Donald Trump’s inauguration is less than a month away, and attempts to secure entertainment for the event has been just as much a shitshow as the campaign, and presumably indicative of the well-oiled machine the American public has to look forward to over the next four years. According to reports, the Trump people are desperate for A-list celebrities to sign on to the festivities, and have been going hat in hand to big names, “willing to pay anything” to get their participation. However, so far at least, there have been few takers, and some instances of outright refusal and outrage.
Among the only confirmed performers are the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Jackie Evancho —a 16-year-old America’s Got Talent contestant, who will sing the national anthem at the inauguration— and The Rockettes. The decision by Madison Square Garden Company chairman James Dolan to include the Rockettes in Trump’s inauguration has been met with considerable blowback, since at least some of the group’s dancers have expressed their “embarrassment” and “disappointment” at the prospect of being involved. This was compounded by initial reports the Rockettes’ union had instructed the dancers they were required to perform, whether they liked it or not, which seemed somewhat symbolic for an administration headed by a president not exactly known for being respectful of women’s consent. Within a day of the stories of upset dancers, both MSG and the American Guild of Variety Artists —the union representing the dancers— “clarified” their positions, and announced performing at the inauguration would be voluntary for Rockettes.
In the meantime, the search continues to find people beyond Ted Nugent doing the greatest hits off Cat Scratch Fever and Kid Rock butchering classic rock songs. Both Celine Dion and Elton John have turned down requests to perform, which was somewhat surprising for John, since he usually shows up to cash a check and turned some heads when he performed at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding some years back. Another performer known for showing up as long as the check clears, Gene Simmons, has said —through his wife— KISS will not be performing. Some Trump supporters have been lamenting tenor Andrea Boccelli deciding against taking part in the inauguration, claiming the backlash of being associated with Trump is the reason.
Also, the Beach Boys have been asked to appear. Although, a lineup of Mike Love, possibly “Uncle Jesse,” and a bunch of session musicians is not exactly the Beach Boys.
Media reports have claimed Trump is “very unhappy” with the inability of his staff to book talent, and what else would one expect from a man whose ego gets off on his name being put on the side of buildings. Trump pal Mark Burnett of Apprentice and allegedly hiding any ugly tapes of Trump fame has tasked a former booker of Dancing with the Stars with finding people to show up.
However, there are reports that even in places where Republicans have in the past been able to get reliable entertainment acts, they’re not interested. Country music has been a genre that’s been more favorable to the GOP in recent decades, given a significant part of the audience is in the Republican demo. But even Garth Brooks and others have turned down requests to appear.
"We've gotten calls that almost sound a little bit desperate: 'Does anybody want to perform?'" says Ken Levitan, a top music manager who represents liberal and conservative artists including Kings of Leon, Hank Williams Jr., Lynyrd Skynyrd and Emmylou Harris. "At this point, we haven't had anybody that has any desire to perform at the inauguration.
"Even if you're a Trump supporter, you've got to look at how he plays the media [and] the public, in terms of how he attacks and twists things around. I've got to think there's a fear of talking about things and working with him," Levitan continues. "I do know some of the very conservative [artists] have no desire to do it. ... [They] just don't want to be involved in the circus — it's a media circus, and not necessarily in a good way." … "They want to be cool and they want to be hip, but the problem is, they're not, and no one's going to go along with the charade," says Simon Renshaw, a Trump opponent who manages the liberal Dixie Chicks. "And the stuff they could get, they're looking at it and going, 'We're going to have Ted Nugent and Kid Rock — oh my God, that doesn't look like an inauguration, that's going to look like a bar-room redneck brawl.'"
Since we now live in post-reality America, and the grand wizard of pissing in people’s hands and claiming it’s rain is about to assume office, of course Donald Trump’s public response has been to deny water is wet.
Trump is attempting to play the usual conservative move of portraying the entertainment industry as elitist, and positioning himself as the put-upon public servant being bashed by intolerant out-of-touch rich Hollywood liberals. This is the defense of Trump already being deployed on Fox News.
The only problem is the “people” voted for the other candidate by about 3 million votes. And when one breaks it down, it’s simple economics. If I’m an agent or music label head, why in God’s name would I ever put my talent out in support of someone who alienates more than half the country?