MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2010


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C9 Surprise combos give Honors their spark


BILL O'LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST PARTY HOST: At Friday’s honoree dinner,Hillary Rodham Clinton was flanked by Oprah Winfrey, left, and JerryHerman asMerleHaggard, back left, Bill T. Jones and PaulMcCartney looked on. honors from C1


of the 56-year-old Winfrey, “Simply put, she is the best interviewer ever.” She addedmodest- ly,“No one comes close, not even me.Those of you who know me know how painful it was for me to say that.” Vince Gill called Haggard, 73, “one of the


greatest of all time.” Said Gill,“Hag tells it like it is. He’s the poet of the common man,” who sings about the quest for “a decent job, self-respect and a place to call home.”Nelson (sans his signature braid) joined Sheryl Crow for a duet on Haggard’s classic “Today I Started Loving You Again.” As for McCartney, 68, is there any praise


left unsaid?Maybe not inWashington, where he was feted last June at the Library of Congress and the White House in winning the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Bald- winwiselywentmostly ironic in his introduc- tion: “I can’t begin to tell you how awful [McCartney’s] early years were. [He had to play] places reserved for baseball games, bullfights . . . papalMasses. [He was] assault- ed by throngs of female gang members. He was finally reduced to performing on the ‘Ed Sullivan Show,’ sharing the stage with a mousenamedTopo Gigio.”He also noted that “Paul McCartney is a genius . . . [who] mar- ried rock-and-roll to beauty.” The big windup featured the odd couple of


Grohl and Jones doing “Maybe I’m Amazed” (it worked, actually), followed later by all those “Na na naahs” with Tyler, James Taylor andMavis Staples. Jones, 58, was the busiest of the evening’s recipients. KenCen honorees typically get escorted through a weekend of adulatory events, from a State Department brunch to a White House visit to the evening’s culminat- ing gala. Jones, however, went to work at the Kennedy Center on Friday, supervising de- tails of the presentation of his dance “Fondly DoWeHope . . . FerventlyDoWe Pray,” which was performed Sunday night. Before the ceremony itself, an almost


surreal parade of celebrities strolled past a phalanx of cameras and reporters on the Kennedy Center’s red carpet. The list was typical perhaps for a KenCen Honors, but unusual in showbiz terms. Where else, for example, would you find the likes of Rivera, John Lithgow, Stefani (and the rest of the No Doubters), Gayle King, Oprah, Nancy Pelosi, Haggard, Channing, Kris Kristofferson, Di- ana Ross and Smokey Robinson? Herman, 79, unaccompanied on the car-


pet, called the weekend of events in his honor “the most incredible experience . . . it’s inde- scribable.” Added Herman, “It’s more than flattering. It’s like being crowned.” “Weeds” star Mary-Louise Parker was the


oddcelebrity out—shewasneither a present- er nor performer nor honoree. Accompanied by hermother, Caroline,Parker said shecame to theHonors essentially as a tourist. “It’s the one event I don’t have to be bribed to attend,” she said. Referring to Haggard, Winfrey and Jones, she noted, “They’ve overcome a lot of difficulties and challenges to get where they are. Isn’t that what this country is about?” CBS will air its annual telecast of the ceremonies on Dec. 28.


rhip@washpost.com LINDA DAVIDSON/THE WASHINGTON POST BILL O’LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST LINDA DAVIDSON/THE WASHINGTON POST LINDA DAVIDSON/THE WASHINGTON POST REDCARPET TIME: Above left, Winfrey talks to reporters at theKennedy


Center. Above right, a ribbon-bedeckedMcCartney arrives with girlfriend Nancy Shevell. Left,No Doubt band members Tony Kanal, Gwen Stefani and Adrian Young were among the performers who covered Beatles songs in McCartney’s honor. Below, SamWaterston was joined by his wife, Lynn.


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