Queen Latifah, host of last night's 35th annual People's Choice Awards ceremony on CBS, kicked things off by telling the audience "This past year we have all seen what the power of the people can do...I have one important question for these good people up front. And just so you know, the correct answer tonight is yes, we can! Say it with me now everybody!"
It's awards season, when Hollywood pats itself on the back while championing liberal causes under the guise of acceptance speeches, so Latifah's enthusiasm for president-elect Barack Obama's campaign phrase shouldn't come as much of a surprise. In light of the fact that none of the winners or even the nominees contained overtly political themes, other celebrities, including Ellen DeGeneres who has been outspoken in her opposition to California's Proposition 8, managed to avoid mentioning politics and controversial issues.
But Latifah and British actor Hugh Laurie just couldn't help themselves.
Latifah went on in her introduction to ask comedians Adam Sandler and Robin Williams the question "Can we make the people laugh?" to which they replied, "Yes we can!" She also asked Laurie and his fellow "House" cast members "Can we heal the people?... "Man, that sounds so good."
Politics' only other intrusion came roughly midway through the ceremony when Laurie accepted his Favorite Male TV Star award by saying:
I love people. Really, I am in favor of them. It's a particular honor to be the people's choice, especially because the people have been choosing pretty well recently. You seem to be in a good choosing space. I don't know who won this award eight years ago, but that was double-edged I think. I would like to thank all of the people who voted for me. To the people who didn't vote for me, I want to say I will be your male actor in a TV drama too. Thank you very much.
The People's Choice Awards are a reflection of how people like to be entertained as the nominees and the winners are chosen by regular people. Given the absence of overly controversial material and political propaganda from the choices, it's clear that people want to be entertained and not indoctrinated.
"The Dark Knight" won five awards, including Favorite Movie and Favorite Cast. Actresses Reese Witherspoon, Kate Hudson, Angelina Jolie, singer Carrie Underwood, and actors Brad Pitt and Will Smith were among the other winners.
