Obama Victory Moves Seal to Tears

Steve Baltin

PopEater

posted: 271 DAYS 13 HOURS AGO

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filed under: Music News, Politics

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Seal, like many worldwide, had a very emotional reaction to Tuesday night's presidential win by Barack Obama. "I was in tears, to be quite honest," the British singer tells PopEater. "I stayed up until seven o'clock this morning, not only watching the results, but his gracious address to the nation from Chicago. It was everything that I wanted to hear."

Seal had a vested interest in the election, having gotten to sing his cover of Sam Cooke's classic 'A Change Is Gonna Come' for Obama, who the singer felt upon meeting was more than prepared to serve as president. "I saw something in his eyes that told me he was 'the man,'" Seal says of meeting the Illinois Senator. "The thing that impressed me most about President Obama was his poise. It's the single most important attribute that you need to be the Commander-in-Chief of the most powerful country in the world. He had that."

But it was as a father, however, that Seal was most moved by the election. "Having three American kids, that was always my concern -- this country that I spent 20 years in and love so much, my concern was always, 'What are they going to grow up to?'" he says. "[Obama's election] sent such a resounding message throughout the world. It sent the message of all that is good about the human race. When we come together -- once we decide as a collective that there needs to be change, that there needs to be some kind of paradigm shift -- then it's possible."

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Celebs Applaud Obama Win

Oprah Winfrey: "It feels like hope won. It feels like there's a shift in consciousness. It feels like something really big and bold has happened here, like nothing ever in our lifetimes did we expect this to happen."

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George Clooney: "I congratulate President-elect Obama on his historic victory, and now it's time to begin unifying the country so we can take on the extraordinary challenges that this generation faces."

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Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz: "My parents met working for [Obama's running mate on one of his early campaigns]. If it weren't for Joe Biden, I would not exist as a human being."

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Sean 'Diddy' Combs: "I felt like my vote was the vote that put him into office ... And that may not be true but that's how much power it felt like I had."

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R&B star Usher: "This will go down in history, in black history, for all of the sacrifices that the great Joseph Lowery and Martin Luther King made, this actually pays off for their sacrifice .... I'm speechless. I don't even know what to say."

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2008-11-05 15:47:19

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