Streisand Honored By Latifah, Menzel, Beyonce, Ne-Yo- Page 3

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 3:18pm

I thought Beyonce sounded great and I am not a fan, but she appeared to be lipsinking at points.
I could be wrong.

Who was the Woman who sang the Who song about the rain.
SHE Blew the roof off the place.

I also thought I saw Twyla smile at one point, which means a ballerina somewhere has died.
Good to see that Sinatra piece danced so beautifully.

[iamchanging9]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 3:29pm

I think Beyonce gave the best performance. She didn't riff too excessively(when she could have) or make it a Sasha Fierce performance. She definitely made it an acting piece along with singing.
Idina left me very underwelmed. Seeing as Idina is this jewish girl from Long Island, I was expecting her to tear the house down. I thought her singing was great but her movements and acting were lackluster. She seemed unrehearsed and unsure of what to do.
I though Ne-Yo was great but I'm not really familiar with this song...

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 3:30pm

"Who was the Woman who sang the Who song about the rain.
SHE Blew the roof off the place."

Joss Stone?

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 3:35pm

Barbra IS wearing the medal in that picture...

You have to go in for a real close up, but she sort of tucked in under her jacket.

Figures, she probably thought it clashed with her outfit.



And, I'm sorry to say this, but Babs should get SOME work done. Her face in sinking faster then the Titanic.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 3:47pm

No, Brave Sir Robin, the older woman.
I'll have look it up.

And shout out to Nick and Spence!

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 3:52pm

I think the real reason Streisand looked so annoyed during Menzel's performance is because she mispronounced her name in the middle of the song.

On the day of the ceremony about two weeks ago, the customary profile on Streisand as an honoree ran in The Washington Post. In it, she specifically talked about how annoyed she gets in regards to the pronunciation of her name:

"The only time she chafes is when a visitor mispronounces her name, making the common mistake of articulating the middle "s" in Streisand as a "z."

"Strei-sssssand! Soft 's'!" she admonishes, interrupting a question. "Like sand on a beach. Why do people call me 'Strei-zand'? How can I be famous? They don't say 'Judy Gar-LAND'! "

As you may have noticed last night, Menzel very clearly said "Strei-ZAND."

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 3:56pm

OK, her name is Bettye LaVette and the song was
LOVE REIGN O'ER ME
I knew it had to do with rain.

She was sensational.
After she sang, you couldn't hear but you could see Babs lean over to Peter Townsend and say
"hey, she's terrific"

[Pianolin717]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 4:02pm

i really enjoyed beyonce... now menzel... she was quite boring, in my opinion.. :/ big disappointment

[boombaboy]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 4:10pm

Beyonce's tribute to La Streisand (that's SAND as in a bitch, I mean beach) was fab-u-lash. Her eye makeup and hair were also homages to early Barbra, but her sombrero earrings were too much. But she sang well and said the right thing at the end; very lovely.

What I really want to know is why Barbra and Twyla cannot be more gracious and accept this national honor with some amount of humor and charm? Like it would kill them to smile? If they don't want the Kennedy Center Honor, they should do the classy thing, like Doris Day (who, IMHO, sings and dances better than both of them put together), and decline it and stay home where they can work harder on their frown lines.

[logan0215]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 4:12pm

You could see Babs was wearing her medal at about 8:16 in the first video, as that was being disputed at one point.

Why would they even hire Nick Adams and Spencer Liff behind Ne-Yo if they were going to be fully clothed. That's just a waste of hot.

[singingbackup]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 4:20pm

I was rather disappointed in the Streisand tribute. Idina was all over the place and that sugary "I'm your biggest fan" was so corny and unnecessary. Where was Evergreen, People, even Stoney End? Nothing from Yentyl? And that lame ending with the off-key chorus was a bummer. There are certainly more memorable Streisand songs than "Somewhere."

And I agree, Twyla should have stayed home. What a crab.

[logan0215]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 4:30pm

The Chita Rivera honor pwned

I literally get goosebumps at the finale.

amazing Updated On: 12/31/08 at 04:30 PM

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 4:38pm

Why in the world did they do the movie choreography for ALL THAT JAZZ, or at least it look like the movie's choreography?

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 4:46pm

I thought Idina sounded and looked wonderful.

Beyonce... Be-YAWN-ce. Sorry.

And why was Ne-Yo even involved in this for Babs?

I love Twyla's work, but she could have been a bit more pleasant.

Glad to see The Who being honored.

[sondheimgeek]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 5:10pm

"I also thought I saw Twyla smile at one point, which means a ballerina somewhere has died."

I just fell out of my chair laughing from that! Hahaha, thank you!

[theaterkid1015]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 5:36pm

CPD, thank you for that!!


And, I completely agree that Bettye LaVette KILLED it. Loved her.

Is the Twyla Tharp tribute up? I couldn't find it on the site that we still don't name even though we're technically allowed.

[Usnavi]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 6:32pm

oh eponineamneris you are such the hater.

face it, menzel couldn't cut it. they should've given 'don't rain on my parade' to beyonce as well. i'm quite sure she would have put menzel's pathetic rendition to shame.
Updated On: 12/31/08 at 06:32 PM

[CurtisTaylorJr2]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 7:15pm

I thought Beyonce and Idina. As for Ne-Yo, he cannot sing that sort of music, he was a mess.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 8:02pm

Thanks for posting the clips. I had company and completely forgot about the show.

I thought Beyonce' did a very nice job. Idina's voice just sounded too squeaky and thin for that song to me. They should have gotten Linda Eder to do it. She blows the roof off with that song every time she sings it. I just skipped Ne-Yo. I like his music but after about 30 seconds of him, I wasn't really impressed.

[EugLoven]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 8:54pm

Did anyone else notice Spencer Liff as 1 of the 4 backup dancers during Ne-Yo's song? I was unable to recognize the others.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 9:20pm

Yes, hence my shout out to Spencer and Nick Adams.
I didn't recognize the other two boys?

[nealb1]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 10:31pm

Idina looked very uncomfortable, and the I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN part wasn't really necessary. Was it her choice to add those lyrics? Who knows. Beyonce was great, as was Queen and Ne-Yo did a great job on a new version of a classic hit.

Barbra was touched during the ceremony, but at the same time, you could clearly see how uncomfortable she was with such praise being thrown her way. It just makes her uncomfortable. Like she's always said, "People have such high expectations of me. I don't want to disappoint a fantasy."

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 10:47pm

She does not say Strei-ZAND she says Strei-SAND. I've listened to it several times. She made no error in pronunciation. The look you saw on Streisand's face was regarding the lyric, not anything Menzel did wrong.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 10:49pm

Maybe Idina's performance seemed off because she's not used to preforming without the screams of tween girls.

[fflagg]

Posted: 12/31/08 at 11:27pm

Why not Beyonce and Queen L doing "Enough Is Enough"?

Barbra looked aloof and affected in her applause to people. She looked like an old yenta on her way to a bar mitzvah: her hair is too light, there is not enough color contrast on her face re makeup, and the lighting was unflattering.

Roger Daltrey stole the evening: he looked like a little kid with excitement and enthusiasm all over his cute face.