Night 2 of the DNC held to be a star studded event
Night 2 of the Democratic National Convention was a very Hollywood star-filled event with a side of theatrics, from musical performances by Patti Labelle and Common to pop-up appearances during the ceremonial roll call. Several different Hollywood actors from their own respective states aided in the energetic declaration of delegate votes. Some of these figures include actors Eva Longoria, Spike Lee, Sean Astin, and Wendell Pierce.
However, one of the most talked about appearances from that night is from rapper Lil Jon, who surprised the crowd when helping his home state Georgia pledge their delegate votes to democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. Lil Jon's performance was instantly trending number 1 on social media site X ( formally known as Twitter) for most of the time. This surprise performance helped spark major viewership and interest in the DNC from a demographic who didn't even know the convention was happening, let alone what the convention was even about.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/08/21/dnc-day-2-democrats-spice-up-roll-call-with-celebrity-appearances-and-live-music-photos/
I find it so interesting to see how much of an influence celebrities have on viewer interest. As you mentioned, Lil Jon’s performance caused many people who previously had no interest in watching the DNC to tune in. I wonder how many of those people decided to keep watching or grew interested in finding out more about the DNC after Lil Jon’s performance was over. The Forbes article that you cited mentioned how the use of celebrity guests and live performances during the roll call helped to transform “a process usually considered a routine part of the convention”. I think that the use of celebrities as crowd warmers for televised political events is a smart idea. It creates an energized crowd which translates to a more engaging broadcast for viewers at home to watch. As mentioned in the “Digital News Report 2024” published by Reuters Institute, entertainment is an important user need, especially for younger people. An article in The Daily Beast brought up how this year’s DNC had a harder time reaching younger voters than the 2016 DNC. However, young viewership grew over the course of the DNC with the number of 18-34 year old viewers increasing from 851,000 on Monday to 968,000 on Wednesday. I wonder if this increase in young viewership is due to the increased entertainment value brought to the DNC by celebrity appearances.
ReplyDeleteSources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2024/08/21/dnc-day-2-democrats-spice-up-roll-call-with-celebrity-appearances-and-live-music-photos/
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/digital-news-report/2024/dnr-executive-summary
https://www.thedailybeast.com/dnc-ratings-blow-rnc-out-of-the-water-for-third-night-in-a-row