Cost of living reduction a priority in Barbados
"The Ministry of Commerce and Trade is doing all in its power, not only to address, but to effect a reduction in prices in Barbados," said Minister of Commerce and Trade, Senator Haynesley Benn, at the conclusion of the Nation Publishing Company's TalkBack town hall meeting on Wednesday night.
Benn was part of a panel discussion that examined the cost of living in Barbados.
He said, "We are expanding on the basket of goods. I want to commend the price control officers in my Ministry for going out there, for selecting 174 items in 34 categories that we are monitoring."
Benn further added that he looked forward to cooperating with the media in terms of getting price comparisons publicised.
He also remarked that solutions could only be reached through dynamic involvement by key parties of interest.
"We have decided that the best way to tackle this issue is to get all the stakeholders on board with us, and have discussions with them. We looked at the Miscellaneous Control Order 2007, we looked at the other regulations...we've met [with] the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Barbados Manufacturers' Association, Customs Brokers Association [and[ with Barbados Association of Retired Persons...we've met with a number of stakeholders," the minister noted, and revealed that he will also meet later this month with the Customs department which is under the aegis of the Ministry of Finance.
In addition, the commerce minister disclosed that steps had been made towards creating a collective of relevant entities, both public and private, that will advise the minister on initiatives to effectively address the cost of living in Barbados.
"We've already prepared a Cabinet paper that has gone to the various ministries seeking to get Cabinet's approval on this broad-based committee," Benn explained.
He underscored that comments had already been received from some ministries but responses would take time, as the propositions made in the Cabinet paper would impact on the plans of other departments, and especially the Ministry of Finance.
"Having sought to widen the basket of goods and have a number of items zero rated, and also taking on board those with special needs, we would expect that the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs will want to take a very careful look at what loss of revenue there will be for the country," Benn declared.
He stressed that while local efforts would be made to reduce the cost of living, Barbadians also needed to be aware of the external factors that affected the cost of goods on the island.
Meanwhile, Managing Director of Super Centre Ltd, David Neilands, explained that natural disasters had affected the availability, and thus, cost of particular goods. He agreed, however, that local mitigating efforts could and would be taken to address the issue.
Neilands agreed that Minister Benn's approach of bringing the public and private sectors together was the best way forward.
However, the panellists and audience also offered various solutions to reducing the cost of living. President of the Barbados Small Business Association, Celeste Foster, suggested the use of import substitution and regional bulk purchasing of goods.
Chairman of the Consumer Protection Committee of the Barbados Association of Retired Persons, Jai Jebodhsingh, emphasised that the cost of living was not only relative to goods, but services as well. He advocated that greater transparency by businesses, along with a change in the lifestyles of Barbadians, would have positive effects on the crisis with which the country was faced.
President of the National Union of Public Workers, Walter Maloney observed that ethics needed to play a crucial role in how business was conducted in Barbados.
Lawsuit against LIAT dismissed
A United States District Court in the Virgin Islands Division of St. Thomas and St. John has thrown out a discrimination lawsuit brought against regional airline LIAT by an American man, Liston Sewer, who was removed from a flight from Tortola to Antigua in 2002.
Sewer, a Rastafarian, had accused LIAT of discriminating against him on the basis of his race, religion and beliefs.
In dismissing Sewer's suit, the Court said that he presented no evidence to show he was discriminated against by LIAT or its employees.
“Instead, it is apparent that, in removing Sewer from the flight to Antigua, LIAT employees applied neutral selection criteria to remove the eight passengers whose flights could most easily be rescheduled,” the court said in its ruling, a copy of which was obtained by the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
“Second, and more importantly, even if Sewer had presented any evidence of discrimination, there is no legal basis by which he can recover in this Court for discrimination suffered in another country by agents of a foreign airline.”
Sewer, who resides in the US Virgin Islands, was among passengers who pushed passed boarding gate staff and boarded an overbooked LIAT flight on July 28, 2002. He became angry when he did not get a seat and had to be removed from the aircraft by a police officer.
On December 11, 2002, Sewer filed suit against LIAT asserting claims of discrimination, defamation and intentional or negligent infliction of emotion distress.
“Because Sewer’s discrimination claim is pre-empted by the Warsaw Convention and because he has presented no evidence he was discriminated against in any event, this Court grants summary judgment in LIAT’s favour,” the Court said in its ruling.
Source-(CMC)
Novak Djokovic will play Roger Federer in Dubai final
Novak Djokovic will face Roger Federer in Saturday's Dubai Championships final after both were victorious on Friday.
World number two Federer defeated unseeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet in straight sets 6-2 7-5.
Federer, 30, eased past Gasquet in the opening set and survived a break of serve to win the second.
Earlier, Australian Open champion Djokovic beat Tomas Berdych 6-7 6-2 4-2 in a dramatic match in which the Czech retired in the decider.
Second seed Djokovic struggled to hit form in his opening set against third seed Berdych, losing the tiebreak 7-5.
But the 23-year-old Serb battled back to win the second and was ahead in the third when Berdych retired with an injured left thigh.
"I couldn't serve," Berdych commented. "So to play Novak, one of the best returners, this time to play without the serve, no chance."
Defending champion Djokovic said, however, that he had given his worst performance of the year.
"I hate it when I play this way, but I was still trying to fight within myself and try to stay focused and at least hold serve," he added.
American owners say Manchester United not for sale
Manchester United's American owners insisted Friday that they are committed to the 18-time English champions for the "long term" and will not sell the Premier League club.
The statement, which accompanied United's quarterly update on its financial results, comes amid continuing media reports the Glazer family have tried to sell the club to the Qatari royal family.
"The board notes recent press speculation regarding a possible bid for Manchester United," the statement said. "The owners remain fully committed to their long-term ownership of the club.
"No discussions have taken place, Manchester United is not for sale and the owners will not entertain any offers."
Qatar Holdings has also denied that it has held takeover talks with United. Forbes magazine has estimated that United is worth $1.8 billion - making it the most valuable football team in the world.
Friday's statement is the second time in the past year that the Glazers, who also own the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers, have used their financial report to refute persistent claims they are trying to sell the club they bought in a leveraged buyout in 2005.
While an anti-Glazer protest campaign adopted by fans last season has lost its initial impetus, supporters remain furious at the high level of debt they claim is hampering the club's ability to compete in the transfer market.
While United is top of the Premier League and in the last 16 of the Champions League, the team's performances have been inconsistent and several key players nearing the end of their careers have yet to be replaced.
Read more: SI.com
Wade scores 41 as Heat top Wizards, 121-113
This was supposed to be the easy game for the Miami Heat , the one respite in a brutal 13-game stretch where every other opponent is a playoff contender.
It turned out to be quite the challenge.
Dwyane Wade scored 41 points, LeBron James added 25 points, nine rebounds and seven assists and the Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Washington Wizards 121-113 on Friday night.
The win moved Miami (43-16) a half-game ahead of idle Boston (41-15) in the Eastern Conference, even though the Celtics' winning percentage of .732 tops the Heat by three one-thousandths of a point.
Chris Bosh scored 15 points and Mario Chalmers finished with 14 for the Heat, who have won a season-best seven straight at home.
Nick Young scored 38 points for Washington, which got 24 points and 12 assists from John Wall and an 18-point, 17-rebound night from JaVale McGee. The Wizards were within two points late in the third quarter, before falling to 1-28 on the road.
Miami lost in Chicago on Thursday and its next 11 games are against teams that expect to be in the playoff chase, starting with a Sunday night matchup against Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and the new-look New York Knicks .
A night after shooting 1 for 18 in the loss to the Bulls, Bosh bounced back a bit, shooting 5 for 12 from the floor. He also had eight rebounds.
On this night, his shooting didn't matter much: Wade made a season-high 18 shots on 27 attempts.
Young was an absolute matchup nightmare for Miami much of the night, carrying Washington for long stretches and finishing with his second-highest scoring game of the season, topped only by a 43-point outburst against Sacramento on Jan. 11.
He twisted his left ankle early in the third quarter, already having scored 27 points in 24 minutes. After getting re-taped, Young returned, but simply wasn't as explosive as he seemed in the early going.
And perhaps it was no coincidence that when Young cooled a bit after the ankle twist, Miami pulled away.
A 20-8 Heat run just about sealed it, capped by Wade hitting the 40-point mark with a layup with 5:24 left for a 108-94 lead. Young made three free throws after getting fouled by Chalmers 26 feet from the basket with 29.5 seconds left, getting the Wizards within five, but James finally put it away with two free throws 1.7 seconds later.
Washington's lone road win came against lowly Cleveland, and seven of its road losses are by more than 20 points.
It felt more like home in this one. For most of the way, anyway.
Young had 10 points in the first quarter, escaping injury when he leaped over the scorer's table, and Washington used a 22-9 run to build a five-point lead after the opening 12 minutes.
Then Wade took over.
He went on one of his most scintillating runs of the season - making nine straight shots, the last eight of them in a span of just 3:38. He scored 18 of Miami's first 19 points of the second quarter, hitting everything from high-arcing touch shots in the lane, turnarounds from the baseline and pullup 3-pointers followed by a shout to the Heat bench.
Even with that, Miami couldn't get separation.
James made sure Miami would take the lead - such as it was, 63-61 - into the break after intercepting Yi Jianlian's pass, driving down the left side of the floor, splitting two defenders and finishing a three-point play after drawing contact from Josh Howard with 1:24 left.
But Wall nailed a 3-pointer over James' outstretched arm later in the half, and Washington didn't go away after the break, either.
The Wizards got within one point on four occasions in the third quarter, even tying the game once. Young missed the final 7 1/2 minutes of the quarter with the ankle injury, and the Wizards shot 5 for 17 over the remainder of the period after he tumbled to the court in pain.
Source:SI.com
Trade Deadline Fallout: Who’s on notice?
The league looks a lot different than it did four days ago — or even 24 hours ago, for that matter. We evaluated most of the key trades Thursday, so now it’s time to look at who’s on notice in the new NBA landscape:
•Dallas Mavericks, most of the league’s contenders
An underplayed storyline from this week’s madness is that of all the teams considered title contenders before Thursday, only one (the Celtics) made a trade. The Heat, Lakers, Spurs, Magic, Bulls and Mavericks all stood pat, with always-active Dallas the lone major surprise among this group.
By all accounts, Dallas worked hard to turn Caron Butler’s expiring contract and a first-round pick into something — Devin Harris, J.R. Smith, Tayshaun Prince or some other wing scorer. In the end, it appears the Butler/draft pick package wasn’t enticing enough, and that the Mavs weren’t willing to go beyond that.
We may never know what teams such as the Pistons and Nuggets demanded, or whether Dallas could have snagged Harris before the Nets placed him in the Deron Williams deal. Dallas has deemed Roddy Beaubois basically untouchable and has few other players who are both expendable and desirable.
So Dallas will go into the postseason with what it has. So will the Bulls (notwithstanding the potential addition of a buyout candidate), who reportedly sought a shooting guard such as Courtney Lee or O.J. Mayo but wouldn’t part with Omer Asik to get it done. That leaves Kyle Korver, Ronnie Brewer and Keith Bogans to man the position, and the Bulls are doing just fine, on both ends, with that crew.
• Boston big man Glen Davis
The Celtics’ stunning trade of Kendrick Perkins to the Thunder was about a lot of things: the possibility of losing the starting center to free agency this summer; the need for a backup swingman (Jeff Green, a player coach Doc Rivers has always liked); faith that Shaquille O’Neal will get healthy; the Clippers’ 2012 draft pick Boston received in the deal; and keeping the salary books clear long term.
But to me, the deal is about Davis more than anyone else. Davis and Kevin Garnett have formed Boston’s go-to crunch-time power forward/center combination all season, and my hunch is Boston is fine with those two guys playing 40 minutes apiece in the playoffs if necessary. Nitpickers will point out that Boston has played worse with Davis on the floor this season, but if you parse the lineup data carefully, you’ll see lineups featuring Davis and at least three of Boston’s core four players have mostly performed brilliantly; lineups with Davis and two or more bench guys are pulling down his plus/minus numbers. The lineups that matter most are doing fine.
Big Baby’s defense has progressed more than Boston’s brain trust could have anticipated, and the Celtics like his ability to stretch the floor — particularly given Rajon Rondo’s jump-shooting issues. The team has to hope Davis will do better on mid-range twos than his current 36 percent mark. He’ll also have to improve on the defensive glass, where he has never been close to Perkins.
• Jeff Green in Boston
Lots of NBA folks are high on Green, it appears. Peter May, writing at ESPNBoston, labeled him the best player in the Boston-Oklahoma City trade, which included Perkins, Nate Robinson and Nenad Krstic. And though my colleague Ian Thomsen isn’t sold on the idea that Green is the best player in the trade, he believes Boston may opt to re-sign Green over Davis if it becomes an either/or situation this summer, when both are free agents. The Boston Globe‘s Bob Ryan compared Green to “a young Antonio McDyess” and Garnett (the latter only in terms of Green’s selflessness).
I’m considerably more skeptical than all three of these brilliant writers (which makes me nervous), and I’d consider Perkins the best player in the trade. Green’s scoring average is misleading and largely the product of the fact that he plays 37 minutes per game on a team with two superstars who draw lots of attention; Green is shooting just 43.7 percent overall and a chilly 30.4 percent from three-point range.
As I mentioned Thursday, plus/minus numbers show he has been a consistent anchor for his team during each of his four seasons in the league. The SuperSonics and Thunder played worse, especially on defense, with Green in the game. Always. Only two players in the league had a bigger negative impact on their team’s scoring differential last season, and the Thunder are again playing much better with Green on the bench – particularly on defense.
A word of caution: The same is true this season of most of Oklahoma City’s starters, including Russell Westbrook, so something was just fundamentally wrong with that lineup. But neither Westbrook nor Kevin Durant was an overall negative last season, when the Thunder jumped up the standings; Green still was.
Green has a ton of talent, and a backup role may suit him beautifully. And if the Celtics (and now Chicago) have taught us anything about defense, it’s that the system matters as much the individual talent; remember when everyone thought Ray Allen was a poor defender?
This is Green’s chance to flourish in a new team context. Boston will need him.
• Nets GM Billy King and owner Mikhail Prokhorov
The Nets pulled off perhaps the coup of the deadline, snaring All-Star point guard Deron Williams when few league observers even understood he might be available. They paid a heavy price to get him, and Williams made clear Thursday that the team will need to convince him to stay instead of opting out of his deal after next season. New Jersey may get an assist from the new collective bargaining agreement because Williams might not be able to get even close to the $17.8 million he could make in 2012-13 under the player option in his current deal.
New Jersey will have major cap room this offseason. The team will face a choice of making a big signing in a relatively weak free-agent class, or tweaking on the margins while biding its time for 2012 — when it will also have to make a decision on 22-year-old center Brook Lopez.
• O.J. Mayo and the Grizzlies
It can’t be fun to know your team came within minutes of trading you, only to have a proposed deal with Indiana fall apart shortly before the 3 p.m. ET deadline. And with the trade of Hasheem Thabeet to Houston, the Grizzlies have signaled that they are ready to pay center Marc Gasol long term this summer. Having already signed Mike Conley and Rudy Gay to big-money deals, the Grizzlies likely don’t have a place for Mayo once his rookie contract expires after next season.
So we have a weird situation where Mayo is playing for his next contract while the rest of the league knows Memphis wants to move him at some point. The Grizzlies played well during Mayo’s 10-game suspension, but they’re going to need his offense — both to make a solid playoff push with Gay out for three more weeks, and to make sure Mayo’s trade value stays relatively healthy. They’re going to want to recoup a first-round pick after sending one to Houston along with Thabeet.
• The “kids” in Houston
There are more minutes on the wing in Houston now that Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks are gone (to Memphis and Phoenix, respectively), and these guys both stand to benefit. Unless Terrence Williams or DeMarre Carroll gets some unexpected run, Budinger may be the only true small forward in Rick Adelman’s regular rotation.
Budinger has shown flashes, but he’s shooting just 42 percent overall and 31 percent from three-point range, and those numbers have to improve. He’s a decent rebounder and his passing has improved, but he has been a key part of a Houston bench that has largely struggled.
Ditto for Courtney Lee, who is already 25 and has seen his minutes nearly cut in half this season. He’s shooting well and he’s a sticky defender, but he has never lived up to the promise he showed as a rookie in Orlando. His rookie deal ends after next season.
This has been a lost season for Williams and Goran Dragic. Both may get a chance to salvage it — and their reputations — but only Dragic is guaranteed minutes here.
• Nicolas Batum and Rudy Fernandez
Both of these guys have gone in and out of favor with Nate McMillan, who has criticized Batum’s passive approach on offense and Fernandez’s attitude and inconsistency. But both have kept their spots in McMillan’s rotation because they’re talented, and because McMillan’s roster has been so thin.
Now comes Gerald Wallace, a tough, physical wing player who can run the floor with these guys but can attack the rim in a way neither Portland youngster can — yet. McMillan is going to love him.
Both guys are set to be restricted free agents after next season, when their rookie deals expire. The competition for minutes — and dollars — just got a little tougher.
• Carl Landry
Landry floundered with Sacramento, where the expectations started high (this is the guy for whom the Kings dealt Kevin Martin, after all) and the frontcourt rotation was jumbled. Now Landry is, at worst, the Hornets’ third-best offensive frontcourt player, and he’s immediately the best scorer among their backups.
The Hornets will have trouble playing Landry, David West and Emeka Okafor together, so Landry is going to have to make his impact as part of New Orleans’ punchless bench. He’ll also have to improve his defensive rebounding, which has reached shooting guard levels since his rookie season. He’ll have to do better if he wants a decent contract this summer, when he’ll be a free agent.
• Aaron Brooks
He’s been on notice all season, really, and it has gone horribly — in part because of an early-season ankle injury. He’s shooting 34 percent (!), he has been pouting about minutes, and if he’s not scoring efficiently, he doesn’t really help your team. The Rockets did well to nab a first-round pick for him considering the league knew they had committed long term to Kyle Lowry and likely weren’t going to re-sign Brooks.
Brooks will get a shot now to fill Goran Dragic’s role as Steve Nash’s backup, and he’ll be a restricted free agent after this season. Who knows if Phoenix is seriously considering him as Nash’s heir — not a scenario most Suns fans want to think about. But he is certainly auditioning for a new contract in a league stacked with point guards.
Source:SI.com
West Indies blown away in World Cup opener
West Indies were floored by a combination of Imran Tahir's clever leg spin and A.B. de Villiers' 10th one-day international hundred that condemned them to a seven-wicket defeat in their World Cup opener yesterday.
Darren Bravo led the way in the batting with 73, but Tahir snared four wickets for 41 runs from 10 overs, as West Indies were dismissed for 222 in 47.3 overs, after they were sent in to bat in their Group B match at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.
The Caribbean side then claimed opener Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis cheaply before de Villiers smote eight fours and two sixes in an undefeated 107 from 105 balls, and shared in two significant alliances to usher the Proteas over the finish line with 43 balls to spare.
"I think we had an opportunity, where we could have posted much more runs," said West Indies captain Darren Sammy.
"It so happened that all of the batsmen in our side that got starts failed to carry on like [de Villiers] for South Africa."
Wickets lost in clusters
He added: "Every time it appeared we were getting back into the game we lost wickets in clusters, so we really have to correct this.
"There were still a few positives in the batting. Darren Bravo batted quite well for us, and so we will go back and look at the drawing board, and come better against The Netherlands."
To add injury to insult, West Indies were hamstrung by the loss of vice-captain and leading all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, when he injured himself while bowling, and could only complete 2.1 of his allotment of 10 overs.
"He is a wicket-taker for us, and losing him was not a good sight for us," said Sammy.
"Right now, we do not know the extent of the injury, but he will have a scan [on Friday], and hopefully he will be okay to take part for the remainder of the competition."
Kemar Roach gave West Indies a bright start in their defence of the modest total, when Amla got an inside edge and was caught behind brilliantly left-handed down the leg side by wicketkeeper Devon Thomas in the fourth over.
Sulieman Benn gave West Indies a false hope, when Jacques Kallis edged a loose drive and was caught at slip for four next over to leave South Africa 20 for two.
West Indies did not get another chance to celebrate a wicket until the 29th over, when Kieron Pollard bowled South Africa captain Graeme Smith for 45, following a second-wicket stand of 119 with de Villiers.
Earlier, Darren Bravo struck eight fours and one six from 82 balls to give West Indies early momentum. His elder brother Dwayne supported with 40, Devon Smith made 36, and Shivnarine Chanderpaul gathered 31.
The World Cup continues today when Trans-Tasman neighbours Australia and New Zealand renew rivalry at the VCA Stadium in the Indian city of Nagpur, and co-hosts Bangladesh meet ICC Associate side Ireland at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka.
SCOREBOARD
West Indies (maximum 50 overs)
C. Gayle c Kallis b Botha 2D. Smith c and b Imran Tahir 36D.M. Bravo lbw b Botha 73R. Sarwan lbw b Imran Tahir 2S. Chanderpaul c Peterson b Imran Tahir 31D.J. Bravo run out (Morkel/+de Villiers) 40+D. Thomas c Duminy b Imran Tahir 15K. Pollard lbw b Steyn 0D. Sammy lbw b Steyn 0S. Benn c Morkel b Steyn 6K. Roach not out 2Extras (b1, lb3, w11) 15Total (all out, 47.3 overs) 222
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-113, 3-117, 4-120, 5-178, 6-209, 7-213, 8-213, 9-213
Bowling: Botha 9-0-48-2 (w7); Steyn 7.3-1-24-3 (w2); Morkel 8-0-35-0 (w2); Kallis 3-0-21-0; Imran Tahir 10-1-41-4; Peterson 10-0-49-0
South Africa (target: 223 off 50 overs)
H. Amla c Thomas b Roach 14G. Smith b Pollard 45J. Kallis cSammy b Benn 4+A. de Villiers not out 107J. Duminy not out 42Extras (lb10, nb1) 11Total (3 wkts, 42.5 overs) 223
F. du Plessis, J. Botha, R. Peterson, M. Morkel, D. Steyn, Imran Tahir did not bat
Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-20, 3-139
Bowling: Benn 10-0-51-1; Roach 8-0-42-1; D.J. Bravo 2.1-0-12-0;Sammy 8-0-40-0; Pollard 7.5-0-37-1 (nb1); Gayle 6-0-26-0; Smith 0.5-0-5-0
Result: South Africa won by seven wickets (43 balls remaining)
Points: South Africa 2, West Indies 0
Toss: South Africa
Man of the Match: A. de Villiers (South Africa)
Umpires: S. Taufel (Australia), A. Saheba (India)
New Pics from Rihanna’s Chris Brown Beating Surface
Just days after Rihanna’s restraining order against ex-boyfriend Chris Brown was relaxed, new pictures of the badly beaten R&B star leaked online.
The previously unseen pictures, posted by gossip site MediaTakeOut.com, were reportedly taken in the hours after Rihanna was assaulted by Brown in February 2009. The photographs appear to show the singer with extensive bruising, mainly on her right eye and lips.
Meawhile:
Chris Brown has taken to Twitter to complain about the timing of leaked photos showing the extent of his attack on ex-girlfriend Rihanna.
“The Devil is always busy. But when u have a destiny, nothing or no one can stop what god has planned,” Brown wrote in one of the tweets, which have since been removed from his page.
Source:EUR
Donald Trump: Rihanna is Disrepectful and Can’t Sing
Over the weekend, Rihanna canceled on money man Donald Trump, claiming she was sick. But the singer performed at the All-Star Game.
According to Trump, he hired her for a fundraiser in South Florida, but bailed last minute due to illness. But within 24 hours, she miraculously was healed and on stage in Los Angeles doing her thing.
“I thought that (Rihanna bailing) was insulting to everyone,” Trump shared. “But for Rihanna to go to the All-Star game and perform after she told us she was sick, that is just a lack of respect.”
Reportedly, Trump paid the Barbados native $500,000 for her performance. But fortunately, a replacement, Jennifer Hudson, came through last minute.
“Nothing was missed. Jennifer’s a beautiful girl. She came on her day off even though she performs almost every night,” Trump said of his super sub. “She is an unbelievable talent, and her voice is better.”
Motown Sound and Legend Honored at White House
John Legend, Jamie Foxx, Nick Jonas, Seal and other musicians busted out the Motown classics at the White House on Thursday for a group of cheering teens in the spirit of President Barack Obama and his wife’s musical youth.
“Times have changed but the amazing thing is that that music is still relevant,” Legend said after he sat down at a piano in the State Dining Room and delivered a room-filling rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Love’s in Need of Love.”
The singer shared some of his own childhood memories when he first was introduced to Motown, saying it was his dad and uncle’s singing that inspired his love for music.
Mrs. Obama explained that it was more than music; it was a social movement.
“As Motown rose, so did the forces of change in this country,” she said. “During that time, it was the time of King and Kennedy, it was a time of marches and rallies and groundbreaking civil rights laws.”
But there was more music in store before the evening was over. In fact, several of the Motown vets as well as the man himself, Berry Gordy, were in the house and represented the big M quite nicely.
Smokey Robinson took the stage with Sheryl Crow for a duet on his hit, “You Really Got a Hold on Me,” and then Stevie Wonder followed with his classic, “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.”
“Berry, thank you for this incredible Motown ride,” Wonder said, calling for the crowd to celebrate by “dancing in the streets” to introduce the showstopper of the same name, joined by all the other performers, as well as Martha Reeves of Martha and the Vandellas.
In a bit of Motown soul, Reeves brought down the band in the middle of the song to improvise some praise for Gordy as the music continued lightly, and then the Obamas and daughter Sasha took the stage for the rousing finish.