[Balurina]

Just saw this up on yahoo, might prove interesting to see what they do for ALW

Spielberg, Dolly Top Kennedy Honors By Gina Serpe
Wed Sep 6, 5:38 PM ET



Steven Spielberg is about to have a close encounter of the presidential kind.


The heavily-lauded director will be adding one more laurel to his crown this December, as one of the five honorees set to receive the 2006 Kennedy Center Honors.


The Oscar winner will be joined at the stately ceremony by four fellow creative minds deemed worthy of the nation's most prestigious award honoring the performing arts.


This year, Grammy winner and country music institution Dolly Parton, Broadway uber-producer Andrew Lloyd Webber, veteran songwriter Smokey Robinson and conductor Zubin Mehta join Spielberg on the dais.


"This year, we honor five extraordinary international artists whose abundant contributions to their fields are remarkable," Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman said. "They have transformed the culture of our country and of the world."


Per tradition, the cultural artistes will pick up their honors at a State Department dinner hosted by Condoleeza Rice on Dec. 2, to be followed the next day by a meet-and-greet with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush at the White House. Finally, the entire weekend is capped off with a star-studded gala celebration at the awards' namesake John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.


This year's recipients were nominated and selected by the Center's Board of Trustees, as well as a committee of fellow artists, including Meryl Streep, Adrien Brody, James Brown and Bob Dylan.


Here's a look at this year's recipients:

Steven Spielberg: Long acknowledged as one of the most influential figures in Hollywood, the director of Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan and E.T. has been nominated for six Academy Awards and won four of them over the course of his nearly four-decade career. The 49-year-old auteur is credited with starting the tradition of the summer blockbuster with his 1975 megahit Jaws, and has frequently been cited as the most financially successful motion picture director of all time.



Dolly Parton: The career of the iconic country music star has spanned more than four decades, yielded nearly 60 albums and earned the bosomy southern twanger five Grammy Awards. The "9 to 5," "Coat of Many Colors" and original "I Will Always Love You" singer spawned her own commercially successful theme park, Dollywood, in Tennessee and has parlayed her fame to the big screen with roles in Steel Magnolias and 9 to 5. The 60-year-old is widely credited for popularizing county music in the global arena.



Smokey Robinson: The 66-year-old soul singer was at the forefront of the Motown movement, logging several hits, including "Got a Job," "Shop Around" and "Tears of a Clown" in the 1960-70s as the frontman for the Miracles. "You Really Got a Hold On Me" solidified his status as a romantic crooner, and the Grammy winner went on to become a prolific producer and songwriter, penning the Temptations' hit "My Girl" and Mary Wells' "My Guy."



Andrew Lloyd Webber: The 58-year-old music man is unparalleled in composing and producing for the Broadway stage, having created countless household name musicals, including Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The British-born knight is a multiple Tony and Oscar winner took home the Academy Award for Best Song in 1997, thanks to Madonna's Evita-channeling rendition of "You Must Love Me."



Zubin Mehta: The 70-year-old Indian-born classical composer kicked off his career in the 1960s conducting the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics, and has since served as Musical Director of the Montreal Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, leading the latter for 13 years, marking the longest tenure by a maestro in the position.

CBS will tape this year's ceremony as a two-hour primetime special set to air in late December.