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Not only may the inauguration clog up local roads and highways, it will also be crowding the airwaves.

HBO will air the opening ceremony, which will include Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce and other acts. Beyonce, true to her promise, also will be performing live on ABC during the Neighborhood Ball: An Inauguration Celebration on Tuesday, with Stevie Wonder and others. MTV plans to broadcast the Youth Inaugural Ball, and for the even younger, the Kids’ Inaugural: We are the Future concert -- featuring teen heartthrobs the Jonas Brothers -- will air on the Disney Channel.

On Tuesday, QVC will be selling all things Obama. So far the network has sold more than 100,000 items related to Obama’s election:

Among the items: a Barack Obama stamp collection, a gold presidential pocket watch with Obama's image for $90, and a coin and stamp set commemorating Martin Luther King Day and Obama's inauguration that's $20. QVC will also sell a portfolio of newspaper front pages from inauguration day.

While purchasing Obama paraphernalia can play a part in boosting the economy, Maryland seems to be suffering from buyer’s remorse. After spending $11 million on the inauguration, state officials are seeking federal reimbursement.

The unbudgeted spending, mainly for transportation and security, is part of some $75 million that Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia have already had to absorb, Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty told reporters.

Back in television news, Maya Angelou plans to sit in front of her tube to watch the inauguration from her North Carolina home. She told the Arkansas-Democrat Gazette that she will “not miss one flicker of the camera. Not one flick.”

When Clinton was inaugurated in 1993, Angelou wrote and read an original composition for the occasion, "On the Pulse of Morning." She was the first poet to read at an inauguration since Robert Frost did so for John F. Kennedy in 1961.

Angelou, 80, is not the only one who is steering clear of the mall on inauguration day. The inauguration can even be caught on the big screen of select movie theaters.

Still, inauguration tickets are a hot commodity; one Capitol Hill aide compared their popularity to crack cocaine. To get a sneak peek of what apparently is so addicting, watch this CSPAN video of the ceremony’s rehearsal.

For more multimedia tidbits, check out the Associated Press’ quiz and new interactive featuring the Obama White House.

-- By Brittany Levine

By Christopher Dean Hopkins  |  January 13, 2009; 7:36 PM ET  | Category:  Around the Web
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