All day Thursday, rumors swirled online (and apparently in person in Chicago) that someone big was going to make a surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention before Kamala Harris formally accepted the party’s presidential nomination. Beyoncé and Taylor Swift were considered the most likely possibilities. Jokes were made about who else it might be, such as Raygun, the Australian break dancer from the Olympics who was not particularly good at break dancing.
I got a good chuckle out of that one.
At 7:49 p.m. ET, TMZ reported that Beyoncé would, in fact, be the surprise performer. Wow, Beyoncé! But then, at about 8:45 p.m., the Washington Post reported that an anonymous source who’d spoken to convention organizers said that “there is no such special guest planned.” At 10 p.m.—still using ET here—the Hollywood Reporter quoted a Beyoncé representative as saying “the report of a performance is untrue.”
Which would it be? As North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper left the stage after giving Harris’ introduction, a biographical video soundtracked by Beyoncé’s “Freedom” played. And then … and then … Harris took the stage and gave her speech.
But then, when she finished, guess what happened?
Ah, it was that balloons fell from the rafters and a few songs (by other artists) played over the public address system.
But after that, a rabbi and a minister came back out to give benedictions, which both mentioned the word freedom … and then, only then … two Democratic officials walked to the lectern to announce that proceedings were formally closed. Then the telecast ended.
Welp, no Beyoncé! (As of press time, TMZ’s site still said she was going to perform. Some dreams are hard to let go.)
