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Thanks for that video, Didi! Jen is so cute.

Denver spotlight shines on Obama
Hollywood plays its part at Dems' convention
By TED JOHNSON

Famous people are used to being gawked at, but celebs ranging from Charlize Theron to Spike Lee to Jennifer Lopez became like gushing fans themselves when Barack Obama appeared in Denver last week.

Even former White House residents caught a severe case of Obamamania. When the Democratic candidate made a surprise appearance on stage following running mate Joseph Biden's acceptance speech, former President Carter had just exited his skybox, hoping to beat the throng out of the arena. An aide said to him, with urgency, "Obama is on stage!"

"Oh, really?" the former president said, and rushed back to his seat.

John McCain's campaign continues to attack Obama's celebrity, but the Obama camp isn't denying the pop-culture appeal, it's embracing it.

For the Aug. 28 finale in Invesco Field, the campaign set up a columned stage that evoked one of D.C.'s monuments. It was a rock concert finale for a rock star candidate.

"I'm taking it all in; I'm just a fan of it all," said director Cameron Crowe.

The Motown song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" was heard repeatedly in Denver, and Lee wore a T-shirt in which Obama is shooting hoops over McCain; the item was a hot seller in Denver.

The sheer number of media members amounted to a virtual army, and celebrity coverage sometimes seemed to overshadow the political coverage.

Ben Affleck tried to keep his comments to the importance of voting, and not partisan politics. Lopez pitched children's welfare and praised and posed for pictures with Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund. But Lopez drew the line when one paparazzi asked, "Jennifer, can we get a fashion shot?"

And it wasn't just the out-of-towners who were caught up in Obama's big week. The Manifest Hope gallery on the outskirts of downtown Denver featured dozens of pieces by some of the nation's street artists, led by Shepard Fairey, including one where Obama's face is melded to resemble Abraham Lincoln.

The Obama campaign didn't try to curb the lofty rhetoric, over-the-top events and massive crowds. The hoopla makes sense especially to young voters, who see the parade of the Obama brand as part of the today's pop-culture climate. And they see Obama as the candidate of the times.

And as much as conventioneers reveled in calls for hope, there were plenty of participants who knew that the stark reality of the fall campaign was just about to set in.

Obama was to deliver a speech that lays out a nuts-and-bolts vision for America -- in the campaign's words -- that includes a tax cut for working families, an emergency energy rebate to deal with the soaring price of gasoline and a $150 billion investment in a green energy economy.

"He has great chances," Lee tells Variety "He's going to win, but it is going to be close. I tell people not to start celebrating in the end zone. It's not a shoo-in. It's going to be a battle, and you are just waiting for what hijinks they are going to pull out. The kitchen sink. The bathtub ..."

"They are not going to give up power easily."