The elite of Washington hosted a diverse mix of entertainers ranging from multiple-Oscar winner Tom Hanks to pop singer Jessica Simpson at the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday, paying tribute to five superstars for their lifetime contributions to the arts and American culture.
Movie director Steven Spielberg, singers Dolly Parton and Smokey Robinson, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and conductor Zubin Mehta were renowned as members of the 29th annual class of Kennedy Center honorees.
Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman of the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts said,
This year we honor five extraordinary international artists whose abundant contributions to their fields are remarkable. They have transformed the culture of our country and of the world.
During the ceremony, singer Aretha Franklin spoke about Robinson’s contributions to music. He said, “This beautiful, kind, kind man wrote and sang poetically and unselfconsciously about love ... redefining popular music in the ’60s, using the connective power of song to break down the barriers of black and white.”
In addition, the center is saluting Steven Spielberg, perhaps the most influential commercial filmmaker of his generation. Spielberg, 59, is credited as one of the inventors of the summer blockbuster, with “Jaws” in 1975, which totaled $100 million in ticket sales.
Indian-born Mehta, 70, was music director of the New York Philharmonic from 1978 to 1991 and has led the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
The honorees are selected by the center’s artistic committee, which includes Renee Fleming, Nathan Lane, Audra McDonald, Liam Neeson, Kevin Spacey and Dave Brubeck. The committee, along with previous honorees, made the decision with the center’s board and George Stevens Jr., who created the Honors in 1978 with Nick Vanoff. CBS will broadcast the show Dec. 26 at 8 p.m.
