Betty Buckley steals the show at Kennedy Center Honors

I happily admit it, I watch the Kennedy Center Honors every year. I love seeing entertainment legends get their due and the talent that comes out to pay tribute is always first-rate.
I watched an advance screener of the show last night (it will air on CBS on Dec. 26 at 9 p.m.) and I gotta say, the absolute highlight is Betty Buckley belting out "Memory" from "Cats" as part of the tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber who was honored this year along with Smokey Robinson, Dolly Parton and Steven Spielberg. Buckley's performance was spellbinding, astonishing and absolutely glorious. She was crying. Webber cried. Good God, I cried.
You. Must. See. It.
The mega-talented Buckley, a Tony winner for "Cats," was supposed to play the matriarch on ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" but was replaced by Sally Field after the pilot. I can't see anyone but Sally in the role of Nora Walker but no one but Betty Buckley could have achieved what was achieved on the Kennedy Center stage.
As for the other performances, you'll want to see Christine Ebersole's "As If We Never Said Goobdye" and Josh Grobin's "Music of the Night," both part of the Webber tribute. Smokey Robinson, so deserving of this honor, was feted by Aretha Franklin who I love no matter how heavy she gets, how outlandish her clothes or wacky her hair. When it's Aretha, you just sort of have to say, "You are the queen!" She called "Smokey her "oldest and dearest friend" but unfortunately she only sang a bit of "Natural Woman" acapella. The rest of the numbers, including one by the Temptatiions, just seemed a little flat to me - an absolute lover of Motown music.
The Dolly Parton segment, introduced and narrated by a classy Reese Witherspoon, was terrific with performances of several of Parton's songs by Carrie Underwood and a scary looking plastic-surgery-gone-wrong Kenny Rogers ("Islands in the Stream," a lovely "Jolene" by Allison Krauss, a just O.K. "Coat of Many Colors" by Shania Twain and a real to-be-treasured "I Will Always Love You" by Vince Gill. Apparently Jessica Simpson screwed up her performance of "9 to 5" so we don't see it or her which is just as well. She didn't belong on that stage with the caliber of talent assembled on that night.
The Parton segment made you really respect Dolly the artist as a top-notch songwriter and performer. She a lot more than boobs and hair. Her warmth and gratitude from where she was seated in the audience was projected so nicely down to the stage. She loved her tribute - you could tell.
If you're home eating leftover Christmas fudge, watch this show! If not, set the VCR (if you still have one) or TiVo. You'll know what I'm talking about.