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On Wednesday night, the special concert event Celebrating America honored Joe Biden after being sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. The special event was televised in place of the annual inaugural balls, which normally serves as the final celebration on Inauguration Day. However, the inaugural balls were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic leaving the Celebrating America concert as the main event for Biden.
Celebrating America was hosted by actor Tom Hanks and featured several celebrities, politicians and regular citizens taking part in the event. A handful of popular musicians performed musical numbers for the special occasion, including Yo-Yo Ma, Bruce Springsteen, Black Pumas, John Legend, Tim McGraw, Justin Timberlake, Tyler Hubbard, Ant Clemons, Ozuna, Luis Fonsi, The Foo Fighters, Jon Bon Jovi, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Demi Lovato. However, possibly the most noteworthy performance of the event was Katy Perry.
Perry was the last musician to perform singing her iconic hit “Firework.” For the song, Perry performed the number in front of the Lincoln Memorial, where the special event first opened. As Perry sang her most recognizable tune, enormous quantities of fireworks were shown exploding over the Washington Monument. The fireworks came in rapidly as Perry finished up her song. While the fireworks were being set off, several notables gazed on at the spectacle including Hanks, the First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and the President of the United States himself.