LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― Michelle Obama suggested Tuesday that someone like Oprah Winfrey could deliver a better warm-up for her husband than Clint Eastwood did in his bizarre turn for his Republican rival Mitt Romney.

The U.S. first lady, speaking hours before her own address to the Democratic National Convention, also reacted positively to the suggestion of George Clooney.

“He’s cute,” she told E! News when asked about the Hollywood A-lister in an interview aired a few hours before her speech in Charlotte, North Carolina.

But pressed on which celebrity would be good to fire up the audience ahead of her husband’s Thursday convention-climaxing speech, she said: “Oh, that’s a tough one. Oh, goodness. It would have to be somebody who knows him.”

“Somebody like Oprah. I don’t know. People who have spent time with him, who know him, who understand his heart, who know his values, I think,” she said.

“Then it’s not just a celebrity, but it’s another person talking about a friend or a colleague and I think that’s a bit more authentic than just having a big name,” she added.

Hollywood legend and “Dirty Harry” star Eastwood stole the show from Romney with an unscripted speech at last week’s Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

The 82-year-old chatted with an imaginary President Barack Obama in an empty chair next to him on stage, in a routine which raised eyebrows and was lampooned by critics as the ramblings of an iconic but aging actor.

It also launched a new online trend, “Eastwooding” ― people posting pictures of themselves addressing empty chairs ― which some say could rival so-called “planking,” featuring stiff-as-board poses in odd settings.