Gaga for GRAMMY Awards (and Olympics)

Around the office we've been placing our bets on which Canadian icons -- with or without GRAMMY Awards (set to air tonight) -- might pop up as performers at the 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies at B.C. Place.

Of course, Olympic vet Celine Dion, who performed "The Power of the Dream" (the official song of the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay) at Atlanta's Olympic Opening Ceremony, tops the list for Feb. 12 festivities. I'm betting on some other Grammy winners, like Avril Lavigne (who played at Torino's 2006 Olympic Closing Ceremony), or Alanis Morissette (whose music was EVERYWHERE leading up to the 1996 Games).

And then there's dark horse candidates like Canadian icon Leonard Cohen, or a return Olympic performance by k.d. lang, who Canada introduced to the world at the 1988 Calgary Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Lady Gaga does not yet have an Olympic connection, but she's hot these days (but not Canadian). Ke$ha is on the charts, too, but again is sans Canadian roots.

My personal hope is that U2 will perform, given their worldwide appeal. But even if Bono eats Canadian bacon, it would be a stretch (my personal hope for 1996 was the R.E.M. of Georgia would perform in Atlanta, and it still is shocking and disappointing they didn't).

Who else should be on the short list for Feb. 12 appearances, song-wise? Who is going to sing the Canadian national anthem? Please share your thoughts as I need to learn more Canada stars while in town.

U2 Unforgettable Fire Afterthoughts

As mentioned on previous post, there was just something about hearing Bono sing -- with Larry, Adam and The Edge playing -- "The Unforgettable Fire" live at last night's U2 360 Tour performance at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

I also lamented about leaving my Flip Camera at home just when it was needed the most.

Fortunately, this evening my online searches led me to a YouTube video from the U2 360 concert in Barcelona.

Had my Flip been on me yesterday evening, this is what the Georgia Dome U2 video would resemble (the presumably Spanish camera operator was standing in about the same stage left section as my location in Atlanta ... but I was even closer).

Enjoy!

Photos via http://www.u2.com/

Adam Clayton and U2 at Georgia Dome

If I could play a guitar, it would be a bass, and if I was a famous bass player, I'd want to be just like U2's Adam Clayton. This guy is the baddest bad-ass bass player on earth!

Tonight at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta, upwards of 75,000 gathered around the U2 360 stage for a night of aural delights. Thanks to a street ticket broker and Luck'O'The Irish, my "seat" turned out to be a standing room spot on the inner circle of the tour's distinctive in-the-round staging.

Multiple times during the outstanding show, Mr. Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen and, of course, Bono, passed overhead on a small bridge to the "Red Zone" standing area.

A-MAZE-ING!

This was not my first U2 experience (some may recall my tales of Philips Arena autograph sessions with U2 during March of 2001, as noted on the blog earlier this year) -- thankfully, it won't be the last as my sister and I have tickets for the U2 360 Tour stop at the University of Oklahoma campus stadium (site of the U.S. Olympic Festival '89 Opening Ceremony) later this month.

But tonight's show may be the closest in-concert (as opposed to previous backstage) access to experience U2's spiritual, Brian Eno-infused and glorious music, and tonight's performance will certainly be one to share with grandchildren.

Man, of all the nights to leave my Flip Camera at home (dang!). (Or as they say in Ireland, Shite!)

Mr. Clayton is so calm on stage -- he makes all those deep down notes blow through the band's hits with gusto. From about 15 feet away, he seemed to barely touch the guitar strings while smirking with joy through "Walk On," "One" and "Ultraviolet."

I'd like to think he was smiling back at me when I gave the thumbs up as he perused our section of the crowd (though something tells me his eyes stopped on the "Line On The Horizon" of three cheering Georgia Tech co-eds standing in front of me).

There is something about "The Unforgettable Fire" performed live that just got to me. Though it is not an Olympic tune, allusion to the Olympic Torch Relay is not a stretch. Also got choked up a bit as all of the post-Chicago 2016 bummer thoughts of late caught up with me as Bono and The Edge sang "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For."

I was really impressed with U2's infusion of video featuring Archbishop Desmond Tutu and references to political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi, whose name ever previously crossed my way (but will be part of upcoming study).

Bono reached down from the bridge to pick up a lucky female fan, and it reminded me of a former Atlanta Journal-Constitution photographer getting kissed in the U2 concert photo pit not once but TWICE during her photojournalism career (this lovely photographer showed up in USA Today with that double-smooch story at one point -- she gave me a nice 11x17 glossy print from the 2001 U2 performance at Philips Arena, then a client).

About the only thing that would have improved the experience would have been a surprise appearance by Enya's sister, Clannad singer Moya Brennan, to sing the duet "In A Lifetime" with Mr. Hewson.

I have to wonder (er, hope, er wish and pray) that U2 may somehow turn up in an official Olympic capacity in conjunction with the London 2012 Olympic Games (hello -- how about playing the Opening Ceremony with Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Oasis and Paul McCartney/Ringo Starr!? Anyone at London 2012 taking notes?).

U2's upcoming European leg of 360 includes several Olympic stadiums (specifically, Helsinki, Athens and Munich). If you are near any of these destination venues, taking the 360 Tour is worth the spin!

Photo of Adam Clayton via Flickr

Photo of U2 360 Tour lighting board via Wikipedia and Melicans Matkin
Logo for U2 360 Tour via www.u2.com/tour/index/

Awards Dinner Fit For A King

Back in 2001, about an hour after U2 and Bono finished performing at Philips Arena, I was lucky enough to be returning to my car when the band members exited the venue for an impromptu autograph session with a few hundred waiting fans.

Seizing the opportunity for a photo and brief conversation with the band, when my turn came, I asked Bono, "Since you've sung multiple songs about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., have you ever visited The King Center in Atlanta?" to which he replied, "No. No, we haven't. Where is it?"

Imagine my delight when just three years later The King Center announced that Coretta Scott King would present Bono with the Salute To Greatness Award for the singer's humanitarian work. I was lucky to again see Bono in person at that event held five years ago, Jan. 17, 2004.

I am still dying of curiosity whether Bono and his band mates DID visit The King Center after that conversation at Philips Arena -- will be sure to ask Bono the next time I see him.

It was on that evening that I was first in line to shake hands with Mrs. King on what turned out to be one of her last public appearances (somewhere out there, a helpful reporter from Chicago's Red Eye newspaper has a photo of Mrs. King and I posing as my camera batteries went out at that moment of introduction -- here's hoping the reporter and I may meet again so that photo will make it to my archive).

With thanks to The King Center communications team, tonight I will again attend their Salute To Greatness event (as a "registered media blogger") at which Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton (I like the sound of her new title) and Mr. S. Truett Cathy (founder of Chick-fil-A) will receive well-deserved honors. Will post photos and observations from the festivities here tomorrow, as well as footage from the big King Holiday celebrations on Monday.

It's going to be a day on, not a day off!