cmatthes Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 My son was one of 20 or so High School kids selected to perform as a chorus/backing chorus at the Kennedy Center Honors gala/concert tonight. They honored Paul McCartney, Merle Haggard, Oprah Winfrey, and songwriter Jerry Herman and the show will be televised on CBS later this month. It's been a really great experience - the kids logged studio time and did a dress rehearsal yesterday, did backup video shots/rehearsals most of the day today and then performed tonight. They got to sing for all of the honorees, the First Family and a ton of celebs and political figures. It was cool seeing McCartney up close and in-person, but there were a lot of other Music/Film/Movie personalities there as well - Dave Grohl, Steven Tyler, James Taylor, Gwen Stefani/No Doubt, Diana Ross, Alec Baldwin, Kelsey Grammer, Matthew Morrison, (as my son said)"that horsefaced Julia Roberts", John Travolta and his "very hot wife" (Kelly Preston), whoever that "bad-assed dude" from the show "White Collar" is, and lots more.He's still pumped about the whole thing, and gets to do it again next week for the taping of Christmas In Washington, where he and a different group of kids will be backing Mariah Carey, Annie Lennox and more of the "Glee" people and more, and will also be attended by the President. That'll be a TNT special hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, or again, as my son calls her, "David Spade".I'm thrilled that he's getting these cool experiences and he's got an amazing amount of confidence onstage at a young age. Very cool stuff!Just wanted to share...
Caddie Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 Most excellent! Please keep us posted as to when it will air.caddie
hectorp Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 Wow: Chris, that's fantastic. What a great high point in a young life.
specialk Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 The Kennedy Center Honors are a very big deal. Congrats to your son and the other participants!
ArnieZ Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 I'm jealous, not of you but your son :angry: . There is no greater joy than seeing your children have great experiences! I'm glad you're having this opportunity and hope you have many more!armies
burningyen Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 Congrats! I can't wait for moments like that.
BlaXander Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 Congratulations to both yourself and your son! You must be a very proud father :angry:
G Man Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 Doesn't get any better than that, and I'm sure your son had a great time as well. Congrats to both.
Thundernotes Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 Congratulations to your family. It's always great to have these proud moments. :angry:
svl Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 That is fantastic! Nothing is more important than your children, and seeing them accomplish something like this must have you on cloud nine.Congrats to your son, and a major salute to you for being such a great dad.
Turdus Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 That's excellent CM. Next time we hook up, we'll have a story to share. My mom met Paul when he was in town for the Library Of Congress ordeal a few months back. She did not even tell me she shook his hand, lol... heard it from one of my brothers.
BTMN Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 Nice feathers to add! :angry: Proud papa with cause too.
Stevieconlon Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 Very cool! Great experience/memory for him!
cmatthes Posted December 6, 2010 Author Posted December 6, 2010 He was bummed because his group was supposed to perform the choral backing for "Hey Jude", at the big finale. They had been rehearsing that all week, and got scratched on Saturday because two of the parents didn't want to disclose SS# info (EVERYBODY gets a full check up when you're in the building with the Pres...unless your last name is "Salahi"), and didn't want their kids out that late on a school night. WTH?!?!No Doubt did "Hello, Goodbye" (Hamer content), Steven Tyler sang a bunch of stuff off of "Abbey Road", and Dave Grohl and Alicia Keys did an apparently killer version of "Maybe I'm Amazed". Vince Gill and Brad Paisley also played "Workin' Man Blues" together for the Merle segment.My son did comment that Chris Rock was disappointing - I'm sure he really dialed it back for the event though. He also said that wasn't sure whether they checked Willie Nelson for weed...It'll air on CBS at 9pm on 12/28 for anybody who is interested in watching.
BruceM Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 What an amazing experience for anyone, let alone an impressionable teenager.Congrats to your son, Chris!
burningyen Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 He was bummed because his group was supposed to perform the choral backing for "Hey Jude", at the big finale. They had been rehearsing that all week, and got scratched on Saturday because two of the parents didn't want to disclose SS# info (EVERYBODY gets a full check up when you're in the building with the Pres...unless your last name is "Salahi"), and didn't want their kids out that late on a school night. WTH?!?!WTH doesn't even begin to cover it! Sheesh.
zenmindbeginner Posted December 6, 2010 Posted December 6, 2010 He was bummed because his group was supposed to perform the choral backing for "Hey Jude", at the big finale. They had been rehearsing that all week, and got scratched on Saturday because two of the parents didn't want to disclose SS# info (EVERYBODY gets a full check up when you're in the building with the Pres...unless your last name is "Salahi"), and didn't want their kids out that late on a school night. WTH?!?!No Doubt did "Hello, Goodbye" (Hamer content), Steven Tyler sang a bunch of stuff off of "Abbey Road", and Dave Grohl and Alicia Keys did an apparently killer version of "Maybe I'm Amazed". Vince Gill and Brad Paisley also played "Workin' Man Blues" together for the Merle segment.My son did comment that Chris Rock was disappointing - I'm sure he really dialed it back for the event though. He also said that wasn't sure whether they checked Willie Nelson for weed...It'll air on CBS at 9pm on 12/28 for anybody who is interested in watching.I'm sure that PBS will have it too.Congratulations C! Being a proud papa must be one of life's finer moments.Very impressive.
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