36th Annual Kennedy Center Honors 2013 Live Stream

The 36th Annual Kennedy Center Honors airs Sunday, December 29 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on CBS, where it has been broadcast each year since its debut. Opera singer Martina Arroyo; pianist, keyboardist, bandleader and composer Herbie Hancock; pianist, singer and songwriter Billy Joel; actress Shirley MacLaine; and musician and songwriter Carlos Santana will receive honors for 2013 on THE 36TH ANNUAL KENNEDY CENTER HONORS, to be broadcast Sunday, Dec. 29 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. The special has been broadcast on CBS each year since its debut.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earlier this month, Billy Joel and Carlos Santana were among the handful of artists to receive the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors (jazz keyboardist Herbie Hancock, opera star Martina Arroyo and actress Shirley MacLaine were also recipients). While the show wasn’t broadcast live, you can watch an edited version Sunday night (December 29) on CBS.

The Honors recipients are recognized for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts - whether in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures or television and are selected by the Center's Board of Trustees. The primary criterion in the selection process is excellence. The Honors are not designated by art form or category of artistic achievement; the selection process, over the years, has produced a balance among the various arts and artistic disciplines.

The Kennedy Center Honors provide recognition to living individuals who throughout their lifetimes have made significant contributions to American culture through the performing arts. The primary criterion is excellence, and artistic achievement in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures, and television is considered.

President Michael M. Kaiser expressed the national cultural center's continued gratitude to the many individuals involved in the success of the Honors program. "In addition to recognizing some of the world's most treasured artists, the Kennedy Center Honors supports a wide variety of artistic programming, as well as the Center's educational and national outreach efforts."

George Stevens, Jr. and his Honors producing partner Michael Stevens will again produce and write the Honors. They have received four consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Variety, Musical or Comedy Special. The KENNEDY CENTER HONORS telecast has also been recognized with the Peabody Award for Outstanding Meritorious Service to Broadcasting and seven awards from the Writers Guild of America. George Stevens created the Honors in 1978 with Nick Vanoff.

Unlike other tributes such as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, at the Kennedy Center Honors the honorees don’t perform or even make acceptance speeches; instead, they sit in balcony seats at Washington DC’s Kennedy Center with the President and First Lady, and watch other artists speak about, and pay tribute to them. Last year’s tributes included Heart performing Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” and Jeff Beck and Beth Hart playing “I’d Rather Go Blind” in tribute to Buddy Guy. This year, Don Henley performed Billy Joel’s “She’s Got A Way,” while Garth Brooks (who had one of his first crossover hits with a cover of “Shameless”) performed a medley of “Only The Good Die Young,” “Allentown” and “Goodnight Saigon.” 

Kennedy Center Honors 2013, celebrating opera singer Martina Arroyo; pianist, keyboardist, bandleader and composer Herbie Hancock; pianist, singer and songwriter Billy Joel; actress Shirley MacLaine; and musician and songwriter Carlos Santana is broadcast on CBS Dec. 29 beginning at 9 PM ET.

 

 

 

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