So long, Hollywood. Hello, Branson.
That could be the unofficial tagline for George W. Bush’s inaugural festivities in Washington this weekend. The official slogan is predictably patriotic: “Celebrating America’s Spirit Together.” But like any feel-good fragment of political spin, it hardly tells the whole story.
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In a transition of power (as in star power) from hipness to wholesomeness, sax-wielding Bill Clinton gives way to a successor who, judging by inaugural events, favors country, Christian, a couple of Latin stars, middle-of-the-road pop and celebrities who had their heyday during Dad George’s administration.
Under Clinton, chart-toppers such as Sheryl Crow, Hootie & the Blowfish and LL Cool J played major roles in inaugural festivities, while MTV hosted inaugural-week celebrations in 1993 and 1997. MTV and Clinton were so linked that in 1993, a jubilant Al Gore proclaimed: “Thank you, MTV! Thank you for winning this election.” For the next eight years, Hollywood celebrities frequented the White House.
Bush’s entertainment lineup features, among others, Brooks & Dunn, Clint Black, Ricky Martin, Wayne Newton, 98 Degrees and ZZ Top. Add the absence of rap artists or an MTV-sponsored Bush bash, and it appears that 90210 is out and 65616 is in. That’s the ZIP code for Branson, Mo., the Ozarks music mecca where Newton, Bobby Vinton and the Osmonds own theaters. (Marie Osmond is slated as a celebrity emcee at an inaugural ball.)
For rock music fans, it’s like putting a square peg in an Oval Office. On the other hand, fans of country music, which has sagged in popularity recently, are cheering.
Why the change? It’s not just the Democrats versus Republicans factor. Nor age, though Clinton was 46 when he took office and Bush is 54.
Consider each man’s connections. Clinton’s Hollywood pals Linda Bloodworth-Thomason and husband Harry Thomason, producers of TV’s “Designing Women” and “Evening Shade,” were often credited with scripting many Clinton-era happenings.
In Bush’s case, a lot of the inaugural celebrities are friends of his father’s, are among the new president’s favorite performers (such as Brooks & Dunn) or are linked to his years when he headed a group that owned the Texas Rangers.
Bush, in fact, has attracted a lineup of sports stars, many with Texas ties, that rivals Clinton’s, with Lance Armstrong, Troy Aikman, Johnny Bench and golfer Ben Crenshaw among the guests.
There is also, some note, an apparent change in attitude.
With Clinton, “the White House was largely run by 20-year-olds in jeans,” said Gary Fine, a Northwestern University sociologist. “The Bush administration is more adults than kids. They’re ’50s people–not just people in their 50s, but people from the 1950s.”
Even the director of Bush’s inaugural program, George Schlatter, who is in his early 70s, acknowledges that the adjective “hip”–liberally used to describe Clinton’s post-election fetes–might be applied more, well, conservatively to Bush’s itinerary.
“I think it is meaningful, contemporary, but whether it’s hip, I don’t know,” said Schlatter, who produced the “The Judy Garland Show” in the early 1960s and “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” in the late ’60s to early ’70s.
“I no longer know what hip is. I used to know. This is a wonderful, emotional, patriotic event, and if that makes you feel good, then to me, that’s hip,” he said.
Bush representatives say the shortened transition time forced some concessions. “We haven’t been able to do every event that was done in the past,” said Natalie Rule, press secretary for Bush’s inaugural committee. “One was the Friday night gala, which was traditionally a variety showcase where a lot of entertainers came out.”
Another factor lowering the celebrity quotient is that many stars are busy. While music producer Emilio Estefan, head of Bush’s Latino Initiative during the campaign, arrived with Ricky Martin and Jon Secada, his wife, Gloria, was elsewhere promoting her new album. And Sylvester Stallone? Well, a guy’s got to work.
“He was invited, but he is in postproduction on a film,” said Stallone’s publicist, Paul Bloch.
Singer Van Morrison also canceled, causing some pop culture observers to speculate whether a Bush inaugural appearance could have negative career repercussions. “You didn’t look like a fool if you showed up for Clinton’s events,” said Spin magazine editor Alan Light. “That’s not the case at all with this president, unless you happen to agree with his platform.”
Regardless of politics or popular opinion, some entertainers say getting asked to entertain a president-elect is simply a thrill.
Christian pop star Michael W. Smith, slated to perform at an inaugural prayer service Sunday, met the Bushes in 1989 while taping an NBC special. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself,” Smith said. “Basically, you’re just playing for kings. It’s pretty huge. But I guess I’m at ease. I’ve known the Bushes for so long, whether it’s playing at the White House in 1992 or sitting around this past October in Kennebunkport with a beat-up old spinet piano, and it’s all out of tune and they didn’t care–they just wanted me to play.”