I wasn't sure where to start this topic, but this seems to be the most appropriate place.

I've watched the Capitol Fourth special on PBS for years (their 4th of July special) and I wondered if any of you have done the same. What do you think of this year's special? I thought this was one of their worst. What happened to Barry Bostwick? At least he could sing in tune. Tony Danza was terrible at the singing, only mediocre at the hosting. He couldn't even comb his hair. Then the girl who plays the cheerleader on Heroes had two songs and she was terrible. Yolanda Adams did some version of the Three Dog Night song which changed the "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" lyrics to something Christian. She should've focused more on the vocals. Her second song, the one which actually had something to do with the 4th, was better.

The only one who knew what he was doing was Elliott Yamin, and even he was oversinging.

I don't know what's happened to this show.

I love Bebe Neurwith, but why did she croak through both her songs like a Katharine Hepburn impersonator? Given some of the risque lyrics (for a family show standards), I'm surprised they had her sing the theme from Cabaret.

Say what you will, it was miles better than the Boston Pops special. That one has been chopped up into an incoherent mess. I thought that Bebe and Hayden were OK. You're right about Tony Danza. He must have dirt on one of the producers.

I can't even watch most of the Pops special now but I blame the decline on moving from A&E to CBS. I'm not sure what the hell has happened with the Capitol Fourth. I watched a Memorial Day special on PBS and it was infinitely superior.

Cabaret was a bizarre song choise, but a song from Chicago might have been even worse. Bebe N did look really good though. Her legs are a mile long. :C)

I was really disappointed in this year's edition as well. I think Tony Danza was pretty terrible at the hosting as well. When Neuwirth came on to sing, I thought "Ah, finally, something to redeem this", and even she seemed off. Sadly, that was still probably the highlight for me.

The local broadcast of the Boston Pops from 8:30 to 10:00 was much better than what aired nationally on CBS from 10:00 onwards. It had wonderful performances by the children's choir, Blue Man Group, John Mellencamp and the orchestra itself.

John Mellencamp was only on the national broadcast.

I hate what they've done to the Pops show now, as well. It's too cut up. The local broadcast had waaaaaaaaaay too many commercial breaks. I was hoping that they actually played more than they showed because if I had sat out there all that time and that's all I saw I would be pissed. And I thought the musical selections were poor. While I liked the children's choir, why were they singing a song about Africa in another language on the Fourth of July? The tribute to the armed forces was lovely, but it was a celebration and Adagio to Strings was too slow and boring. They never introduced the guy that sang "America The Beautiful" at the end. The winner of the Pops Idol contest had a lovely voice and I've always liked that song, but again, *yawn*. It really bums me out.

I watched, but it was mostly bad. And what wasn't bad was just odd.

Hayden P is a very good actress - she's great on Heroes and I think deserves an Emmy nod. But as a singer ... have I mentioned she's a good actress? That Radio Disney shit she was singing was painful and I've heard better SSB renditions at my local minor league baseball stadium. She's only 17, so maybe she'll grow into her voice, but I don't think that's likely. Just because your parents think you can sing doesn't mean you should perform in front of millions.

Tony Danza actually makes me feel ashamed to be Italian. I swear it sounded at one point like he was doing a Rodney Dangerfield impression. And then there was the Wayne Newton impression that started the show. Seriously, who finds him entertaining?

Elliott Yamin was OK, but the backup dancers were completely unnecessary. He's singing a song about being with one girl forever, and he's dancing with four different (much taller) women? Huh?

Yolanda completely threw me off with "Jeremiah was a prophet". I understand what she's getting at - I think - but just like the rest of the show (and Bebe for that matter) it just seemed a bit out of place.

I'm not saying all the songs have to be patriotic, but at least put on a show that doesn't seem like a fake-Branson production.

RE: Tony Danza, my dad and I were watching, and different members of the family walked in and said, at different times:
"What's with his hair?"
"Jeez, get a shave!" and
"What is he wearing?"
And, I didn't grasp any of the performances, except just the orchestra during the fireworks.

Is that right, ScarletPrincess? I thought his first song was during the local broadcast (it was preceded by a brief interview with one of the local newscasters) and that they brought him back for R.O.C.K. in the USA after Ferguson took over. You're right that the show had a lot of commercials, but I was watching in lagged-time with TiVo so that didn't bother me. I liked the musical selections, so different strokes. ;-)

I agree that the Memorial Day concert is superior, and always well done. What's wrong with just Kunzel and the orchestra playing great works of American music,Gershwin, etc, and SINGERS singing patriotic songs by, say, George M.Cohan, "Yankee Doodle Dandy", "Grand Old Flag", etc. Instead we got a poor man's American Idol. No offense to Elliott Yamin, who I like, but there's plenty of other venues for him to sing what he sang.
But still love the 1812 Overture.

To be honest, I don't usually watch the entire July 4th broadcast. This year we were hosting a relative from overseas, so we watched it with her. But I'm fairly sure the entire concert has been on local Boston TV for years.

However, for ages now, the fireworks display itself has been set to recorded music (I first saw it live in 1996 and it was done that way then). My understanding is that everything is synchronized by computer, as most big fireworks shows are. As a bonus, this allows the musicians to watch the spectacle after finishing their performance.

The 1812 Overture came relatively late in the program, but was not the last piece the orchestra played.

Late to the party here but wanted to say that this year - it sucked. I too wondered what half the performers were doing there and what they had to do with the 4th of July.

It is also increasingly annoying that even as the fireworks are continuing they start to roll the credits.

As someone who remembers when it was the Beach Boys on The Mall - this overblown poor excuse for a "show" is really awful.

bump

Huey Lewis sounds exactly the same as he did 20 years ago.

Does Taylor Hicks ever change his tone of voice when he sings? He plowed through three very different songs like he couldn't wait to leave. At least he went into the audience, which was nice of him and different than usual.

I wonder whatever happened to Barry Bostwick. Jimmy Smits is pleasant enough, but there doesn't seem to be much there there.

After all that smarminess (albeit well-sung smarminess) from Brian Stokes Mitchell, that girl who sang Shenendoah was a real breath of fresh air.