Kennedy Center Honors 2010

Last night was the annual broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors, which honors five people for lifetime achievement in the arts. This year's honorees were dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones, Broadway composer Jerry Herman, Oprah Winfrey, country legend Merle Haggard and Paul McCartney.
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Many are already questioning whether or not Oprah should have been honored; most of the honorees are usually older and have a more distinguished "artistic" career. It was especially awkward watching Barbara Walters onstage making a speech for Oprah when many believe Walters should have received the award first. If not for Barbara Walters, there would have been no Oprah Winfrey. But at least by having Oprah there, we were treated to one of the highlights of the evening, Jennifer Hudson's rafter-shaking rendition of "I'm Here" from "The Color Purple".
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We love the Kennedy Center Honors; the show is always a lively mix of song and dance and comedy and genuine emotional moments. The filmed summaries of the honorees lives are especially effective. But that's not to say that the show is always top-notch, most notably this year's production. While there are always one or two musical moments which shock and awe, there are more limp and soggy musical numbers which seem like they were put together almost as an afterthought, with all the enthusiasm of warm jello. And could someone please tell us why the daughter, (Caroline Kennedy), of one of the most stylish women in the history of the world, (Jackie Kennedy), walks like a lumberjack?
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Lowlights of the show included most of the numbers for Jerry Herman, the composer of legendary Broadway shows, "Mame", "Hello, Dolly!" and La Cage Aux Folles". Herman composed some of the most famous, most fun Broadway tunes of all time, yet the people who showed up to perform them seemed like they were being forced to sing at gunpoint. And we'll never figure out why the show always selects more obscure hits to showcase over the most famous ones. Sure, we know that most of us have heard the song "Hello, Dolly!" a million times, but most of America hasn't. Can you imagine if they had brought in someone like Christina Aguilera to sing the classic show-stopper? Not only would Aguilera have given the song new relevance, but considering her ability to bring a house down, it would have given the show a water cooler moment it desperately needs.
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Other low moments came during the tribute for Merle Haggard. Several country stars performed some of Haggard's most famous songs, but the Miranda Lambert-Kris Kristofferson mash-up sounded like cats in heat: lots of noise, but not exactly music. And for god's sakes, could we please have a moratorium on Kid Rock showing up at these types of shows? It's almost as if show producers forget that Rock is not a singer. But don't worry, two notes out of his mouth, and that fact is scarily brought to realization. Luckily, the Haggard section was rescued by the breathtaking Willie Nelson-Sheryl Crow take on "Today I Started Loving Her Again". Even the Hag was choked up a bit during that number. Maybe he was thinking about Tammy.
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Finally, the show ended with the tribute to Paul McCartney. It started with No Doubt doing "Hello, Goodbye" and "Penny Lane". You could almost hear the entire audience thinking, "Why?". Of all the great singers out there who actually have some relevance to The Beatles and/or their music, why in the world was No Doubt there? And no one seemed more confused by their presence than Gwen Stefani herself. If there were any No Doubt fans out there clamoring for a reunion, we doubt they still have those same yearnings this morning.
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No Doubt was thankfully pushed aside for a fantastic duet of "Maybe I'm Amazed" by Dave Grohl and Norah Jones. Then James Taylor took the stage to sing a few bars of "Let It Be", but then he quickly stepped aside for Mavis Staples to finish the song. Staple's performance was spine-chilling, almost equaling the moment in 2008 when Betty LaVette sang "Love Reign O'er Me" for The Who. And then came the show stopper, Steven Tyler came out, in full Aerosmith regalia, to sing a medley of songs from "Abbey Road", which ended in a cast-wide performance of "Hey Jude".
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In the end, The Kennedy Center Honors is a show not to be missed, there are always enough great moments every year to make it memorable, but that's not to say that the show doesn't need desperate help in a lot of ways. In addition to bringing in some performers with real conviction for what they're doing, it would also help if the show wasn't sanitized to within an inch of its life. Last night, they left in Chris Rock's line about "Oprah being so rich that China has to borrow money from her", but they edited out his joke about Sarah Palin not being able to read. What was the show afraid of, that the new Tea Baggers in Congress might try to repeal the Kennedy Center Honors?