Oprah Among Kennedy Center Honorees
Oprah Winfrey, in addition to Paul McCartney, Merle Haggard and two others, have been selected to receive Kennedy Center Honors this December.
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced on Tuesday the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors would go to: singer and songwriter Merle Haggard; composer and lyricist Jerry Herman; dancer, choreographer and director Bill T. Jones; songwriter and musician Paul McCartney; and producer, television host and actress Oprah Winfrey.
"The Kennedy Center celebrates five individuals who have spent their lives enriching, inspiring and elevating the cultural vibrancy of our nation and the world," Kennedy Center Chairman David M. Rubenstein said. "For more than 25 years, Oprah Winfrey has established one of the most innovative careers in the entertainment world, with distinctive accomplishments in television and film."
On Sunday, December 5, in a star-studded celebration on the Kennedy Center Opera House stage, the 2010 Honorees will be saluted, a release from the Kennedy Center Honors said.
The President and Mrs. Obama will receive the Honorees and members of the Artists Committee who nominate them, along with the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees at the White House prior to the gala performance. The 2010 Kennedy Center Honors Gala concludes with a supper dance in the Grand Foyer.
The Kennedy Center Honors medallions will be presented on Saturday, December 4, the night before the gala, at a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
The Honors Gala will be broadcast on a two-hour primetime special on Tuesday, December 28 at 8 p.m. Chicago time, the release said.
The Honors are not designated by art form or category of artistic achievement; the selection process, over the years, has produced balance among the various arts and artistic disciplines, according to the release.
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