Corporation for Public Broadcasting

A one-hour musical special celebrating Motown and presented by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, which was taped in the White House East Room in February 2011 for subsequent national PBS primetime broadcast. The evening featured diverse artists performing contemporary versions of Motown classics, demonstrating how the music has influenced generations of performers. The evening included performances by host Jamie Foxx, Natasha Bedingfield, Sheryl Crow, the group Gloriana, Nick Jonas, Ledisi, John Legend, Amber Riley, Smokey Robinson, Mark Salling, Seal and Jordin Sparks. The program was promoted before and after the broadcast on social media sites and streamed on WhiteHouse.gov and on PBS.org, accompanied by a Facebook chat widget.