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  Mel Brooks, Dave Brubeck, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro, and Bruce Springsteen receive the 2009 Kennedy Center Honors

Eminent artist friends and peers of this year's five honorees converged in Washington DC on Sunday, December 6 to present entertaining and heartfelt tributes at the 32nd annual Kennedy Center Honors, an entertainment special to be broadcast Tuesday, Dec. 29 on CBS with Caroline Kennedy as host for the seventh consecutive year. This marks the 32nd anniversary of this acclaimed special, which has been broadcast on CBS each year since its debut in 1978. This annual event recognizes recipients for their lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts in dance, music, theater, opera, motion pictures and television.

Performers and presenters included Roger Bart, Gary Beach, Jack Black, Matthew Broderick, Harry Connick Jr, Cory English, Simon Estes, Melissa Etheridge, Aretha Franklin, Angela Gheorghiu, Herbie Hancock, Ben Harper, Shuler Hensley, Harvey Keitel, Ron Kovic, Jane Krakowski, Richard Kind, Frank Langella, John Mellencamp, Matthew Morrison, Jennifer Nettles, Edward Norton, Carl Reiner, Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman, Martin Scorsese, Martin Short, Jon Stewart, Ben Stiller, Sting, Sharon Stone, Meryl Streep, and Eddie Vedder.

Mel Brooks Tribute : Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominated actor Frank Langella, who appeared in the Mel Brooks-directed movie The Twelve Chairs in 1970, introduced a rousing musical tribute to Brooks, playfully entitled "The Music of Mel," beginning with his own spoken word version of “Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst,” which he originally performed in the movie. He was followed by Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Martin Short, who starred in the successful Mel Brooks Broadway musical The Producers, performing a hilarious rendition of another Brooks classic, "He Rode a Blazing Saddle," from the 1974 movie Blazing Saddles. Next up was Golden Globe nominee Jack Black with "Men in Tights," from the Mel Brooks-directed 1993 movie Robin Hood: Men in Tights, followed by Grammy Award and Emmy Award-winning musician and actor Harry Connick, Jr. with "High Anxiety" from the 1977 movie of the same name. Connick, Jr. was followed by actor Richard Kind singing "The Inquisition" from the 1981 movie, History of the World Part 1. Then came a Broadway medley, with Tony Award-winner Jane Krakowski singing "When You Got It, Flaunt It," Tony Award-winner Roger Bart, Tony Award-winner Shuler Hensley and singer Cory English with "Together Again (For the First Time)," Tony Award nominee Matthew Morrison with "Springtime for Hitler," Tony Award-winner Gary Beach with "Heil Myself" and Tony Award-winner Matthew Broderick singing "I Wanna Be a Producer," and all of the performers concluding the thoroughly enjoyable performance with "Til Him."

The Kennedy Center