LAS VEGAS -- Politicians are taking on celebrity status, with tens of millions tuning in to watch the convention speeches.

The audiences for Sen. Barack Obama’s and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s speeches were bigger than the Academy Awards, the opening ceremony of the Olympics and the finale of American Idol.

These candidates are also plastered on covers of magazines like US Weekly and Essence.

Obama has been getting a little more attention than Sen. John McCain, but now Palin is stealing the spotlight.

It seems this election has interested more and more young people, and many entertainment magazines are fueling or capitalizing on the excitement.

Obama has ended up with more coverage.

He's young, African American and a new face, so he captures a younger audience -- a fan base McCain would like to tap into. By adding the young, fresh and formerly obscure Palin to the mix, he just might have accomplished that.

OK! Magazine just released its first double cover issue, with Obama and his family on the front and Palin and her special needs son on the back.

Palin is also on the cover of US Weekly.

FOX5 political analyst Dan Hart said it's clear that the face of politics is changing.

"I think a lot of young people are energized. It’s like the political equivalent of a reality show with these two candidates," Hart said.

And while the celebrity status of politicians feels like a 2008 phenomenon, Hart said this really began decades ago, going back to the first televised debates between Richard Nixon and John Kennedy.

Then, of course, there was Bill Clinton playing the saxophone on the Arsenio Hall Show and answering the "boxers or briefs" question.