Names and faces
President Barack Obama said Friday that he was sad to host his last musical night at the White House, a tradition that he said is one of his and first lady Michelle Obama’s favorites, as the president kicked off BET’s “Love and Happiness” event in a tent on the South Lawn. “We’ve had Bob Dylan and we’ve had Jennifer Hudson,” Obama said to open the show. “I’ve had Paul McCartney singing ‘ Michelle’ to Michelle and Stevie [Wonder] singing ‘ Happy Birthday.’” He continued, “This has been one of our favorite traditions, and it’s with a little bit of bittersweetness that this is our final musical evening as president and first lady.” Jill Scott opened with a booming version of her hit “Run Run Run.” The show also featured performances by Usher, The Roots, Bell Biv DeVoe and Janelle Monae, among others. Obama described the ability to summon celebrities as “one of the perks of the job that I will [miss] most, along with Air Force One and Marine One,” the presidential helicopter. He said that though much of the music performed Friday “is rooted in the African-American experience, it’s not just black music. It’s an essential part of the American experience.” BET will broadcast the show Nov. 15.
A member of the Swedish Academy that awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature to Bob Dylan said the American singe r- s o n gwriter’s silence since receiving the honor is “impolite and arrogant.” Per Wastberg said Dylan’s lack of reaction to the honor the academy bestowed on him this month was predictable but disrespectful nonetheless. Wastberg said the academy still hopes to communicate with the 75-year-old artist, whose Nobel credits him with creating “new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” “We have agreed not to lift a finger. The ball lies entirely on his half,” Wastberg told the newspaper. “You can speculate as much as you want, but we don’t.” The academy said it has failed to directly reach the tight-lipped laureate since he was awarded the prize. Dylan spokesman Larry Jenkins did not immediately respond to an email Saturday seeking comment. The literature prize and five other Nobel Prizes will be officially conferred in Stockholm on Dec. 10, the anniversary of award founder Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.