Reaching over in her morning slumber to the clock radio, which is playing the 1970s hit "Car Wash," Ellen DeGeneres bounces out of bed with optimism, even jumping up over the top of a chair.

In the park, she passes a large group of people doing Tae Chi as she listens to a rap song on her digital music player.

On an elevator, instead of Muzak, the Aretha Franklin song "Respect" is playing, and Ellen's getting down as a short black woman, on her way to the office, gets on. The woman simply looks at Ellen's crazy dance with little emotion.

By the next stop of the elevator, a man gets on to see the two women now dancing.

Later, Elle's walking down the street as a large old convertible drives by with a dance song playing, and Ellen struts to the song -- which is abruptly followed by the tinny sound of an ice cream truck tune, causing her to awkwardly make the musical transition to her step.

Then she walks by the garage of a man playing a Latino song, and she does a special boogie past. In her own dressing room, a song starts playing and Ellen begins to do The Robot dance, only for the production assistant to pick up her cell phone making the tune.

Finally, Ellen steps out on stage of her TV show, to the tune of C+ C Music Factory's "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" with an audience cheering her on.

In voiceover, Ellen says, "My life's about dancing to my own tune. My American Express card always backs me up."

The tagline is "My life. My card."

This spot is part of a larger campaign that includes actor Robert DeNiro, professional golfer Tiger Woods, and surfer Laird Hamilton, and will have other stars to come.

This commercial is the latest example of a trend of advertisers using openly gay celebrities for endorsements, including the stars of "Queer Eye" for Pier 1 and Marshall Fields, Martina Navratilova for Subaru, Melissa Etheridge for Cartier, and Esera Tuaolo for Chili's. Ellen's career was on the skids for years after she was a pioneer and came out as the first major TV actress, just as her character did the same thing on "Ellen" on ABC in 1997. Since then, with a successful return as a daytime talk show host and with her animated fish Dory from "Finding Nemo," Ellen has made a true comeback.