Archive for the ‘Obama’ Category

Geoff Zanelli On Scoring for the Intimacy of the Obamas, the Fords, and the Roosevelts for ‘The First Lady’ – Awards Daily

Music can shape the arc of any story, and we are used to hearing a swelling, grand score whenever we watch a biopic or film about a famous political figure. The score can carry tremendous weight in our emotional reaction to the retelling of any historical event. For Showtimes The First Lady composer Geoff Zanelli wanted to track the emotional wattage of these women who found themselves standing next to the most powerful man in the world. His music is refined, subtle, but, ultimately, respectful.

With three very distinct storylines, there is the temptation to score these as three entirely different pieces. I believe that wouldve made The First Lady uneven musically, and Zanelli explained that there needed to be some uniformity to prove why these women are connected in this series.

That was the first big question that needed answered. Before I started writing anything, the show was largely edited how it is seen now. It was never one character per episode. I thought there had to be a reason that Susanne Bier decided to jump in time and draw connections between this shared experience of almost 100 years. That said something about the music, and I knew there was an element that I had to keep coming back to. I told Susanne that there was a river that we kept coming back to. The stories are specific, but it is about the shared experience. About half of the score is about that experience together.

Zanelli felt the pressure in scoring one of the biggest moments early on in the show. When Barack Obama is elected President, we see the historic moment that he, Michelle Obama, and their daughters move into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Zanelli wanted to focus on intimacy, but he acknowledged that Obamas to the White House needed to feel like a huge moment.

Writing music for actual living people (or people who did live) is burdensome. You have to be respectful and thoughtful, and the Obamas are so present in our minds. There is a pressure to get that right, especially because of how meaningful that moment was to the whole country. That was a moment of the score to go big since it was so momentous, and that is probably the biggest moment musically. Even when Laura Bush is giving Michelle the tour, which is right after the moment youre talking about, is so beautiful because it isnt a moment of politics. They are very friendly towards one another even though there are tensions there that are outside the realm of their connection. Its a moment to show that human relationships transcend politics, and thats important since its not divisive.

There is an emotional path seen through the music of Eleanor Roosevelts romantic relationships. In Your Dearest Lucy, we can hear the heartbreak when she finds out about her husbands infidelity. There are pieces in that track that sound like crying or a response to a difficult question. We hold Eleanors intellectual ferocity on a pedestal, but The First Lady shows us how invested she was in her loving relationships.

I did not want to write historical music, because my task was to bring Eleanor into the present. So much of their time was pioneering. Not just womens rights, but the stuff with Hickok foreshadows Marriage Equality. Imagine what her life wouldve been like if she couldve lived with Hickok how she wouldve wanted to? Even with someone like Eleanor, she has to make those decisions. Does she stay in this marriage which is broken, and the way she navigates her life is inspiring. I dont think that is lost or trapped in history. I couldnt approach this in a historical sense, because Im not an expert on the music of the 1930s. How this story relates to now is what I needed to focus on.

In the Betty Ford chapter, Zanelli didnt want to create a melodramatic score to give her story a hokey arc. He looks at Bettys circumstances and position in order to fully realize her journey. There is a disorienting elegance that he gives Pills, and there are unpredictable, heavy piano cues that harken to the darkness of substance abuse. The following track, Betty in the Mirror, is reflective and poignant as Betty recalls her days a dancer.

Before I even touched Betty Fords section, Michelle Pfeiffers performance is full of grace and dignity. Her range as a performer is phenomenal. That was I liked about her story. Obviously, she has regrets about things choices she made when she was younger that affected her chances of becoming a dancer. That was her dream that never came to be. Part of it is the circumstances of the 60s and poor medical advice. What I think what people respond to is that she has this redemption arc. What makes it a compelling part of the show is that we are used to seeing drug addicts and alcoholics as frail husks while she was a mostly functioning alcoholic living and operating in the White House. Shes not a useless husband who cant go to work anymore. Thats an aspect that gets overlooked so often. That Pills cue is when she cannot function. When she is outside of those moments, she is a loving wife and she can almost keep up. Day Drinking is a little more subdued and we arent quite at rock bottom yet.

If The First Lady is renewed for a second season, the sophomore go-around could have an entire different feeling. When I asked Zanelli who he would be curious to write music for, he gave two very different answers.

Its hard to ignore Jackie Kennedy, because there is so much going on there. With her husband, with her, the beloved presidency cut short. Its incredibly rich material, for sure. Because we are still living through this present, there is a lot of mystery in Melania Trumps role. It would be so hard to do that, but there is a reason she kept to herself. I imagine. How would we get the truth out of there, but its impossible to not wonder what the East Wing of the White House would be like at the time. Those are very explosive ideas for different reasons.

The First Lady is streaming on Showtime.

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Geoff Zanelli On Scoring for the Intimacy of the Obamas, the Fords, and the Roosevelts for 'The First Lady' - Awards Daily

Not Afraid to Be Themselves King Richard Actor Reflects on the Great Honor of Portraying Venus Williams and Sasha Obama On-Screen – EssentiallySports

The movie King Richard encompasses the struggles and achievements of Serena and Venus Williams from their fathers perspective. It was a mega-success both in terms of box office earnings and awards.

Recently, the actress who played Venus Williams sat down for an interview with Teen Vogue. There, she spoke about how she prepared herself for portraying the legend and how the seven-time Grand Slam champions story has helped her grow.

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The 15-year-old actress who performed the part of a young Venus Williams said, Oh, man. Something that I love so much is getting to prepare for those roles. I focus on doing good research. For Venus (Williams), I think I studied anything and everything about her. But I fell in love with who she is, and I fell in love with who Sasha (Obama) was and how just free they were.

Thereafter, she added, They were not afraid to be themselves. You know what Im saying? They had such an amazing team around them and great parents. So, there are so many similarities. It wasnt really hard just to fall in love with who they were.

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Saniyya Sidney will soon portray Sasha Obama, the daughter of former US president Barack Obama, in the upcoming movie The First Lady alongside the renowned American actress Viola Davis.

With the recent announcement from the former World No.1s coach, the chances of seeing her in the grass swing have decreased even further. Eric Hechtman took to Instagram to inform tennis fans that he will travel alongside Serena Williams for the upcoming grass based tournaments.

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Watch this story: How many Williams sisters are there besides Venus and Serena Williams

Hechtman has been training Venus since 2019 and as Serenas coach of almost 10 years, Patrick Mouratoglou has joined hands with Simona Halep for the grass-court season; though the duration of this partnership is still unclear. Do you think the American legend will return to the tour this season?

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Not Afraid to Be Themselves King Richard Actor Reflects on the Great Honor of Portraying Venus Williams and Sasha Obama On-Screen - EssentiallySports

Barack Obama Surprises Danish Girl Choir After Hearing Them From Sidewalk

A Danish girls' choir met a "completely unexpected" VIP audience member on the sidewalkBarack Obamaat their latest rehearsal in Copenhagen on Sunday.

A video of the encounter (which was first posted by the choral group UngKlang as an Instagram story) was shared by Reddit user DingoDamp, and it has since gone viral. It had received 132,000 upvotes on Reddit at the time of writing. See the video originally shared on Instagram here.

The caption of the Reddit post said: "Former U.S. President Barack Obama came across a choir of Danish girls practicing their singing in their apartment with their balcony doors open. He kindly asked them if they would keep singing for him to enjoy."

The choir was rehearsing on a balcony opposite Hotel d'Angleterre, where Obama was staying while in town for the 2022 Copenhagen Democracy Summit and other engagements, when the former president stepped out from the hotel's basement.

In a post on Instagram sharing another view of Obama looking up at the balcony, the choir wrote: "Today our rehearsals started out completely unexpected and amazing! We have just started rehearsing for our upcoming projects, after which we hear a little street noise from the balcony. Suddenly, former President Obama steps out of D'Angleterre's basement and catches sight of us." See the Instagram post shared by UngKlang here.

According to the post, looking up at the group in "amazement," the former president said: "Hello, what are you doing?"

When the choir replied: "We're singing," Obama said: "Oh, let me hear," according to the post, which shows him waving to the group and gesturing with his hand to one of his ears.

The choir sang a portion of Hans Christian Andersen's "In Denmark I Was Born," after which a "very impressed" Obama reportedly said: "Wow, that was fantastic" asking the group about who they are and what they do, as per the Instagram post.

Obama wished them a good day before being driven away, according to the choir, who said it took an hour "before we had fallen to the ground again" following the encounter.

On Friday, Obama delivered remarks at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit during a session titled "Democratic Organizing in the Digital Age," discussing the "challenges to democracy around the globe" and "the importance of a positive vision for democracy" as well as how the next generation of leaders can "chart a better course," the Obama Foundation said.

He told attendees at the event, which was dominated by discussions on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and China's future global role, they will "have to fight" for democracy in an age of political upheaval and looming global crises.

"We will have to nurture it, we will have to demonstrate its value again and again in improving the lives of ordinary people," the former president said.

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Barack Obama Surprises Danish Girl Choir After Hearing Them From Sidewalk

Obama on DACA anniversary: Lets treat Dreamers like the Americans they are – The Hill

Former President Obama said that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was still vulnerable to politicians who choose to ignore its remarkable benefits to the U.S.

In an emailed statement on the programs 10th anniversary, Obama said that while the program was always meant to be temporary, Dreamers had to live through the cruelty of the previous administrations attacks and legal challenges to the program, their families and their communities.

The former president added that he is renewing his call for Congress to offer Dreamers a path to citizenship.

Lets honor these Dreamers and everything theyve done to strengthen our country. Lets treat them like the Americans that they are. And lets do everything we can to help build a common sense immigration system that honors our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants, he said.

DACA was implemented during the Obama administration in an effort to protect undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as minors after the then-presidentslegislative attempts to modernize the immigration system failed.

Since then, DACA has seen several challenges. The Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administrations efforts to end the program on procedural grounds in 2020. Next month, a case over DACA will head to court in Texas, where the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments against the program.

According to Obama, many of the undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. when they were very young did not know they were undocumented until they applied to college or tried to enlist in the military.

And not only did a piece of paper suddenly stand in the way of their aspirations, it added a threat of deportation to a country they might not know, with a language they might not speak, he said.

He added that the Obama administration made it possible for them to apply for work authorization and protection from deportation through DACA.

Obama said that the program recipients were able to stop living in fear and instead live freely in the only country they know.

It lifted the shadow of deportation from people of extraordinary promise. And the resultsfor them and for us allcannot be denied, he added.

He added that these Dreamers now face increasing challenges and that only a quarter of the undocumented students graduating high school this year are eligible for DACA under existing rules.

More than 800,000 people have received DACA since the programs inception, including 200,000 people who served as front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Obama said.

A White House officialtold The Hill that it will host more than 20Dreamers on Wednesday for discussions on preserving DACA protections.

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Obama on DACA anniversary: Lets treat Dreamers like the Americans they are - The Hill

Sasha Obama Shows Off Silver Belly Button Piercing in Cropped Sweatshirt While Getting Gas in L.A. – Life&Style Weekly

Sasha Obama keeps proving shes got such a stunning and unique style sense. The former first daughter rocked a colorful mismatched outfit while filling her car up with gas in Los Angeles, and managed to show off her silver belly button piercing in the process.

The 21-year-old wore a cropped, tie-dyed sweatshirt along with a low-slung skirt with a black waistband and green, blue, orange and purple pattern blocks along with a knee-high slit. Sasha opted for comfy footwear, donning a pair of blue and pink Nike trainers while adding several beaded necklaces.

While she looked fantastic, the college coed never cracked a smile. Thats probably because all grades of gas were more than $7 per gallon at the location she stopped at, and it likely cost a pretty penny to fill up her black SUV.

The youngest Obama daughter has been getting praise for her fashion sense as she grew into a stylish teen while her father Barack Obama, was president from 2008 through 2016. The year after her dad left office, music superstar Drake posted a snapshot of Sasha to his Instagram page calling her a style popper.

It helped that she was wearing a baseball cap featuring the logo from his OvO brand along with her sunglasses and blue shirt. But getting a fashion compliment from Drake in such a public manner earned Sasha major style points!

Just like her older sister, Malia Obama, 23, Sasha is now living in the City of Angels, after transferring to the University of Southern California in 2021 despite starting her college career at the University of Michigan. Also like her sibling, Sasha has a handsome boyfriend.

Shes been spotted out with commercial directorClifton Cliff Powell Jr., whose father is a veteran Hollywood actor. Her mom, former First Lady Michelle Obama, gushed to Ellen DeGeneres during an April stop by her daytime talk show that both of her daughters are doing well as grown, independent adults and are just amazing young women. The world first got to known Malia and Sasha as young 10- and 8-year-old girls when their dad won his bid for the White House in 2008.

They loved the Jonas Brothers. Now they are bringing grown men home, Michelle jokingly noted, adding, Before it was just, like, pop bands. Now they have boyfriends and real lives. While Sasha has Cliff, Malia has been dating her British boyfriend, Rory Farquharson, since they met at Harvard in 2017.

Scroll down to see more photos of Sasha during her fashionable gas station run.

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Sasha Obama Shows Off Silver Belly Button Piercing in Cropped Sweatshirt While Getting Gas in L.A. - Life&Style Weekly