Tab Choir to Perform at Inauguration - Blowback Possible?

[smac97]

Here:

Quote

SALT LAKE CITY — The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, dubbed "America's Choir" by Ronald Reagan during his first inauguration, will sing at Donald Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20, the president-elect's team announced Thursday morning.

The choir has been a regular at presidential inaugurations, performing at five for presidents of both parties over the past half century. The invitation to participate in a sixth inauguration grew out of a visit to the Mormon Tabernacle on historic Temple Square in September by Donald Trump Jr. It also comes at a time of controversy for the Trump team which reportedly has had difficulty securing talent for inauguration festivities.

"Difficulty securing talent" is a diplomatic way of saying it.  

Quote

The choir's participation could make it a target for complaints by Trump opponents, who threatened to boycott future concerts by Andrea Bocelli if he performed at the inauguration. Some media outlets said the protests, using the hashtag #BoycottBocelli, prompted Bocelli to decline Trump's invitation, while the chairman of Trump's Presidential Inaugural Committee told CNBC that it was Trump who declined the singer's offer.

I'm inclined to think that Bocelli caved under the boycott threat.

Quote

The Washington Post reported this week that musician and producer David Foster, a 16-time Grammy winner and long-time friend of Trump, declined Trump's invitation to organize the music for the inauguration so he wouldn't offend his friends who supported Hillary Clinton.

"So he wouldn't offend" = "caved to massive social pressure".

Quote

The choir will be joined at the inauguration by 16-year-old singer Jackie Evancho, who will sing the national anthem. Evancho became a reality TV star at age 10 as a contestant on "America's Got Talent."

And in other news, in anticipation of Jackie's anticipated participation in the inauguration: 

• Jackie Evancho Says She is Being Cyber-Bullied Over Donald Trump Inauguration Performance
• US News Jackie Evancho Faces Backlash for Agreeing to Sing on Trump Inauguration Day
• Jackie Evancho, 16, addresses backlash since agreeing to sing at Trump inauguration

I suspect we'll see similar treatment of the Choir.

Quote

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir first performed at a presidential inauguration at the invitation of Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. It has performed at the first inaugural for every Republican president since, beginning with Richard M. Nixon in 1969 and followed by Reagan in 1981, George H. W. Bush in 1989 and George W. Bush in 2001.

So the Choir was not invited to perform for Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, or Barack Obama (that is, all of the Democratic presidents for the last half century).  I think there's a generally non-nefarious reason for that...

Quote

The choir sang "This Is My Country” for Johnson and Nixon and performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” with the Marine Corps Band for Nixon. It performed the “Battle Hymn of the Republic" for Reagan, repeating that performance for George W. Bush along with "God Bless America" and "America the Beautiful."

Johnson, Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes all won Utah's electoral votes in the election leading up to their invitations to the choir to perform at their inaugurations.

This seems like a plausible explanation as to why the Democratic presidents have not invited the Tab Choir.   The Choir is strongly linked to Utah.  No Democratic candidate has won the Utah vote since 1964, which was the year LBJ won.  And LBJ happens to have been the only Democratic president to invite the Choir to perform (and, notably, also the first president to do so).  

So it seems like an invitation to the Choir is strongly correlated with the prevailing vote in Utah.

Quote

The choir has performed for five additional presidents, beginning with President William Howard Taft, who attended a concert in the Tabernacle on Sept. 26, 1909. The choir gave its first White House concert for Taft on Nov. 15, 1911, and later sang for Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter.

I'm glad that the Choir, perhaps the most well-known ambassadorial arm of the Church, does not seem to "play politics."  

Anyhoo, I wonder if there will be social media and other forms of blowback against the Choir and the Church, rather along the lines of what happened to Bocelli (and, probably, other performers).

Thanks,

-Smac

Edited December 23, 2016 by smac97

[stemelbow]

What a mess this all is. 

Sounds like the choir was about 60th on the list.  You get down far enough on the list of potential invitees and someone's going to agree to it.  But my goodness, performers pulling out because they fear they'll get boycotted by angry Clinton fans?  She must have too many under a spell.  Why would a Hillary supporter care if someone performs at his inauguration?  I say this past election has caused too many different waves of problems. 

[Scott Lloyd]

13 minutes ago, smac97 said:

Here:

"Difficulty securing talent" is a diplomatic way of saying it.  

I'm inclined to think that Bocelli caved under the boycott threat.

"So he wouldn't offend" = "caved to massive social pressure".

And in other news, in anticipation of Jackie's anticipated participation in the inauguration: 

• Jackie Evancho Says She is Being Cyber-Bullied Over Donald Trump Inauguration Performance
• US News Jackie Evancho Faces Backlash for Agreeing to Sing on Trump Inauguration Day
• Jackie Evancho, 16, addresses backlash since agreeing to sing at Trump inauguration

I suspect we'll see similar treatment of the Choir.

So the Choir did was not invited to perform for Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, or Barack Obama (that is, all of the Democratic presidents for the last half century).  I think there's a generally non-nefarious reason for that...

This seems like a plausible explanation as to why the Democratic presidents have not invited the Tab Choir.   The Choir is strongly linked to Utah.  No Democratic candidate has won the Utah vote since 1964, which was the year LBJ won.  And LBJ happens to have been the only Democratic president to invite the Choir to perform (and, notably, also the first president to do so).  

So it seems like an invitation to the Choir is strongly correlated with the prevailing vote in Utah.

I'm glad that the Choir, perhaps the most well-known ambassadorial arm of the Church, does not seem to "play politics."  I am curious, though, as to why there were no performances for Bill Clinton or Barack Obama.

Anyhoo, I wonder if there will be social media and other forms of blowback against the Choir and the Church, rather along the lines of what happened to Bocelli (and, probably, other performers).

Thanks,

-Smac

As I recall there as an attempt to sabotage last year's MoTab Christmas concert last year by putting pressure on guest artists to back out due to the new handbook policy that surfaced in November. That effort, of course, didn't go anywhere. I'm thing any backlash this time will meet a similar fate. 

It is an honor to be invited to perform in an inauguration, and the Choir and the Chirch should stay above the political fray by refusing to cave in to pressure. 

Side note: As late as a couple of weeks ago, I asked the choir's general manager if this would happen and was told the choir would be performing for the Utah governor's inaugural but not the U. S. President's. So this is apparently a very recent development. 

[Scott Lloyd]

15 minutes ago, stemelbow said:

What a mess this all is. 

Sounds like the choir was about 60th on the list.  You get down far enough on the list of potential invitees and someone's going to agree to it.  But my goodness, performers pulling out because they fear they'll get boycotted by angry Clinton fans?  She must have too many under a spell.  Why would a Hillary supporter care if someone performs at his inauguration?  I say this past election has caused too many different waves of problems. 

Why a "mess"?

[stemelbow]

1 minute ago, Scott Lloyd said:

Why a "mess"?

Beats me why it became a mess.  Performers feel justified in declining to perform at a presidential inauguration because some have hurt feelings about the results?  Maybe it's happened every inauguration.  I don't know.  But it feels like we could all be mature enough to respect the country, the office and the country's people to let it go for one performance.  These are political stands and they aren't helpful.  "mess" felt like the appropriate word to me. 

[Scott Lloyd]

31 minutes ago, smac97 said:

Here:

"Difficulty securing talent" is a diplomatic way of saying it.  

I'm inclined to think that Bocelli caved under the boycott threat.

"So he wouldn't offend" = "caved to massive social pressure".

And in other news, in anticipation of Jackie's anticipated participation in the inauguration: 

• Jackie Evancho Says She is Being Cyber-Bullied Over Donald Trump Inauguration Performance
• US News Jackie Evancho Faces Backlash for Agreeing to Sing on Trump Inauguration Day
• Jackie Evancho, 16, addresses backlash since agreeing to sing at Trump inauguration

I suspect we'll see similar treatment of the Choir.

So the Choir did was not invited to perform for Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, or Barack Obama (that is, all of the Democratic presidents for the last half century).  I think there's a generally non-nefarious reason for that...

This seems like a plausible explanation as to why the Democratic presidents have not invited the Tab Choir.   The Choir is strongly linked to Utah.  No Democratic candidate has won the Utah vote since 1964, which was the year LBJ won.  And LBJ happens to have been the only Democratic president to invite the Choir to perform (and, notably, also the first president to do so).  

So it seems like an invitation to the Choir is strongly correlated with the prevailing vote in Utah.

I'm glad that the Choir, perhaps the most well-known ambassadorial arm of the Church, does not seem to "play politics."  I am curious, though, as to why there were no performances for Bill Clinton or Barack Obama.

Anyhoo, I wonder if there will be social media and other forms of blowback against the Choir and the Church, rather along the lines of what happened to Bocelli (and, probably, other performers).

Thanks,

-Smac

As I recall there as an attempt to sabotage last year's MoTab Christmas concert last year by putting pressure on guest artists to back out due to the new handbook policy that surfaced in November. That effort, of course, didn't go anywhere. I'm thing any backlash this time will meet a similar fate. 

It is an honor to be invited to perform in an inauguration, and the Choir and the Chirch should stay above the political fray by refusing to cave in to pressure. 

Side note: As late as a couple of weeks ago, I asked the choir's general manager if this would happen and was told the choir would be performing for the Utah governor's inaugural but not the U. S. President's. So this is apparently a very recent development. 

[stemelbow]

1 minute ago, Scott Lloyd said:

As I recall there as an attempt to sabotage last year's MoTab Christmas concert last year by putting pressure on guest artists to back out due to the new handbook policy that surfaced in November. That effort, of course, didn't go anywhere. I'm thing any backlash this time will meet a similar fate. 

It is an honor to be invited to perform in an inauguration, and the Choir and the Chirch should stay above the political fray by refusing to cave in to pressure. 

Side note: As late as a couple of weeks ago, I asked the choir's general manager if this would happen and was told the choir would be performing for the Utah governor's inaugural but not the U. S. President's. So this is apparently a very recent development. 

Your misspellings are despicable.  Hah...just playing. 

[Scott Lloyd]

7 minutes ago, stemelbow said:

Beats me why it became a mess.  Performers feel justified in declining to perform at a presidential inauguration because some have hurt feelings about the results?  Maybe it's happened every inauguration.  I don't know.  But it feels like we could all be mature enough to respect the country, the office and the country's people to let it go for one performance.  These are political stands and they aren't helpful.  "mess" felt like the appropriate word to me. 

I agree with you. 

But I was not asking why "it became a mess". I was asking you why you think it's a mess. Maybe things will get messy later, but applying that term now strikes me as premature. 

Edited December 22, 2016 by Scott Lloyd

[Scott Lloyd]

9 minutes ago, stemelbow said:

Your misspellings are despicable.  Hah...just playing. 

I have a hard time posting on a mobile device. Getting harder for me to see these days, even with reading glasses. 

Edited December 22, 2016 by Scott Lloyd

[stemelbow]

1 minute ago, Scott Lloyd said:

I have a hard time posting on a mobile device. 

I get ya.  Me too.  That's been my excush.

[Scott Lloyd]

At Obama's last inaugural, the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir performed "Battle Hymn of the Republic." They did OK, but it struck me as the Democrats twitting Utahns, if not the Church, for their Republican leanings. Something about the similarity of the name and "Battle Hymn" being the MoTabs' signature song prompted the thought.

I passed it off as my being oversensitive. The choir is largely African American, and it could be seen as Obama's nod to his own heritage. 

Edited December 22, 2016 by Scott Lloyd

[HappyJackWagon]

There's always a possibility of blowback but I think it would be minimal. Performing at an inauguration is an honor and I think most people will get that.

I think it's natural that many performers would reject requests to perform for who they they perceive is a divisive President-elect with discriminatory tendencies. Each performer has the right to make the decision for themselves based on how they feel performing at the inauguration could damage or help their brand. For MOTAB, I think it's a neutral move.

 

[Scott Lloyd]

37 minutes ago, HappyJackWagon said:

There's always a possibility of blowback but I think it would be minimal. Performing at an inauguration is an honor and I think most people will get that.

I think it's natural that many performers would reject requests to perform for who they they perceive is a divisive President-elect with discriminatory tendencies. Each performer has the right to make the decision for themselves based on how they feel performing at the inauguration could damage or help their brand. For MOTAB, I think it's a neutral move.

 

This is just one example of why it is wise for the Church to remain officially neutral as pertaining to partisan politics (though not moral issues). The choir can thus feel free to accept an invitation such as this without sending any untoward or unintended messages.

I would love to see another U.S. president from the Democratic Party invite the choir to perform at his/her inaugural sometime. There is no good reason why it shouldn't happen.

[Traela]

The comments from some other Mormons have been amusing, and rather sad.  My favorite was from the guy who is never going to watch Music and the Spoken Word again, and will look for a real Mormon choir.  And apparently his wife is descended from Brigham Young.  So that makes him special or something?

 

[Scott Lloyd]

4 minutes ago, Traela said:

The comments from some other Mormons have been amusing, and rather sad.  My favorite was from the guy who is never going to watch Music and the Spoken Word again, and will look for a real Mormon choir.  And apparently his wife is descended from Brigham Young.  So that makes him special or something?

 

By now, probably half of America is descended from Brigham Young.

[thesometimesaint]

Please stop normalizing the abnormal.

[Duncan]

my guess is that if they don't do it they might get blowback but if they do it then hopefully any negativity will blow over so quickly, it's a one off situation until Trump's next thing to deal with, which seems to be every week 

[Scott Lloyd]

16 minutes ago, Traela said:

The comments from some other Mormons have been amusing, and rather sad.  My favorite was from the guy who is never going to watch Music and the Spoken Word again, and will look for a real Mormon choir.  And apparently his wife is descended from Brigham Young.  So that makes him special or something?

 

Can't resist commenting on one of those comments:

Quote

I've visited with several people who are having a faith crisis over Utah electing Trump. This is not going to help. How have we gotten to this point?

Seriously? A "faith crisis" over election results?

At long last, people, grow up!

 

[Jeanne]

2 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

Can't resist commenting on one of those comments:

Seriously? A "faith crisis" over election results?

At long last, people, grow up!

 

Yeah...this is getting old.

[Scott Lloyd]

It hasn't been so very long ago that the public discourse was pervaded by chatter about Trump's "Mormon problem." Assuming arguendo that there has been bad blood between Trump and Mormons, I've held for a while now that the president-elect is pragmatic and unpredictable enough that the choir performing at the inaugural has been a real possibility.

Makes me think that the prospect of Romney being tapped for secretary of state was not so far-fetched after all.

 

Edited December 22, 2016 by Scott Lloyd

[SteveO]

They were going to anger a large group of people whether they accepted or declined.  Accepting on the basis that they've performed five times previously is a show of real neutrality--and the only decision they could logically make at this point.  A shame *some* of my Mormon friends on FB are losing their minds over this... 

Edited December 22, 2016 by SteveO

[Abulafia]

A bad and disappointing move given how Trump has conducted himself. Outside of Utah, and internationally,  I believe the negative impact will outweigh any positives.

[thesometimesaint]

All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men(and women) to do nothing.

[SteveO]

20 minutes ago, thesometimesaint said:

All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men(and women) to do nothing.

 

Really?

Edited December 22, 2016 by SteveO

[oremites]

25 minutes ago, thesometimesaint said:

All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men(and women) to do nothing.

Which is why it was so heartening to see all those good men (and women) vote for President Trump.  This time evil did not succeed.

(Sorry, couldn't resist.)