The recipients for the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors will be announced shortly after Labor Day. Each year, the selection committee chooses five entertainment veterans from a variety of fields – film, television, popular music, theatre, and the fine arts (dance, opera, classical music). Last year’s honorees were: actress/singer Barbara Cook, singer/composer Neil Diamond, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, jazz artist Sonny Rollins and actress Meryl Streep.
The all-star event is held each year in the nation’s captial over the first weekend in December and then airs on CBS as a two-hour special after Christmas. The first ceremony in 1978 celebrated the careers of opera star Marian Anderson, dancer and film star Fred Astaire, choreographer George Balanchine, composer Richard Rodgers and conductor Arthur Rubenstein.
Recent honorees have included film stars Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Robert Redford; music artists Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen and Barbra Streisand; television stars Carol Burnett and Oprah Winfrey; theatre vets Julie Harris, Jerry Herman, and Andrew Lloyd Webber; and fine arts performers Grace Bumbry, Suzanne Ferrell and Bill T. Jones.
There are quite a number of notable names still missing from this honor roll. Take a look at the achievements of 30 worthy potential inductees and let us know in the comments section of each photo who you think should be honored this year. VIEW GALLERY
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