Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter (Photo by Stephanie Cabral/Yahoo!)Former President Bill Clinton's Decade of Difference concert on Saturday night burned brightly with a parade of stars both onstage (Lady Gaga, Bono, Usher) and off (Barbra Streisand, Bonnie Raitt, Jane Fonda).
Even so, there were still a few fresh faces and unexpected moments in the Hollywood Bowl that left us with these burning questions.
Who was the striking blonde accompanying Kenny Chesney?
Considering he has 20 number one county chart hits and is Renee Zellweger's ex-husband, Kenny Chesney has soaked in his fair share of the limelight. But the stunning blonde who made the red carpet stroll with him on Saturday night is a comparative unknown. Those striking facial features (and legs) belong to Grace Potter, lead singer of a roots rock band called Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Potter later joined Chesney onstage to sing "You and Tequila," and if she seemed extremely comfortable during the duet, that's because she recorded the studio version with him on his last album.
[ Video: Watch Kenny Chesney and Grace Potter perform "You and Tequila" ]
Who was the red-haired girl Bono pulled onstage?
While performing the heart-wrenching "Sunday Bloody Sunday," Bono ventured to the outer limits of the stage and pulled an adorable little red-haired girl on the walkway with him. With the U2 frontman's arm around her, the beaming redhead revealed her sweet smile and a noticeably missing front tooth (no word if the tooth fairy was in attendance that night). As for her identity, that's one mystery that may remain unsolved—suffice to say, she won't be forgetting the experience anytime soon.
[ Video: Watch the concert in its entirety ]
Where have we heard K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" song before?
If you thought Somalia musician K'naan's final song "Wavin' Flag" sounded familiar, that's because you've undoubtedly heard it before—well, at least parts of it. The sing-along anthem popped up constantly during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, with Coca-Cola issuing a special "Celebration Mix" for use during the soccer tournament.
It was also covered by a cute young girl named Maria Aragon who sang the "When I get older, I will be stronger" chorus from behind an enormous keyboard in those HTC cellphone commercials earlier this year. Maria even has a tie-in to another Decade of Difference performer: Lady Gaga tweeted that the youngster's YouTube cover of "Born This Way"—which brought the girl to Internet fame in the first place—made the brassy New York-born pop star cry.
Who was that vaguely familiar dancer twirling Gaga around?
It looks like Lady Gaga recruited a "So You Think You Can Dance" alum to take her for a spin last night. The man twirling Gaga around like a whirligig last night is reportedly a former "SYTYCD" competitor. With all the 360s he put her through last night, it's a wonder Gaga managed to keep singing even as her stage production was rotated offstage. Incidentally, "Government Hooker" was the snippet she sang at the end of her set: an affectionately cheeky choice, given the evening's guest of honor.
What has Geena Davis been up to?
Academy Award-winning actress Geena Davis appeared in the intermission video summing up the accomplished life of a boy born in Arkansas 65 years ago. Starring in "Beetlejuice," "A League of Their Own," and "Thelma & Louise," Davis was one of the industry's biggest leading ladies in the '80s and '90s. But aside from her one-season TV show "Commander in Chief" that aired five years ago (which Bill Clinton joked made her a better president than him), it's been a while since we've seen the MENSA member onscreen.
That's because Davis is focusing on raising her three children and speaking out for gender equality in the often male-centric Hollywood system. The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media tries to reduce the one-dimensional and stereotypical acting roles often given to women, as well as advocate for more equal, true-to-life representations of women in film and television.
What's Laura Ling's story?
While filming refugees on the North Korean/Chinese border with fellow reporter Euna Lee in 2009, Laura Ling—younger sister of former "The View" co-host Lisa Ling—was detained by the North Korean government for accidentally crossing the border without a visa and sentenced to 12 years in a labor prison. Thankfully, Ling and Lee's freedom (and speedy exit) was procured when Bill Clinton made a special surprise visit to North Korea and earned them a pardon. When Laura says Clinton saved her life, she truly means it.
