With the Democratic Convention already half over, TheWrap is ranking the speeches so far. Too many people took the podium for us to include them all, so we’re only rating the most memorable.
Paul Simon
Simon’s performance of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” was too on-the-nose for a night in which Democrats tried to build a bridge between Hillary Clinton fans and Bernie Sanders holdouts. Oh, and “Inside Edition” said the performance was “lackluster.”
Meryl Streep
Streep was fine, but we expected more because she’s Meryl Streep. She had to follow Elizabeth Banks’ fight song video, which brought down the house. The audience didn’t seem to connect with her Revolutionary War-era story about a female soldier who pretended to be a man. Still, the Oscar winner landed a good point that it’s hard to be the first woman anything, much less the first woman president.
Alicia Keys
Keys had to lead into the video of Hillary Clinton’s face crashing through (all-male) presidential portraits, then hovering weirdly over the crowd. The moment didn’t take shape until the candidate delivered a warm message to girls in the audience that they could someday be president. Keys tried to make the best of the transition to Clinton, but maybe she should have just gone after the video?
Andra Day
Day’s “Rise Up” elegantly captured the somber but hopeful mood after mothers of slain black men and women took the stage to call for peace between police and the communities they serve.
Al Franken
As long as he can still land a joke, we’re counting the “Saturday Night Live” vet as a celebrity. He satirized Trump as just a con man, and made fun of Scott Baio and Mike Tyson, too.
Sarah Silverman
The former Sanders supporter had funny digs at Donald Trump, but gave the convention one of its most dramatic moments when she accused the Bernie-or-Bust crowd of acting “ridiculous.” Then she made a strong case for switching over to “pretty kick-ass woman” Hillary Clinton.
Lena Dunham and America Ferrera
The pair landed fast jokes arguing that Trump will turn back the clock for women. Dunham said Trump probably considers her “a 2” and Ferrera said Trump might think she’s “a rapist” — even though she isn’t Mexican.
“We know what you’re all thinking,” said Dunham. “Why should you care what some television celebrity has to say about politics?”
“And we feel the same way,” said Ferrara. “But he is the Republican nominee, so we need to talk about him.”
Elizabeth Banks
Tuesday’s host opened with a perfect parody of Donald Trump’s Republican National Convention entrance, and closed out the night with a pitch-perfect “Fight Song” that had the crowd fired up and ready to go. She also said Trump reminded her of her character in the “Hunger Games,” and hinted he may be wearing a wig. Avery Jessup would not approve.
