Letterman, Hoffman among 'artists' honored by Obama
Source: Agencies |
December 4, 2012, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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DAVID Letterman's "stupid human tricks" and Top 10 lists vaulted into the ranks of cultural acclaim on Sunday night as the late-night comedian received this year's Kennedy Center Honors with rock band Led Zeppelin, an actor, a ballerina and a bluesman.
Celebrities joined US President Barack Obama at the White House to salute the honorees, whose ranks also included actor Dustin Hoffman, Chicago bluesman Buddy Guy and ballerina Natalia Makarova.
The honors are the nation's highest award for those who influenced American culture through the arts. The recipients were later saluted by fellow performers at the Kennedy Center Opera House in a show to be broadcast on December 26.
Obama got his guests laughing when he described the honorees as "some extraordinary people who have no business being on the same stage together."
Noting Guy made his first guitar strings using the wire from a window screen, he quipped, "That worked until his parents started wondering how all the mosquitoes were getting in."
The president thanked the members of Led Zeppelin for behaving themselves at the White House given their history of "hotel rooms trashed and mayhem all around."
All kidding aside, Obama described all of the honorees as artists who "inspired us to see things in a new way, to hear things differently, to discover something within us or to appreciate how much beauty there is in the world." "It's that unique power that makes the arts so important," he added.
Later on the red carpet, Letterman said he was thrilled by the recognition and to visit Obama at the White House. "It supersedes everything, honestly," he said. "I haven't won that many awards."
Actor Morgan Freeman hailed Guy as a pioneer who helped bridge soul and rock ?n roll. "When you hear the blues, you really don't think of it as black or white or yellow or purple or blue," Freeman said. "Buddy Guy, your blue brought us together."
Robert De Niro saluted Hoffman, saying he had changed acting and never took any shortcuts.
Celebrities joined US President Barack Obama at the White House to salute the honorees, whose ranks also included actor Dustin Hoffman, Chicago bluesman Buddy Guy and ballerina Natalia Makarova.
The honors are the nation's highest award for those who influenced American culture through the arts. The recipients were later saluted by fellow performers at the Kennedy Center Opera House in a show to be broadcast on December 26.
Obama got his guests laughing when he described the honorees as "some extraordinary people who have no business being on the same stage together."
Noting Guy made his first guitar strings using the wire from a window screen, he quipped, "That worked until his parents started wondering how all the mosquitoes were getting in."
The president thanked the members of Led Zeppelin for behaving themselves at the White House given their history of "hotel rooms trashed and mayhem all around."
All kidding aside, Obama described all of the honorees as artists who "inspired us to see things in a new way, to hear things differently, to discover something within us or to appreciate how much beauty there is in the world." "It's that unique power that makes the arts so important," he added.
Later on the red carpet, Letterman said he was thrilled by the recognition and to visit Obama at the White House. "It supersedes everything, honestly," he said. "I haven't won that many awards."
Actor Morgan Freeman hailed Guy as a pioneer who helped bridge soul and rock ?n roll. "When you hear the blues, you really don't think of it as black or white or yellow or purple or blue," Freeman said. "Buddy Guy, your blue brought us together."
Robert De Niro saluted Hoffman, saying he had changed acting and never took any shortcuts.
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