I always like seeing who they can get to show up, after having Shannen Doherty in 92...
AP
WASHINGTON - Contemporary Christian musician Michael W. Smith and country music performers the Gatlin Brothers will entertain delegates at the Republican National Convention in New York City that starts Aug. 30, party officials said.
More than a half-dozen musical acts announced by the party range from country to classical to blues.
Bill Harris, chief executive of the Republican National Convention, described the group as the first to join the convention. Republicans say they will announce more performers in the coming days.
The performers to be officially announced Thursday include:
Michael W. Smith, one of the top stars in contemporary Christian music who has occasionally crossed over to the pop charts.
The Gatlin Brothers, who have been performing for four decades in country music and had a string of hits in the 1970s and 1980s. They cut back on nationwide touring in 1992.
Daniel Rodriguez, a former New York City policeman and tenor who became well known singing a capella versions of "God Bless America" and the national anthem after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Sara Evans, one of the promising young performers in country music who has had a number of hits on the country charts. In 1998, she had a hit album "No Place That Far" and the title song on the album became her first No. 1 hit.
Other entertainers at the convention include Dana Glover, a young performer, who sang on the soundtrack for the movie "Shrek," veteran actor Ron Silver, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, co-host of daytime talk show "The View" and surfer-turned-singer Daize Shayne.
...And This From The Philadelphia Inquirer as far as what "stars" are on their side.
Caustic comedian Dennis Miller and actress Angie Harmon are expected to wing in from Los Angeles to mingle with delegates at Madison Square Garden. Headliners, according to CNN, will include country stars Sara Evans and Lee Ann Womack, with blues-rocker Jonny Lang and Texas alt-rock band Dexter Freebish joining more established acts the Gatlin Brothers and Blind Boys of Alabama.
....Likewise, it wouldn't hurt President Bush if actor Tony Sirico, who plays mobster Paulie Walnuts on The Sopranos, stops by the Garden during the GOP convention. "I am a far-to-the-right Republican," Sirico declared last month at a fund-raising party on Long Island.
Other actors who've been in Bush's corner include Freddie Prinze Jr., Jason Priestley, Bo Derek, Shannen Doherty, Kelsey Grammer and bohemian right-winger Vincent Gallo, who once called left-wing author and radio talker Al Franken a "commie crawfish."
True, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and the Dixie Chicks are raising money for Kerry with a series of highly publicized concerts. No such venture has been planned for Bush.
But Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kid Rock, Britney Spears, Ted Nugent, and Steve Tyler of Aerosmith are fans of the President. So is punk-rock guitarist Johnny Ramone of the Ramones, who urges musician pals to donate to Bush's campaign. "I try to make a dent in people when I can," he said in a March interview with the Washington Times. "I figure people drift toward liberalism at a young age, and I always hope that they change when they see how the world really is."
Isn't it funny how the stars who go republican are usually the people who find religion after having done every drug on the planet, or has-beens having trouble getting a job?