Boston Pops
Fireworks Spectacular
on CBS
By Julia Ertl
God Bless America! This year’s Independence Day
celebration on the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular (Sunday, July 4th
– of course! -- at 10:00 p.m. ET) was not only moving, but was also fun for the
whole family, and is a natural choice for the Best TV Show of the Week.
The Boston Pops Orchestra, under the direction of
conductor Keith Lockhart, opened the show at Boston’s Charles River Esplanade
with Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.” Host
Craig Ferguson warmly welcomed 900,000 spectators and presented the musical
collaboration of country superstar Toby Keith and the Boston Pops with the song
“How Do You Like Me Now?”
The enthusiastic crowd went wild when Craig reminded them
what they have fought for, and what they were celebrating that day: not only
America’s independence from Great Britain, but also “America’s freedom and
liberty.” A video highlighted Toby Keith’s four-country USO tour, during which
he not only greeted soldiers, but even played music with them. Toby then sang a
tribute to all the soldiers overseas – the beautiful song “An American Soldier.”
He concluded his performance with a special thanks to “the Air Force, Marines,
Army and Navy” for their service. Then Toby, conductor Lockhart, and the entire
Boston Pops orchestra led the audience in a rousing sing-along of patriotic
tunes.
But Toby Keith was far from the only guest performer.
During the fireworks finale, the Black Eyed Peas, Michael Bublé, Lady Gaga, and
Michael Bolton sang various songs; The Mormon Tabernacle Choir presented “You're
a Grand Old Flag;” and Celine Dion graced the audience with “God Bless America.”
And in addition to Independence Day itself, his performance marked two other
important anniversaries: the 100th year of Boston’s Esplanade, and
the 125th year of the Boston Pops Orchestra itself.
To understand the joy this holiday and the performance of
the music brings, one needed only to look at the members of the audience.
Children were starry-eyed with excitement; some soldiers in the audience sang
proudly, while others were moved to remember the loss of brave comrades,
fighting for the freedom which the date symbolizes for so many. But most of all,
the mood was pure joy: people everywhere singing, flags everywhere, and
fireworks bursting overhead.
In 1776, John Adams predicted the revelry which would
greet Independence Day in the future, when he wrote that it would be “celebrated
by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival…with pomp and
parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from
one end of this continent to the other.” Adams would be proud to see his
prediction come true, and so many Americans – in person, and via television –
celebrating the day. For enabling Americans across the country to participate in
the day’s celebration, the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular is the
Best TV Show of the Week.
Best TV Show
of the Week
The Parents
Television Council -
www.parentstv.org
