(Reuters) - An emotional Lady Gaga performed a dramatic version of the U.S. national anthem, Garth Brooks sang a cappella, and Tom Hanks hosted a star-studded nighttime celebration to cap President Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday.
On a day marked by diversity and appeals for unity, Gaga wowed in a huge fuchsia Schiaparelli couture silk skirt and black top adorned by a large gold brooch of a dove carrying an olive branch as she sung “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Biden’s swearing-in ceremony.
Gaga at one point gestured to the U.S. flag flying high over the Capitol, the seat of Congress that just two weeks ago was attacked by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump seeking to overturn Biden’s election victory.
“She slayed it. I AM GAGA FOR GAGA!!!” actor Ed Helms wrote in a tweet.
Ahead of her performance, Gaga said on Twitter she wanted to “acknowledge our past, be healing for our present, and be passionate for a future where we work together lovingly.”
Country singer Brooks, a Republican, chose jeans and a black shirt and took off his black Stetson hat to sing an unaccompanied version of “Amazing Grace”, asking Americans at the ceremony and watching at home to sing the last verse along with him.
Afterward, before replacing his coronavirus mask, Brooks hugged or shook hands with Biden, former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, outgoing Vice President Mike Pence, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Jennifer Lopez, dressed in white pants and a long matching coat, performed a medley of “This Land is Your Land” and “America The Beautiful,” interjecting in Spanish the part of the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance that says, “One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
At just 22 years old, poet Amanda Gorman captured the mixed emotions of the past four years with a poem in which she referred to herself as a “skinny Black girl, descended from slaves and raised by a single mother (who) can dream of becoming president only to find herself reciting for one.”
The cultural celebrations continued Wednesday night with a broadcast across television and social media, hosted by “Forrest Gump” actor Hanks, who is known as “America’s Dad.”
Comments
Leave a Comment