The 2009 recipients of the KENNEDY CENTER HONORS will most likely be announced in the near future (usually just after Labor Day).
Want to take a crack at predicting them this year?? Keep in mind that it is almost always 5 living performers from a wide variety of areas (film, theatre, TV, popular music, fine arts, dance) and will include at least one woman and one minority (sometimes more but always at least one of each). The recipients must be willing to attend but do not perform on the actual program.
From the Kennedy Center website:
The Honors recipients recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts— whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures or television—are selected by the Center's Board of Trustees. The primary criterion in the selection process is excellence. The Honors are not designated by art form or category of artistic achievement; the selection process, over the years, has produced balance among the various arts and artistic disciplines.
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Here is a list of possibilities I have assembled (all over age 50). Please feel free to add other names to the conversation or choose from this list.
SINGERS/MUSICIANS: Burt Bacharach Joan Baez Shirley Caesar Glen Campbell Eric Clapton Ornette Coleman Andrae Crouch Neil Diamond Fats Domino Glenn Frey/Don Henley Barry Gibb Vince Gill Berry Gordy Al Green Buddy Guy Herbie Hanc0ck Emmylou Harris Mick Jagger/Keith Richards Etta James Billy Joel Tom Jones Carole King Gladys Knight Patti LaBelle Jerry Lee Lewis Madonna Barry Manilow Johnny Mathis Paul McCartney Bette Midler Joni Mitchell Van Morrison Robert Plant/Jimmy Page Bonnie Raitt Carlos Santana Earl Scruggs Bruce Springsteen Sting George Strait James Taylor Frankie Valli Dionne Warwick Yo-Yo Ma Neil Young
MOVIE PERFORMERS: Ellen Burstyn Michael Caine John Cleese Glenn Close Billy Crystal Geena Davis Doris Day Judi Dench Olivia deHavilland Robert DeNiro Michael Douglas Richard Dreyfuss Faye Dunaway Robert Duvall Sally Field Jane Fonda Joan Fontaine Harrison Ford Mel Gibson Whoopi Goldberg Gene Hackman Tom Hanks Goldie Hawn Dustin Hoffman Anthony Hopkins Samuel L. Jackson Diane Keaton Ben Kingsley Kevin Kline Jessica Lange Jerry Lewis Sophia Loren Shirley MacLaine Helen Mirren Maureen O’Hara Peter O’Toole Al Pacino Vanessa Redgrave Mickey Rooney Susan Sarandon Sissy Spacek Maggie Smith Meryl Streep John Travolta Jon Voight Denzel Washington Robin Williams
MOVIE DIRECTORS: Woody Allen James L. Brooks Mel Brooks Ethan & Joel Coen Francis Ford Coppola Stanley Donen Ron Howard Norman Jewison Barry Levinson George Lucas Sidney Lumet Oliver Stone
TELEVISION PERFORMERS: Alan Alda Candice Bergen Sid Caesar James Garner Andy Griffith Norman Lear Mary Tyler Moore Bob Newhart William Shatner Dick Van Dyke Betty White Oprah Winfrey
THEATRICAL & FINE ARTS: Carol Channing Marvin Hamlisch Jerry Herman Hal Holbrook Garrison Keillor Erich Kunzel Tony Kushner Patti LuPone David Mamet Liza Minnelli Rita Moreno Bernadette Peters Tom Stoppard Elaine Stritch Michael Tilson Thomas Lily Tomlin
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And here is a list of previous recipients. Quite a few of these are available on sites like youtube if you want to see some great tributes from the past 30 years...
1978 – Marian Anderson (music) Fred Astaire (film) Richard Rodgers (theatre) Arthur Rubinstein (music) George Balanchine (dance)
1979 – Ella Fitzgerald (music) Henry Fonda (film) Martha Graham (dance) Tennessee Williams (theatre) Aaron Copland (music)
1980 – James Cagney (film) Leonard Bernstein (theatre) Agnes de Mille (dance) Lynn Fontanne (theatre) Leontyne Price (music)
1981 – Count Basie (music) Cary Grant (film) Helen Hayes (theatre) Jerome Robbins (dance) Rudolf Serkin (music)
1982 – George Abbott (theatre) Lillian Gish (film) Benny Goodman (music) Gene Kelly (film) Eugene Ormandy (music)
1983 – Katherine Dunham (dance) Elia Kazan (film/theatre) James Stewart (film) Virgil Thomson (music) Frank Sinatra (music)
1984 – Lena Horne (music) Danny Kaye (film) Gian Carlo Menotti (music) Arthur Miller (theatre) Isaac Stern (music)
1985 – Merce Cunningham (dance) Irene Dunne (theatre) Bob Hope (film) Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe (theatre) Beverly Sills (music)
1986 – Lucille Ball (tv) Ray Charles (music) Yehudi Menuhin (music) Antony Tudor (dance) Hume Cronyn & Jessica Tandy (theatre)
1987 – Perry Como (music) Bette Davis (film) Sammy Davis, Jr. (music/film) Nathan Milstein (music) Alwin Nikolais (dance)
1988 – Alvin Ailey (dance) George Burns (film/tv) Myrna Loy (film) Alexander Schneider (music) Roger L. Stevens (theatre)
1989 – Harry Belafonte (music) Claudette Colbert (film) Alexandra Danilova (dance) Mary Martin (theatre) William Schuman (music)
My best predicting year was 3 out of 5. Last year, I only got 1 of 5 correct. This is incredibly difficult because the possibilities are practically endless. Here goes another try for this year...
Mel Brooks Buddy Guy Dustin Hoffman Sophia Loren Paul McCartney
Alan Alda Joan Baez Fats Domino Cloris Leachman Rita Moreno ------------------------------ I had Yo-Yo Ma and Oprah on here but then I realized no one born in the 50s (or later) has won the award yet.
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You take a hot dog. Stuff it with some jack cheese. Wrap it in a pizza--You got Cheesy Blasters!
Current Top 5 Comedies 1. Modern Family 2. The Office 3. 30 Rock 4. Glee 5. Community
I'll predict for this year, but I don't know how accurate I'll be for this one! It really is a tricky one to predict!
Dustin Hoffman (film) Billy Joel (music) Rita Moreno (theater) Shirley MacLaine (film) Betty White (television)
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2010 Oscars FYC:
Lead Actor - Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer Lead Actress - Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire Original Screenplay - Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, (500) Days of Summer
Posts: 4912 | Location: Why Do You Want To Know? | Registered: November 21, 2006
These are not predictions, but simpy my wish list...This lineup could never happened because it contains too many actors and I have little knowledge of opera singers, dancers, classical musicians, etc. except for some of those who have already been honored.
Etta James Jane Fonda (I realize this would be very controversial) Meryl Streep Dustin Hoffman Ellen Burstyn
...Someone mentioned Michael Jackson...a stipulation to the honors has always been that a honoree must be present to get the honor. Although, had Jackson not passed I feel he would have gotten it eventually.
I'm sure because of this stipulation many living people over the years would have gotten the honor, but simply did not want to show up for it...a likely example would be Olivia de Havilland.
There have probably been several people who just missed out over the years, but passed away before the Kennedy Center got around to it...I think Barbara Stanwyck, Maureen Stapleton, Laurence Olivier would probably be among them.
One person I think will eventually get this is Jane Alexander...
For the last several years I've made comments about Oprah Winfrey in regard to the honors...sorry to repeat myself yet again...Since the majority of her career has not been based in the performing arts I doubt she's anywhere near the honor. She's great, no doubt...but looking over the past honorees I just don't see her career path to be very comparable in the sense of artistic achievement. A tv talk show is not in the realm of the performing arts...Johnny Carson did it, yes...but he was also a comedian of note for a very long time...whereas Oprah's resume as an actress and narrative film/tv producer is slim and only has a few noteworthy inclusions. Again I mean no offense to anyone who claims her to be a viable candidate...I've been proven wrong many times in my life!
Well, Barbra Streisand, Paul Simon, Steven Spielberg, Warren Beatty, Elton John and other liberals were honored under President Bush. Unless they decline the honor themselves, the President has nothing to do with the choices by the Kennedy Center trustees and committee.
