The Rising

[humantouch]

Bruce Springsteen erhielt am 5.12.09 den Preis des Kennedy Centers für darstellende Kunst.

Mit geehrt wurde auch Robert den Niro ( den ich persönlich als sehr guten Schauspieler zu schätzen weiß)

Mit de Niro scheint sich Bruce auch sehr gut verstanden zu haben, wie man auf den Fotos der Ehrung sehen kann.

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/4ZOBsdK5 ... pringsteen

Irgendwie mag ich Bruce aber lieber in Jeans und T-Shirt, obwohl, an seinem absolut großartigen, ansteckenden Lachen kann man den Mann auch angetan mit einem Kartoffelsack erkennen!

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced the selection of the individuals who will receive the Kennedy Center Honors of 2009. Recipients to be honored at the 32nd annual national celebration of the arts are: writer, composer, actor, director, and producer Mel Brooks; pianist and composer Dave Brubeck; opera singer Grace Bumbry; actor, director, and producer Robert De Niro; and singer and songwriter Bruce Springsteen.

[magie]

Obama: "Bruce ist der Boss"


Diese Künstler sind wirklich die besten": Anlässlich der Verleihung der Kennedy-Preise baten US-Präsident Obama und seine Frau Michelle allerhand Prominenz ins Weiße Haus.

Barack Obama hat einige der größten Stars der amerikanischen Unterhaltungsbranche zu einer festlichen Gala im Weißen Haus empfangen. Anlässlich der Verleihung der Kennedy-Preise begrüßten der US-Präsident und seine Frau Michelle Musik- und Filmgrößen wie Bruce Springsteen und Robert De Niro.

"Ich bin der Präsident, aber er ist der Boss", sagte Obama, als Rocklegende Bruce Springsteen die "Kennedy Center Honors" entgegennahm - zusammen mit Filmstar Robert De Niro, Regisseur Mel Brooks, Jazz-Pianist Dave Brubeck und Opernsängerin Grace Bumbry.

Das John-F.-Kennedy-Zentrum für Darstellende Kunst ehrt mit der Auszeichnung Künstler, die maßgeblich die Kultur der USA geprägt haben. Dieser Preis sei doch etwas anderes als die bisher erhaltenen Würdigungen, sagte der 60-jährige Springsteen. "Wir haben wirklich hart dafür gearbeitet, dass unsere Musik Teil des amerikanischen Lebens und des Lebens unserer Fans wird", sagte der Rocksänger. Der Kennedy-Preis sei eine Anerkennung, dass diese Art von Musik ihren Weg in die Kultur gefunden habe.

Diese Künstler sind wirklich die besten", sagte Obama. "Sie sind auch eine lebendige Erinnerung an eine einzigartige Wahrheit - und hier bediene ich mich bei einem Wort von Michelle, dass die Kunst nicht irgendwie neben unserem nationalen Leben steht, sondern die Kunst ist das Herz unseres nationalen Lebens." An der Zeremonie im East Room des Weißen Hauses nahmen rund 300 Gäste teil, unter ihnen Show-, Musik- und Filmgrößen wie Ben Stiller, Martin Scorsese, Sting und Philip Seymour Hoffman.

(AFP, N24)
07.12.2009 07:06 Uhr

Magie

[magie]

Sting sing The Rising für Bruce

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5VrtRO45kU


Magie

[magie]

Die Rede von Bruce

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... id=topnews


Magie

[woodyguthrie]

Ein Bericht aus Backstreets.com

SPRINGSTEEN GETS HIS "RAINBOW RIBBON"
Congratulations to Bruce, hailed last night at the Kennedy Center Honors
Bruce Springsteen headlined the Honors Gala last night at the Kennedy Center, even just watching from the Presidential box, as the fifth and final honoree at the 32nd annual event.

Jon Stewart began the salute to Bruce, acknowleding that Springsteen hated to have the attention squarely directed at himself, and it was surely killing him "to be up in the box seats with the rainbow ribbon with a dreamcatcher at the end of it." On this night, sitting directly to President and Michelle Obama's right, Bruce would just have to grin and bear it.

Stewart declared that "Bob Dylan and James Brown had a baby, and that baby was Bruce. However, the era was not quite ready for a same-sex, inter-racial couple, and they abandoned the child somewhere between Exit 8A and 9 on the New Jersey Turnpike. It was at this point that he was raised by feral vaudevillians and vagabond troubadors." It was not long after that he became The Boss... or as Jon put it, in Washington speak, "The Music Czar." He went on to say that no matter what Bruce does, "he empties the tank."

Stewart also spoke from the heart. "He is the Boss...But I didn't understand his music for a long time, until I began to yearn. Until I began to question the things that I was making and doing in my own life. Until I realized that it wasn't just about the joyful parade on stage and the theatrics. It was about stories of lives that could be changed. And that the only status that you could fail to achieve is the status quo. The only thing, the only failure in life was not to make the effort to change our station. And it resonated with me because, and I say this truly to him...I would not be here, God knows, not even in this business if it were not for the inspirational words and music of Bruce Springsteen."

Following a lengthy video montage, the lights came up and Ron Kovic came out. The author, Vietnam veteran, and anti-war activist described how he met Bruce in California in 1978, while Bruce was swimming. Ron told Bruce he had written Born on the Fourth of July, a book that Springsteen had just picked up while traveling through Arizona on the way to California. A few days later, outside of Ron's hotel door was a package with several of Bruce's records along with a note: "If my music touches you as much as your book has touched me, then I have done my job."

The musical tribute portion began next, with a little bit of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-out" from the Rob Mathes Band featuring Springsteen tour vets Shane Fontayne (guitar), Clark Gayton (Trombone), Curtis King Jr. (vocals) and Cindy Mizelle (vocals), along with Kenny Aronoff (drums), Michael Bearden (keys), Tabitha Fair (vocals), Zev Katz (bass), Jeff Kievit (trumpet), Brad Leali (alto/baritone Sax), and Lou Marini (tenor sax). The band provided backing for the performances to come.

John Mellencamp took the stage next and described being a young lad in Indiana and hearing a new artist in the record store. He asked who it was and was told that it was The Wild, The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle by Bruce Springsteen. The only copy the store had was playing, and John asked to buy it. It was the best $3.99 he had ever spent. Mellencamp played "Born in the U.S.A." in a slow style and similar to Springsteen's later visitations of the song. Ben Harper played "My Father's House" on slide guitar, a particuarly lilting and beautiful rendition. Jennifer Nettles then burst on the stage to "Glory Days," a surprise choice, and Jennifer did a great job with the version. The next song up was her duet with Harper on "I'm on Fire"—she was smoky and smoldering on her portion of the vocals. Melissa Etheridge ripped into her take on "Born to Run," and she nailed it. Eddie Vedder came out for "My City of Ruins," a powerful song not only for its original Jersey Shore meaning, but also its rebirth as a post-9/11 nod. Vedder did a fantastic job and had a small choir helping out on the vocals. Sting's take on "The Rising" provided the finale, with considerable horn power as well as the Joyce Garrett Choir, and the entire Kennedy Center crowd was up on its feet [Video footage here].

Prior to the Gala, Bruce and the other honorees were received at the White House by President Obama, who congratulated and thanked each of them in turn. "Bruce has been a great friend over the last year," he said, "and when I watched him on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial when he rocked the National Mall before my inauguration, I thought it captured as well as anything the spirit of what America should be about. On a day like that, and today, I remember I'm the President, but he's the Boss.... Dave Brubeck, Mel Brooks, Grace Bumbry, Robert DeNiro, Bruce Springsteen. Their stories are their own, but the part that they play in the larger American story, that's what we honor here tonight." Watch Obama's speech here.


Woody Guthrie