LITTLE ROCK — Monday is Memorial Day and that means tonight’s the night for the annual National Memorial Day Concert on PBS.
Now in its 23rd year, the concert is broadcast live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol before an audience of hundreds of thousands and to millions more at home and abroad.
AETN will air the live concert from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today, with an encore immediately following for those who can’t make the live curtain call.
The concert, hosted for the seventh time by Joe Mantegna and Gary Sinise, “honors the service and sacrifice of the men and women in uniform, their families at home and all those who have given their lives for our country.”
Mantegna and Sinise each volunteer much of their time to veterans’ causes.
As usual, the patriotic program will feature an all-star lineup in performance with the National Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductor Jack Everly.
Joining the hosts on stage will be retired Gen. Colin Powell; the rock band Daughtry; singer and songwriter Natalie Cole; country music singer Trace Adkins; tenor Russell Watson; and actors Selma Blair, Ellen Burstyn and Dennis Franz (a Vietnam veteran).
Featured from the services will be the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff; the U.S. Army Herald Trumpets; the U.S. Army Chorus; the Soldiers’ Chorus of The United States Army Field Band; U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters; and the U.S. Air Force Singing Sergeants.
As a special added treat, American Idol’s Jessica Sanchez is scheduled to sing the national anthem and “The Prayer.”
The actors will present stories of love and sacrifice submitted by viewers through the concert’s online “Virtual Wall of Remembrance.”
Featured stories will include a welcome home to the troops who have been serving in Iraq and Afghanistan;the poignant story of a young widow who lost her husband in Afghanistan; a segment profiling the efforts of veterans from all wars; and a closer look at the plight of homeless American veterans.
ABC SUMMER SCHEDULE
Baby boomers remember the day when you could turn your TV off at the end of May, turn it back on in the middle of September and not miss a thing.
Summertime used to be full of baseball games and reruns. Cable TV (abhorring a vacuum) eventually stepped into that void and the broadcast networks eventually felt compelled to throw some original stuff into the mix as well.
ABC kicked off its summer schedule with Duets and Rookie Blue on Thursday. Here are the dates for other new ABC programming.
June 3: Secret Millionaire, 7 p.m.; Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, 8 p.m.
The former follows 13 successful, rich people as they secretly spend a week among some poor people and then reveal themselves and give away hundreds of thousands of dollars of their money.
The latter returns for Season 2 and follows eight “super obese” folks for a year in their attempt to safely lose weight. There are eight stand-alone, two-hour episodes.
June 28: Wipeout, 8 p.m. More silliness as contestants run the gantlet, get smacked and fall into the water. Featured obstacles include the Panic Hammocks, Snakes on the Plain, Batter Up, the Hangover, Spin Psycho, the Comma-Kaze and Spinergy.
July 10: Trust Us With Your Life, 8 p.m.; Final Witness, 9 p.m.
The first show is a studio based improvisational series. Hosted by Fred Willard, its featured celebrities include David Hasselhoff, Ricky Gervais, Jerry Springer, Florence Henderson, Jack and Kelly Osbourne, Jane Seymour, Serena Williams and Mark Cuban.
They tell tales from their lives and comedian improvisers act them out. Comedians include Wayne Brady, Colin Mochrie and Jonathan Mangum.
Final Witness is a true crime reality series, a hybrid of documentary and drama. One case is examined in each of the seven episodes.
July 23: Bachelor Pad, 7 p.m. It’s Season 3 for the rejects from the Bachelor franchise to gather in the mansion for “a second chance at love.” Or another 15 minutes of fame.
For the first time, casting was opened to those who had not appeared on The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. Umm. Fresh meat!
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. E-mail: mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style, Pages 48 on 05/27/2012