Celebs Come Out for GOP, Too
Big names in the Twin Cities include Daddy Yankee, Jon Voight, Gretchen Wilson and the Beach Boys.
The Poker Players' Alliance held a closed press fundraiser in Denver for the Paralyzed Veterans of America and featured the likes of Affleck, Sarah Silverman, Paul Rudd, and Seth Meyers. It will host a similar fundraiser at the Republican convention. But with the star wattage and celebrity connections considerably dimmed this week in St. Paul, they'll have poker pros Victor Ramdin and Greg Raymer on hand for the event.
Daryl Friedman, the vice president for advocacy for the Grammy Foundation, said the star quotient is lower at the RNC because the organization wanted to highlight different talent.
"In Denver, we focused on our artists. We had a rock show at a club with Daughtry and the band Everclear. In Minneapolis, we're focusing on our songwriters, people who have written big hits, but you don't know their names. They're the guys behind the song."
The Grammy foundation hosted a songwriters circle on Tuesday as part of its "Rock the Conventions" program, including Brett James, best recognized for writing Carrie Underwoods' chart-topping hit "Jesus, Take the Wheel," and Greg Laswell, who has penned songs for "Grey's Anatomy" and "Smallville."
Friedman also added that the timing caused fewer stars to sign up for this week's events.
"Labor Day week tends to be a busy week for artists for touring, so it was more convenient to get the artists to tour last week in Denver," Friedman said.
The Impact Film Festival also held events in both Denver and St. Paul, most notably previewing a new film following female members of Congress from both sites of the aisle, and narrated by Annette Bening. While Bening graced Democrats in Denver, the film festival confirms the star was not present in St. Paul.
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