inauguration

Jayson Rodriguez, with reporting by Shaheem Reid

Usher is used to having people dying to meet him. But the Grammy Award-winning singer can cop to having the tables turned when it came to meeting Barack Obama. The two crossed paths when the president-elect was running to become the junior U.S. senator from Illinois.

"The first time we met was in 2004, and what made me want to stand behind Barack Obama is that he was always a man of his word," Usher told MTV News on Sunday after the "We Are One" concert in Washington, D.C., where he performed with Steve Wonder. "He said, 'Anything I can do to support you, I'll do so.' He really cared about being a voice for the youth. We sat down to discuss some of the issues we were dealing with in America. And when we came back together [during his run for the Democratic nomination], I asked, 'Well, what can I do to make you our president?' And he said, 'I think the youth need to know more about the voting process.' "


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Tobey Maguire, Ashton Kutcher To Lead March To Help Renovate D.C. School

Posted 1/19/09 10:33 am EST by in Barack-Obama, inauguration

WASHINGTON, D.C. — "This might be difficult," said a raspy and congested Tobey Maguire onstage at ServiceNation's "New Era of Service" breakfast on Monday morning (January 19). The event is both a celebration and a call to action. Tobey — along with Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, Maria Shriver and dozens of volunteers, will be marching down to Simon Elementary School in a few minutes to help renovate the libraries there, as part of MTV's "Be the Change" endeavour. Some 76 percent of the school's students come from low-income households, and the high school dropout rate for the community is over 50 percent.

"In this moment, I'm caught up in the moment of wanting to commit myself to service on a deeper level," Maguire said before giving up the stage to Ashton and Demi.


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When Wilmer Valderrama Met Barack Obama

Posted 1/19/09 10:17 am EST by in Barack-Obama, I Met Barack Obama, inauguration

Wilmer ValderramaWilmer Valderrama is rarely at a loss for words, but the former "That '70s Show" star sometimes has a hard time figuring out how to illustrate what it is about President-elect Barack Obama that is so moving to him.
 
"It's hard to describe a man of his stature," Valderrama said Sunday night on the red carpet of the Voto Latino Inaugural Ball at Union Station. "It's hard to describe someone that has such direction. One of the things I can say is that he has a point of view.

"I had the pleasure of meeting him in Los Angeles," he explained. "There was a small meeting [Voto Latino] had over there, figuring out moving forward how we were going to influence his campaign the most. He's very contagious. He really understands how to communicate a change. I'm just thrilled and excited and proud that this day came. For my little brother, too. I have an 8-year-old brother who is waking up every day to a president it would normally be a dream to even think about. It's basically letting him know that we can dream again." Read More...

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Live From The 'We Are One' Inaugural Concert

Posted 1/18/09 2:49 pm EST by in Barack-Obama, inauguration

By Erica Anderson and Gil Kaufman


The “We Are One” Obama inaugural celebration — featuring Bruce Springsteen, U2, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Usher and many more — just wrapped up. We had reporters in the crowd for the whole thing — check out what they saw and heard!

Erica, 1:30 p.m.: The space around the reflecting pool is gradually filling up. Despite the chilling wind, spirits are high. People are doing the wave. The number of people gathered here seems to rival the iconic scenes of the Civil Rights March in August 1963.

The significance isn't lost on the young attendees.

Will, a 21-year-old from Massachusetts, called it a historic day.

"It's crazy to believe some of the people who took part in that march 45 years ago are here to witness this, [the inauguration of] our first black president."

"This is monumentous," Elliott, a college student in D.C., added.

There's about an hour to go before the performances kick off, and people just keep rolling in.

Erica, 2:25 p.m.: The entire crowd is doing the wave to pass the time. Everyone seems to be buzzing for Beyoncé. Read More...

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When Nick Cannon Met Barack Obama ...

Posted 1/18/09 2:31 pm EST by in Barack-Obama, I Met Barack Obama, inauguration

By Jayson Rodriguez

Barack Obama wants to limit the influence that lobbyists have in Washington, D.C., but it seems that some celebrities in Los Angeles haven't gotten that memo just yet.

Will Smith is making it known that he'd like to play the president-elect in a movie one day. And now Nick Cannon is putting the pressure on Obama ... to become the official White House DJ.

"I know what you like, Barack," Cannon said, addressing the president via the MTV News cameras at the Sundance Film Festival. "I've rocked with you. I've DJed before, so I'm trying to get that role. We just need to get in there and set it all off."

Jokes aside, Cannon explained that he's been a fan of the Chicago politician since the electrifying speech Obama delivered at the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Read More...

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