The Kennedy Center Honors airs tonight on CBS at 9pm/ET and will include some pretty special people to me personally, and I think for a lot of us.
First and foremost I have to mention that my idol, the person I looked up too growing up, is being honored. Rita Moreno will be the first latin woman to receive the Kennedy Center Honor and it is an award she will be able to add to her Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. She stars in my favorite musical to this day, West Side Story, and the reason I connected to her portrayal of Anita is that she looked like me, she danced and sang, she broke your heart and was equally funny. I couldn’t believe all of this could happen in one show, everything I loved came together in that performance. Rita Moreno has been a huge inspiration for me, so needless to say I’m very much looking forward to her tribute, lead by the stunning Gina Rodriguez (Jane The Virgin), also Lin-Manuel Miranda ( In The Heights, Hamilton), Rosie Perez w/ Animal (yes, from The Muppets), and Karen Olivo (West Side Story, In The Heights).
There will be Stormtroopers at this years Kennedy Center Honors! Yes, George Lucas is also being honored and to give credit where all the credit is due, regardless of your many, many feelings about the prequels, this seems like a perfect time to honor the man that created Star Wars and INDIANA JONES! Stephen Colbert, Carrie Fisher, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and his wife, Mellody Hobson will honor the esteemed director. Of course the Stormtroopers will be on hand, as well as R2-D2 and C-3PO.
Last but not least, the other three honorees are truly groundbreaking. Actress Cecily Tyson, singer/song writer Carol Baker and world famous conductor, Seiji Ozawa. Important tributes include, Viola Davis, Kerry Washington, Tyler Perry, Miranda Lambert, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, James Taylor, Sara Bareilles and Aretha Franklin.
The Kennedy Center Honors isn’t a show that I typically make it a point to watch, but this group of people have been incredibly impactful, socially and culturally. It airs tonight on CBS at 9pm EST.
[via justjared.com]
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