The 2008 Kennnedy Center Honors recipients should be announced in the next 2-3 weeks. Who do you think will be honored this year?
Remember, the committee will choose 5 people from various entertainment fields (film, TV, theatre, dance, popular music, opera, classical music) and will generally make sure they choose at least one woman and one minority. All 5 people must agree to attend and be honored by President Bush (so don't expect Ms. Streisand to accept).
As a reminder, here is a list of all of the KCH recipients over the 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)
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 Barry Gibb Berry Gordy Al Green Buddy Guy Emmylou Harris Mick Jagger Etta James Billy Joel George Jones Tom Jones Carole King Gladys Knight Patti LaBelle Jerry Lee Lewis Barry Manilow Johnny Mathis Paul McCartney Bette Midler Joni Mitchell Bonnie Raitt Carlos Santana Earl Scruggs Bruce Springsteen Sting Barbra Streisand James Taylor Frankie Valli Dionne Warwick
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 Morgan Freeman 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 Lily Tomlin John Travolta Denzel Washington Robin Williams
MOVIE DIRECTORS: Woody Allen Mel Brooks Francis Ford Coppola Stanley Donen
TELEVISION PERFORMERS: Alan Alda Candice Bergen Sid Caesar James Garner Andy Griffith Mary Tyler Moore Bob Newhart Dick Van Dyke Betty White Oprah Winfrey
THEATRICAL & FINE ARTS: Carol Channing Horton Foote Marvin Hamlisch Jerry Herman Hal Holbrook Tony Kushner Patti LuPone David Mamet Liza Minnelli Rita Moreno Bernadette Peters Tom Stoppard Elaine Stritch Twyla Tharp Michael Tilson Thomas
I see that you have Oprah Winfrey in the "Television Performers" List. I can see them honoring her soon, but I really think that they will wait until she retires from "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 2011. I can really see her gaining tons of lifetime achievement awards from all sorts of associations and organizations, including the Kennedy Honors, when she retires in 3 years.
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I would be really happy if they honored Peter O'Toole, Vanessa Redgrave or Julie Christie.
Hopefully Alan Alda gets in. He's been deserving for years. Seeing Candice Bergen get honored would be nice too, but she's still pretty young, as is sally field so i don't expect to see them here just yet, but it would be great if they were.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: G.Penn,
I think that the Kennedy Center Honors has failed to sufficiently recognize artists from the American Folk Music genre, given that it is a truly indigenous art form to our country. Given that, I would like to see Peter, Paul and Mary receive the honor. However, their political stands through the years may preclude the recognition.
Originally posted by 50s Guy: However, their political stands through the years may preclude the recognition.
???
Considering the Kennedy Center recently honored Pete Seeger, that statement doesn't make much sense.
And I can't imagine anyone who truly loves American folk music would believe Peter, Paul and Mary worthy of anything except the garbage pile, but that's just my opinion.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: stevie,
Roger Daltrey Morgan Freeman George Jones Barbra Streisand Twyla Tharp Pete Townshend
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Posts: 19565 | Location: North Carolina, USA | Registered: April 11, 2005
I can't believe she's doing it while Bush is in office...maybe she planned on it being his last year and whatnot...Wonder if she'll use this at all for political purposes??? Not sure what it would accomplish if she did, but one has got to wonder, right? Now they just need to get Jane Fonda up in there...more than likely I think she's never been offered because of possible public backlash.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: JayDF,
Originally posted by JayDF: WOW, WOW, WOW STREISAND!!!
I can't believe she's doing it while Bush is in office...maybe she planned on it being his last year and whatnot...Wonder if she'll use this at all for political purposes??? Not sure what it would accomplish if she did, but one has got to wonder, right? Now they just need to get Jane Fonda up in there...more than likely I think she's never been offered because of possible public backlash.
This is just too delicious. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but don't recipients have to agree to have the honor presented by the sitting president?
Clearly, Ms. Diva enjoyed the irony of being asked to receive this honor just as Bush is leaving office. How could you say no?
This will also generate more publicity than it might have otherwise. That's our girl! (Remember, she had to be asked to receive this honor, and then agree to attend.)
Posts: 2343 | Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA | Registered: November 04, 2001
All good choices, although one still wonders what's keeping them from getting back to the issue of honoring Sir Paul McCartney -- if Streisand can stand appearing with Bush, why can't he? -- and why Daltrey and Townshend got a nod before Jagger and Richards did.
A note to the Kennedy Center: Mel Brooks and Sid Caesar aren't getting any younger, folks.
