Singer experiences profanity malfunction

WASHINGTON – The performers at Tuesday’s inaugural youth concert were Republican-approved and purportedly PG-rated.

But one band strayed from the GOP script.

“Welcome to the greatest (expletive) country in the world,” Fuel singer Brett Scallions, one of the earlier acts, said to the crowd.

Realizing his mistake, he quickly corrected course.

“I wasn’t supposed to use that word. I apologize,” he said.

Before the lineup was announced for “America’s Future Rocks Today,” Republican groups had pressured concert planners to keep it clean. Reports that Kid Rock would perform at the concert had Christian conservatives crying foul – language, that is. Organizers insisted that the raunchy rocker was never officially booked.

In the end, the teen audience was more Disney devotee than hard rocker. Squeaky-clean Hilary Duff, whose biography noted that she doesn’t have a driver’s license yet, and Ryan Cabrera were fan favorites, while the harder-edged Fuel drew a lukewarm response.

Young fans waved glow sticks and sang along to their favorite songs. And they went wild when President Bush and first lady Laura Bush made a quasi-surprise appearance.

“How about Hilary Duff? She was fantastic,” the president said. “How about 3 Doors Down? Pretty cool guys, right? Seem cool to me.”