President-elect Obama’s inauguration entertainment line-up is coming together nicely. Considering people are auctioning off tickets for thousands of dollars, it seems like even celebrities will do anything to be invited to the party. The inauguration committee has set a star-studded ceremony that will feature some of the greatest performers, past and present. Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Bono and Shakira are all set to perform musical numbers. Denzel Washington and Queen Latifah have signed on to read historical passages.

The opening celebration of the presidential inauguration will feature a massive line-up of musical all-stars performing a free show in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, the Presidential Inaugural Committee said Monday.

The event will feature performances by: “Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher Raymond IV, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am, and Stevie Wonder,” said the committee. “Among those reading historical passages will be Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington.”

The release confirmed that Rev. Gene Robinson, an openly gay Episcopal bishop, will deliver the invocation, and that additional performances may be added.

The event will be televised by HBO on an open signal accessible to all U.S. viewers with access to cable, telcos or satellite television.

From CNN

MSNBC and CNN have been running stories for the past two days about the inauguration rehearsal they had in Washington, where a young soldier who looked remarkably like Barack Obama was the president-elect’s stand-in, even trying out his own six-word inaugural address, “My Fellow Americans, God Bless America”. The inauguration will be January 20th, and most likely, it will be absolutely freezing. Here’s hoping the performers (and the president-elect) remember their long underwear.

Obama is shown at Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington on 1/9/09.