After President Obama took the oath of office and started his 2nd term as President of the United States, the party was just beginning inside the Washington Convention Center.
As the crowd full of rich donors and high society got ready for the official inaugural ball celebrating the inauguration of President Obama.
This time around there were only two official balls compared to the ten balls that took place in 2009.
The Commander in Chief ball that was started in 2005 under President Bush was open to the military only and had nearly 4,000 attendees. While the Presidential inaugural ball that was open to the public had more than 20,000 people in the crowd.
The President’s ball was a grand event that started out with a performance by Alicia Keys who preformed a special version of one of her songs, singing, “Obama’s on fire.”
Alicia Keys has been a vocal supporter of the Obama camp from the start. She even appeared at a rally to support the President in Raleigh last October at the Chavis Heights ballpark.
After her performance, Country superstar Brad Paisley came out and brought some western flavor to the ball. Paisley has been one of the few country stars to support the President.
Performing the song, “Welcome to the future” as a tribute to Martin Luther King and how far America has come since the civil rights era. Paisley gave an enthusiastic performance in which he ran out into the crowd of more than 20,000 people.
What everyone came for though was to see the Obama’s dance. With Jennifer Hudson singing Al Green’s “Let’s stay together”.While the President’s dance was a highlight of the night, what stood out even more when the Vice President danced with his wife while Jamie Foxx played, “I can’t stop loving you.” With Vice President Biden putting his hands on Foxx’s shoulders as he left.
John Legend brought the house down saying before he played “Ordinary People, “This victory was not about one man but about us coming together, we the people, the ordinary people.” He stole the show as he got on top of his piano near the end of his performance.
Longtime Obama supporter Stevie Wonder played for a short while as well. And had the older crowd excited.
Soundgarden was the last act to take the stage and the edgiest of all the performers even though the crowds had died down by the time they came on at Midnight.
Once the ball was over with D.C's Chinatown area located near the convention had the feeling of a police state on the verge of a crackdown with extra security everywhere to make sure nothing went wrong during the ball.
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