The Kennedy Center Honors offered its usual mix of celebrity surprises Sunday night during a star-studded performance that featured soaring soul music and Hollywood schmaltz, before ending with an old-fashioned rock-and-roll jam. The 37th annual event - hosted by comedian Stephen Colbert - honored singer Al Green, actor Tom Hanks, ballerina Patricia McBride, comedian/actress Lily Tomlin and pop star Sting. This year's celebration was infused with a shot of youth, thanks to appearances by such singers as Lady Gaga, Jennifer Hudson and Usher. As is tradition, the artists sat with the president and first lady and watched the evening unfold. But that and other traditions could change. Producer George Stevens Jr., who has been at the event's helm since 1978, told the audience that this will be his last event - after Kennedy Center officials told him they wanted to reinvigorate the show...

Night after night, as the lights go down in the Neil Simon Theatre and musicians on guitar and flute and fiddle begin to play, a multiple Grammy-winning international star settles into a seat in a back row and drinks in anew all the Broadway sights and sounds. It's the closest that a guy named Sting will ever get to the life of an average Manhattan commuter. "I watch it every day," says the 63-year-old singer-songwriter, still in possession of the sleek build of a rock sensation half his age. "I'm fascinated by the process and the actors making this story and the songs their own. I'm fascinated by the audience and how they react. I sit way in the back in the dark, sort of a phantom, and l leave before the lights go up."