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<\/a>The 2024 Kennedy Center Honorees.<\/p><\/div>\n
Richard had some questions about a couple of the performers, so as I was writing that comment on his post, to clear a bit of it up for him, I realized that I would like to share those thoughts, and more, with you<\/em> guys, as well! So here I am.<\/p>\n This 2024 version of the Kennedy Center Honors<\/em> seemed to lack a lot of the usual pizazz and pathos. I can\u2019t quite put my finger fully on the problem, but a big part of it for me is that this was one of the few times that I’ve seen this presentation done in the absolute wrong order. The production usually ends with whichever honoree will provide the most rollicking musical moments, to make the show go out on a huge high. So I was positive that the tribute to the Apollo Theater<\/strong>\u00a0would occur last because you know that that<\/em> one would feature some rousing music. But they put that segment second<\/em> in the show! That was just crazy.<\/p>\n And they ended the whole shebang with the tribute to the Grateful Dead<\/strong>!!! I have no idea why they did that. It couldn\u2019t be to attract younger viewers because the Dead is basically a baby boomer band, with two of the main dudes already deceased. That segment just lay flat the whole time. They didn’t even have anyone perform two of the group\u2019s biggest songs, Truckin\u2019 <\/em>and Casey Jones<\/em>, (the only ones with which I\u2019m familiar.) I was really surprised. I’ve never<\/em> been a fan of the Dead, and I’ve always<\/em> been a fan of soul<\/em> acts, so that order was just really perplexing to me. And Miles Teller<\/strong> trying to dance to \u201860s and \u201870s music, in a tie-dye T-shirt, no less, was sort-of painful to witness.<\/p>\n But there were some wonderful performances in other parts of the show. The first of the two best acts was Brandi Carlyle<\/strong> singing I Can’t Make You Love Me<\/em> during the tribute to Bonnie Raitt<\/strong>. Wow. Just wow. She was just perfect in the easiest way possible. Her heartbreaking voice made me almost wish that some guy had broken my heart in the way the lyrics portray. (Almost<\/em>, mind you\u2014Mr. X is difficult enough!)<\/p>\n A wondrous part of that performance was Sheryl Cole<\/strong> playing the piano for Brandi\u2019s song! She didn\u2019t take even a small part of the words for herself, nor even harmonized; she just played the musical accompaniment for Brandi! With glasses on and relying on the sheet music, looking like an elementary school music teacher who had just received the music that day! But it was actually glorious!<\/p>\n Brandi Carlyle singing with Sheryl Cole on piano.<\/p><\/div>\n Speaking of glorious, that\u2019s exactly what married soul duo War and Treaty<\/strong>\u2019s rendition of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell\u2019s You\u2019re All I Need to Get By<\/em> was in the tribute to the Apollo Theater. (This was the first time in the Kennedy Center Honors<\/em>\u2019 forty-seven year history that an institution<\/em> was one of the honorees, as opposed to people<\/em>.) We had heard them before, but Mr. X and I became big fans of theirs that night. (The genuine-love kiss at the end of their song sealed the deal for me.)<\/p>\n By the way, I have never been a fan of comedian Dave Chappelle<\/strong> because of his constant smoking on stage, which is rude to not only everyone around him who has to breathe<\/em> it, but to the possibly-impressionable audience members whom he makes think that smoking is not only okay, but cool. But he did not smoke in this<\/em> show, and his speech was really good and sincere here, talking about losing at the Apollo when he was just a teen and what it meant to him. So now I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. (Perhaps he laid-off the cigs because the producers forbade him from doing it. But either way, it was good to see him not<\/em> smoking.)<\/p>\n I was actually pretty sure that someone playing the Apollo\u2019s famous Sandman would come out for a second, not to really<\/em> sweep off a \u201closer,\u201d (because there are no losers in this<\/em> show!,) but just to make people be so happy to see that humorous act in person. (I know that I<\/em> would have loved it!) But as far as that<\/em> iconic little bit is concerned, they did a little tribute to Howard \u201cSandman\u201d Sims<\/strong>, (the original \u201cSandman,\u201d who passed away twenty-three years ago,) in the body of the presentation. I was glad to see that, at least.<\/p>\n As much as the famous people who are getting the tributes are being honored, there\u2019s something else very interesting about all Kennedy Center Honors<\/em> presentations. And that is that they often book sort-of obscure talent to perform. I’m sure that a lot of those artists are well-known in their particular genres, (such as Cuban and Latinx artists performing for honoree Cuban jazz-trumpeter-extraordinaire, Arturo Sandoval<\/strong>,) but they are not familiar to the public at large. So it’s wonderful exposure to new audiences for the musicians. I love that.<\/p>\n Actually, one of the best discoveries that night was during the tribute to Mr. Sandoval. And that is that Andy Garcia<\/strong>\u2026is a percussionist!!! Who knew?! He played the bongos, along with everyone\u2019s favorite instrument\u2014the cowbell, with the happening jam sesh band.<\/p>\n So my Facebook pal with the mini review didn’t know who the blonde girl singer who began the tribute to Francis Ford Coppola<\/strong> is. So for those of you who are also in the dark as to her identity, I’m here to enlighten all of you. (Mr. X did not realize who she was while seeing her, but when I told him who it was afterwards, he was amazed.) She is Grace VanderWaal<\/strong>, who won America’s Got Talent<\/em> in 2016, when she was just twelve. She was a really good singer back then, but what everyone loved about her was that her voice and delivery were beyond her years, and also that she was such a sweet girl. I didn’t know why she was on Kennedy Center Honors<\/em> when they announced her at the top of the show, but it turns out that she\u2019s in Coppola\u2019s most recent film, Megalopolis<\/em>, (which I believe was a complete bomb.)<\/p>\n The speakers in tribute to Francis Ford Coppola sitting around that elevated table. (L-R) Grace VanderWaal, (her ever-moving foot and leg are blocked in this pic,) Laurence Fishburne, Al Pacino, Talia Shire, and Robert DeNiro.<\/p><\/div>\n Grace is twenty now, and obviously an actress as well as a singer. But I’ve got to be honest here and tell you that her performance on this show was pretty bad. Even worse than her singing that night was what she did afterwards. Just to make this all-talking tribute, (outside of Grace, of course,) more interesting, they had all the presenters sit around a table that was on an elevated stage, to emulate the dinners that Francis hosts at his northern California vineyard. After each person spoke, (or in Grace\u2019s case, sang,) they sat down there while the rest of the people gave their little speeches. Since Grace was the first one up, she had to sit there through eight speakers. And she was moving her leg and foot, in the way that connotes absolute boredom, the entire time!!! So all during those heartfelt speeches, you could see how bored she was. It made her look so immature, and semi-rude, actually. I kept hoping that someone would get a message to someone on stage to lean over and tell her to stop it. I’m sure she had no idea she was doing it, as happens to all of us, but her whole appearance there was just brutal. Grace was not a good representative for Gen Z performers. By the way, no one ever explained why she was singing, (or trying<\/em> to,) The Impossible Dream <\/em>from The Man of LaMancha<\/em> in honor of Coppola; we were left to ponder the significance for ourselves. [Note: She\u2019ll turn twenty-one on January 15th, the day after my own<\/em> January 14th bday, so I feel a tad bad for ragging a bit on my fellow Capricorn. But you know I always tell it like it is.]<\/p>\n Queen Latifah hosting the show.<\/p><\/div>\n Now to the supposed host of the evening. As far as I know, Queen Latifah<\/strong>, is a rapper, and now in her older years, a successful TV actress, but she’s not really a singer. So that was a little strange to have her on there singing. The only reason she was hosting is because she stars on a CBS series*, and the Kennedy Center Honors is on CBS, as well. *(That series is The Equalizer<\/em>, and trust me, I’m not saying anything bad about Latifah because I’m the only person I know who watches that show. Mr. X has seen a tiny bit of it over the years, and he always makes fun of it. She’s not a particularly good actress, and, since she plays a former CIA agent who still beats-up the bad guys, which means she should be at least somewhat<\/em> in shape, she could definitely benefit from a few shots of Ozempic. Just sayin\u2019. And the show is pretty stupid, but it’s the kind of mindless entertainment that I enjoy. So there’s that.)<\/p>\n I just have to mention a few more people on there. Al Pacino<\/strong>\u2019s head was so close to the podium when he was speaking that I thought he was sitting down! He did not look very good, but I\u2019m giving the guy a break because he\u2019s eighty-four-years-old! And even though Jackson Browne<\/strong> looks like a handsome older man, I did not recognize him at all<\/em>! When did he become such a grown-up??? Raye<\/strong> is always a great singer, but I feel she was a bit nervous, and that the audience didn\u2019t \u201cget\u201d her enough.<\/p>\n One big thing I missed throughout all five of the tribute segments is that after the first person spoke about each honoree, they used to show a brief visual bio of their life\/lives. And this time they did not. They offered just a bit of each one\u2019s history, but not enough and not in linear order.<\/p>\n Still, it\u2019s an always-entertaining show, and though this year was one of my least favorites, I\u2019m always glad to see such a classy presentation in this crazy world.<\/p>\n Now here’s my personal Kennedy Center Honors<\/em> tale. For the last decade or so of his life, I was friends with the incredible tap dancer, Fayard Nicholas<\/strong>, (who had actually introduced me to Savion Glover<\/strong> back then, and Savion performed in this<\/em> year\u2019s show! I love a full circle situation.) He and his brother Harold had been honorees in 1991, and when his precious wife died at the end of that decade, we started hanging-out more often. He was eighty-five-years-old at the time, and I considered him to be sort of a grandfather figure to me, which I loved. He introduced me to his whole family, and we met a lot of each other\u2019s friends. We even tapped-danced together on my TV show back then! What an honor that<\/em> was!<\/p>\n The 1991 Kennedy Center Honorees, with Fayard Nicholas on the far left.<\/p><\/div>\n All Kennedy Center honorees are invited back each year for the new festivities, with their flights and accommodations all taken care of, as well as those of their guests. So when he was planning to attend that first year he was widowed, guess who he asked to be his \u201cdate\u201d to the event? Yours truly, of course! I was so excited because getting to be at that classiest of events would have been a dream come true. But checking on what the accommodations would be, I asked him, \u201cWe wouldn’t have to share a room, would we?,\u201d to which Fayard answered a definitive, \u201cOh yes!\u201d I couldn’t believe it. I had no idea that my little pal was such a lusty old man.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>