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Michelle Obama on Life's Fundamentals

The President and First Lady are representing us well in London...this article posted on Yahoo sites gives further insight to Michelle's visit to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School where she answered questions regarding her views and life choices. The story is courtesy of Rebecca Kaplan from the Nationa Jornual. I thought it was a worthy enough article to share.

While President Obama was delivering a speech to the British Parliament on Wednesday, First Lady Michelle Obama used a visit to a prestigious girls school to give a rare glimpse into her life in the White House.

In prepared remarks followed by a Q&A at the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School, she talked about what made her attracted to Obama and how she raises her daughters--as well as Hillary Clinton and whether the U.S. is ready for a woman president:

On whether she knew Obama would be president when she met him: "Absolutely not. No, I'm just kidding.... I knew he was a special person. And it had nothing to do with his education. It had nothing to do with his potential. And I say this to young women: Don't check off—there are a lot of women who have the boxes. Did he go to the right school? What is his income?"It was none of that. It was how he felt about his mother; the love that he felt for his mother; his relationship to women; his work ethic ... he wasn't impressed with himself. And he was funny. And we joked a lot. And he loved his little sister ... he was a community organizer. I really respected that.

"It was those kind of values that made me think you don't meet people like that often. And when you couple that with talent, and he's cute—you know, I always thought he would be useful. But I had no idea he would be president. I didn't think he was going to be president until the night we were standing on the stage and he actually won. I was like, 'gosh, look, you won.' "

On what she and Obama tell their daughters to help them achieve their goals: "Read, write, read, read. If the president were here--one of his greatest strengths is reading. That's one of the reasons why he's a good communicator, why he's such a good writer. He's a voracious reader. So we're trying to get our girls, no matter what, to just be--to love reading and to challenge themselves with what they read, and not just read the gossip books but to push themselves beyond and do things that maybe they wouldn't do.

"So I would encourage you all to read, read, read. Just keep reading. And writing is another skill. It's practice. It's practice. The more you write, the better you get. Drafts--our kids are learning the first draft means nothing. You're going to do seven, 10 drafts. That's writing, it's not failure, it's not the teacher not liking you because it's all marked up in red. When you get to be a good writer, you mark your own stuff in red, and you rewrite, and you rewrite, and you rewrite. That's what writing is."

Advice for women on relationships with spouses and with each other: "Do not bring people in your life who weigh you down. And trust your instincts ... good relationships feel good. They feel right. They don't hurt. They're not painful. That's not just with somebody you want to marry, but it's with the friends that you choose. It's with the people you surround yourselves with. And that's just as important as the school that you choose. Who's in your life, and do you respect them, and do they respect you? And are you respecting them. Right?

"And we as women in particular—and this is such an important message—starting today, you all have to be supportive of each other. You can't be jealous, and push and trip, you know? It's hard enough."

Her concerns on attending Princeton University: "Well meaning but misguided people sometimes questioned whether someone with my background could succeed. I had all kinds of worries and fears and doubts before I entered. I worried that I wouldn't be as well prepared as students who had come from more privileged families. I worried that I wouldn't fit in somewhere so different from where I'd grown up.

"But after a few months in college, away from home on my own, I realized that I was just as capable and I had just as much to offer any of my classmates. I realized that if I worked hard enough, I could do just as well as anyone else."
On whether the U.S. was ready for a woman president: "I think we're there. I think that the United States, I think many countries around the world are ready. So now the challenge is our preparation as women and our desire and willingness to step up and grab that ring, because we're at a time when so many people just want good leadership....

"Hillary Clinton is a fabulous leader. My husband had a formidable opponent in her in the primaries. She is a phenomenal secretary of State. We have examples of outstanding women like her in leadership all over the world.

"So it's completely there. The question is, are we ready? Are we, as young women, are we ready to take that responsibility on and go after it and take the risk that go with stepping out there and being judged? And I think sometimes as women we can step back, but we can start pushing ourselves now."

Visit National Journal for more political news.

Beyonce Exposed

If you thought it was original and that Beyonce came up with the concept, think again. It goes to show that even Beyonce knows when to take advantage and tweak a good idea. However, she should have acknowledge the real creator of the dance routine instead; true to form, Beyonce makes sure she is the center of attention and that the spotlight is on her.

Many were impressed when Beyoncé thanked fired Destiny's Child members LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson in her Billboard Music Awards acceptance speech Sunday night when she received the Millennium Award. But her acknowledgments included a major omission: Italian singer, dancer, actress, and television host Lorella Cuccarini, who appears to have inspired Beyoncé's show-stealing performance of her new song "Run The World (Girls).".

In February 2010, Lorella took the stage at the 60th Sanremo Music Festival in Italy and delivered a show before a white screen and digital accompaniments that has drawn undeniable comparisons to Beyoncé's Billboard Music Awards performance..

As Lorella danced, the backdrop was filled with computerized birds, a bouncing ball, a red staff, a set of wings, a series of drums, and an army of choreographed clones, all of which also appeared in Beyoncé's set..




The variations between the scenes in common are minimal. When watching the performances side-by-side, it feels as though Beyoncé's team used Lorella's show as a template and personalized it by merely changing out some of the details. Not only does Beyoncé use some of the same scenes Lorealla used, but they fall in the same sequence..

Beyoncé's set opens with the roaring head of a tiger. Then like Lorealla's, an entry way appears. Next, both ladies receive a set of flapping wings. Beyoncé dances in front of an array of random, abstract images before a sea of birds descend from the top of the frame. As she continues to dance, she is eventually joined by background dancers made in her likeness. She catches a set of virtual drumsticks and plays the snares that materialize onto the projection in the same spiral fashion as in Lorealla's video..

Kenzo Digital, who spent a month creating Beyoncé's interactive video, said Lorealla concert footage is only part of the inspiration for Beyoncé's show. "[The Cuccarini artists] are awesome and do incredible work as well, but there are a lot of different inspirations for where our piece came from," he told our Amplifier blog..

While it is clear that Beyoncé used the same visual concept as Lorella, Kenzo makes a valid point: both performances contain numerous unique qualities..

Lorella's four-minute routine was a tribute of sorts to American pop music that included pieces of Gwen Stefani's "Holla Back Girl," Michael Jackson's "The Way You Make Me Feel," Aerosmith's "Walk This Way," and Peggy Lee's "Fever.".

Beyoncé also brought two live male background dancers on stage with her, and followed the electronic set with 100+ live female dancers..

Reaction online has been mixed. "This is why I will always value her as a great performer, but never as an artist," rocknox wrote on YouTube. "Why are you going to perform a sampled song, and sample a performance too?".

But ShortStuff528 came to Beyoncés defense. "Has Beyoncé claimed this performance as her idea? Who's to say it was Beyoncé who sought out the people responsible for the original? Maybe they wanted to work with her. Every artist constantly copies. Michael Jackson copied James Brown, Jackie Wilson, breakdancers, Marcel Marcequ, and many magicians that he witnessed. ... Beyoncé gave credit to Fosse even before 'Single Ladies.'".

Still, Beyoncé owed Lorella a mention during her speech. For Beyoncé's "Run The World (Girls)" video, she pays respect to the Tofo Tofo dancers from Mozambique who inspired the opening dance sequence by featuring two of the members in the clip..

A representative for Beyoncé had not responded to Yahoo! Music's request for a quote at press time. A spokesperson for the Billboard Awards offered no comment..

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