Posted by EmpressCallipygos
https://www.metafilter.com/211349/For-Contributions-To-American-Culture
This evening, our president will preside over the ceremony for this year's
Kennedy Center Honors. Traditionally the president simply watches the event alongside the honorees, but in a departure from prior ceremonies, this year the president will serve as host and presenter (in addition to having selected the honorees, also a departure from tradition). The Center has also changed the iconic design of the award itself; instead of a medallion on a rainbow-colored sash, the new medallions will sport a rainbow-colored stripe on their faces, and the sash will be navy blue. CBS will not broadcast the ceremony until the 23rd; so in the meantime, let's enjoy some older clips of what the ceremony usually is like.
OVERALL STRUCTURE:
Typically each honoree gets a 20-minute segment of the ceremony, which is introduced by another celebrity, followed by a brief film about the artist themselves and then by a musical/performance presentation with a number of surprise guests singing the honoree's own work in tribute. Some good examples of the form:
Led Zepplin, 2012 honorees (Introduced by Jack Black, with performances by the Foo Fighters, Kid Rock, Lenny Kravitz and Heart)
The Grateful Dead, 2024 honorees (Introduced by Miles Teller, performances by Maggie Rogers, Leon Bridges, Chloe Sevigny, Sturgill Simpson, David Letterman, Dave Matthews, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks)
Tom Hanks, 2014 honoree (Introduced by David Letterman, with performances and tributes by Pentatonix, Martin Short, Steven Spielberg, Lauran Benati, Kelly O'Hara, and some other surprise guests)
Stephen Spielberg, 2006 honoree (includes accolades from former colleagues, including John Williams, and concluding with a choral rendition of "Make Your Garden Grow" from the musical
Candide)
NON-MUSICIAN TRIBUTES:
It's easy to figure out "how to celebrate" a musician, since performers can simply cover their songs. Celebrating a dancer, actor, or director is a bit more tricky. However, the Kennedy Center has pulled it off with either spoken-word tributes, or a song or two associated with the performer or a song they particularly like. Some notable examples include the ending of Spielberg and Hanks' ceremonies above, as well as:
Mel Brooks, 2009 Honoree - a medley of songs from his films, with performances from Frank Langella, Martin Short, Harry Connick Jr. , Jack Black, Richard Kind, Matthew Morrison, Gary Beach and Matthew Broderick.
Lin-Manuel Miranda honoring Billy Crystal, with a "Billy Crystal Oscar medley"- style medley salute to Crystal.
Matt Damon honoring George Clooney, turning his speech into an affectionate roast.
SURPRISE GUESTS AND BACKUP CHOIRS:
Honorees typically don't know who will be paying tributes during their segments and are sometimes visibly surprised to see a longtime friend or colleague coming to pay homage. Other times, the closing number for each segment sees a surprise group of fans or other friends singing backup. Some notable examples:
Cyndi Lauper honoring Cher in 2018. Cher was so surprised that she shouted the accusation "You told me you would be in Los Angeles!" to Lauper loud enough for the auditorium to hear. (I'll let you hear what Lauper said in reply.)
Garth Brooks singing "Good Night Saigon" during Billy Joel's tribute, joined at the end by a choir of about 40 Vietnam Veterans.
Rob Thomas doing "Baba O'Reilly" during the 2008 salute to The Who, joined at the end by a chorus of members of NYPD and FDNY veterans to thank The Who for their support of 9/11 First Responders.
Bruno Mars doing "So Lonely" and "Message in a Bottle" during the 2014 Sting tribute, joined at the end by the cast of Sting's musical
The Last Ship which was then on Broadway.
Smokey Robinson performing "Sweet Caroline" in 2011 for Neil Diamond, joined at the end by a chorus of Boston Red Sox fans to thank him for his support following the Boston Marathon bombing tragedy.
OTHER NOTABLE MOMENTS:
Including some spot-on-perfect choices for tributes, some oddball choices that still worked, and one of the more fun introductions.
Beyonce's performance of "Proud Mary" during Tina Turner's tribute in 2005.
Aretha Franklin doing "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" during Carole King's tribute in 2015.
Snoop Dogg saluting Herbie Hancock in 2013, with a performance of US3's "Cantaloop Flip Fantasia" (which itself sampled Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island"). Snoop can't resist working a bit of "Gin and Juice" into the mix. (Also worth it just to hear the evening's host Carl Kasell intone: "Ladies and Gentlemen....Snoop Dogg!")
Bruce Springsteen covering Sting's "I Hung My Head" in 2014, and arguably stealing it right out from under him.
Jon Stewart introducing the Bruce Springsteen segment in 2009's ceremony, and offering a unique genetic theory for the source of Springsteen's talents.
S. Epatha Merkerson and Jennifer Koh performing "Knee Play 5" from Philip Glass's score to Einstein On the Beach during his own 2018 tribute.
A whole playlist of other performances throughout the Kennedy Center's history can be found
here.https://www.metafilter.com/211349/For-Contributions-To-American-Culture
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