Kennedy Center Honors -- December 1989

[kstudt2000]

At 5:20 mark the United States Naval Academy Men's Glee Club joins the Red Army Choir on stage. I was lucky to be part of this performance. The most amazing event I have ever experienced.

[dstevenslsw]

This is the most awesome video I've ever witnessed.

It's a shame politics has the power to alienate people.

Thank God for this moment, the most powerful thing I've ever seen!!!

[rdfox76]

@dstevenslsw Politics has the power to alienate.

Music has the power to unify people.

[dellotti]

Please re-wind the world, since this looked so promising, but somehow we screwed it up, as always.

[MrJimmyboy1972]

you still dont have equal rights. whites do! the rest.....?

[JrFLYnnIV]

2 people prefer fascism.

[jetsr]

I type this with tears in my eyes. That. Was. Beautiful.

[rdfox76]

Watching this brought tears to the eyes of this child of the Cold War. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[monsterMike18]

when i watched this...  i cried

[bushhunter9000]

I saw this performance originally on television, it also brought tears to my eyes. My time in the Marines during the early 80's was spent training to stop a Russian invasion in Easter Europe, an attack most of knew would never come. Then in 2001 and again in the spring of 2002 I had a wonderful time visiting the city of Minsk in Belarus, a former soviet state. I found what I always expected, people that with only the difference of language were just like me.

[cossack207]

I wonder if the younger people today knew what this meant when they sang this?

[batmous]

Do ya think people might've thought "this is one giant step toward world peace in OUR lifetime" when they watched this performance? 

[jomcbarnes]

In honor of Flag Day tomorrow. Put up your flags! I love how the Russians pronounce "Ghoawed"!

[Hembosol]

Good Dream.... :(

[chazmcm]

I was fortunate enough to be at the Kennedy Center Honors that year, and the feeling in the Opera House was unbelievable. Wish we could get those kind of moments now...there are sometimes good performances, but the quality of the shows has gone way down.

[LorreB]

Thanks for sharing that with us. It must've been even more goosebumpee in person. And I agree -- they just don't make 'em like they used.

[boonchuey]

Oh my goodness, that is indeed a goosebump moment! Wonderful.

[fgldnglbs]

Do you have the rest of the broadcast? One of the lesser known inductees that evening was William Shuman, who was likely inducted for his all-round contributions as a composer and educator. He's best known for his Symphony No. 3, an orchestration of Charles Ives' Variations on America and a setting of "Casey at the Bat." I think his works are easier to get into as we basically know the sounds from movies and television.

[nixwut22]

I've waited 19 years and wondered if I would ever be able to see this again. I still think it is the most touching version ever. Thank you for allowing me to see it again (and cry my eyes out again.) A born on the 4th Patriot.

[kraxx11]

is very americanized, is not very russian,

[Rikki0]

I was born in 1950. I was raised during the Cold War. I went through the nuclear attack drills in grade school, and the civil defense drills on the radio, and all the fears that a child and young adult can have of a nuclear holocaust that could destroy the world. Then I went to Vietnam and came home with all those fears reinforced. I was watching this performance the night they gave it. I cried like a baby. I thought " My God. It's finally over."

[joeocho88]

The RUSSIAN PEOPLE have NEVER been our enemy!

IT WAS JUST A BUNCH OF LOUSY, SORRY POLITICIANS on BOTH sides.

The ORDINARY RUSSIAN PEOPLE AND THE ORDINARY AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE FAMILIES AND JOBS AND THEY JUST WANT TO LIVE IN PEACE!

And the SAME for almost everybody else in the world!

[wranglersgirl634]

Very well said, and a lesson a lot of people need to learn. The majority of the time, its not the people of a country that are the problem, its the politicians that create the problems. Since they are the ones representing a country, the world thinks "hey everybody in that country must be just like that". It makes you think, are we really like what our politicans are showing the rest of the world we are like? It only takes one rotten apple to spoil the barrel.

[Fernanditoslc]

@joeocho88 Well said! Nothing to add.

[MrJimmyboy1972]

@joeocho88 dont shout son. 2 yrs since you got a reply. i am not surprised. chill!

[BlindandGore]

If theres truly a god. God bless the world, the planet earth and the future generations.

[listentothebutter]

bizaare

[dstevenslsw]

The most shocking and touching video I've ever viewed on YouTube.

Thank you for sharing. . .

God bless us everyone!

[Num1Pacesetter]

When the camera caught the look of aww in the older womans face as she cupped her mouth in disbelief, I shed a tear. And my hand was on my heart throughout. Thank you so much for posting this.

GOD BLESS AMERICA! My home sweet home.

[macaroni352]

That woman is Academy Award winning actress Maureen Stapelton.

[comet1951]

please shows the night recipients awarded like claudette colbert and mary martin

[LorreB]

This segment is the only one that I saved.

[vwsmusic]

@comet1951 There is one posted for Mary Martin; I just discovered it last night. 

[DDR53]

Inever saw it on TV, but hearing our former foe sing this just about made my heart pop out of my chest. GOD BLESS AMERICA

[Dominick629]

the music doesn't sound russian at the beginning.

[skatesindreams]

It is moments like this that make this program my favorite TV special every year. The whole clip is unforgettable. However, my favorite part is when the audience rises to honor "God Bless America" - and the choir.

Thank you for sharing this! If you have other programs, especially from the early years of this series, I would love to see them again.

[Great2C]

Just wonderful, what a strong symbol for the change which was in progress then. That performance would have been unthinkable just a couple of months earlier!

[LorreB]

I agree. Whenever I think of "goosebump" moments, this is what comes to mind. And why I wanted to share it with all of you. Too bad the camerapersons and / or editors missed the golden opportunity by not including Mrs. Bush's reaction to this moment in more detail. I appreciated seeing Maureen Stapleton's reaction, but seeing Mrs. Bush reaction would've been much more historic and poignant, IMO.

[Great2C]

I think Barbara Bush was informed beforehand so she might not be overly surprised.

But I asked myself: How did the director know that Maureen Stapleton would react that way and have a camera in place right beside her? Maybe it was only a coincidence -- or her reaction was not as spontaneous as it looked like. However, that doesn't diminish the greatness of the moment.

[lisawatson1]

I was prepared for it and I had the same reaction as Maureen Stapleton, sitting at my computer.

[VGerring]

LorreB,

Would you also have the clip of the choir that did We Are the World in this same program? I've been looking for it for years now. It would be cool if you could upload that part as well.

[darkflower2]

Poignant, despite the trouble the orchestra and choir had in staying together.