This is a wonderful recap of the show - I felt like I was there. Thank you, Betsy!
July 11, 2009 1:42 AM

Anonymous said...

Thank you for taking the trouble to review the show. It was So Good So Good!
July 11, 2009 3:02 AM

Betsy Hijazi said...

Thanks for the comments! It certainly wasn't any trouble! I had a fabulous time and hope that others, like you, are able to enjoy the experience through me!
July 11, 2009 3:04 AM

Anonymous said...

Thank you Betsy, for capturing that wonderful night. I, too was there, and it was an amazing experience. I am a huge Neil Diamond fan, and have always watched the Pops celebration of The 4th. on TV, from my home in NH. Finally...the two came together for a night I'll never forget. Thank you for your words, photos, and videos.
July 11, 2009 7:55 AM

Anonymous said...

Well, there are also plenty out there who saw the show televised and were not impressed. The Boston Pops themselves are great, the fireworks looked great. Neil Diamond? He didn't know when to give up singing(?)( more like yelling,) and just stick to songwriting......
July 11, 2009 10:44 AM

Anonymous said...

Betsy, great article....Boston Pops spectacular, fireworks spectacular.
Neil Diamond....thumbs down....
TOO MUCH YELLING....as usual.
Were others there also, who were disappointed with parts of the evening, but not the Pops.
July 11, 2009 11:09 AM

Betsy Hijazi said...

For me, I appreciated that he gave a great performance. Neil is nearly 70 and his voice is undoubtedly not as great as it was 20 years ago. But he is a great showman, he interacted with the audience more than most artists, and he did sound good. I was entertained and can't say anything bad about the night. If there was any disappointment, I would say I wish he had sung different songs for the first half, and more songs, and the fireworks seemed a little less amazing than in years past. That said, it was a fabulous night and I loved it all!
July 11, 2009 11:17 AM

Anonymous said...

Well Betsy, then you probably did not see it televised...you could plainly hear his shouts very well thru the televidsion audio.... There were a lot of artists to represent the country who could have blown N.D, off the stage...then every aspect of the evening could have been spectacular....
July 12, 2009 8:58 AM

cindy said...

I was there:) and Betsy, do you know what is the song that was played when the fireworks first started?
July 12, 2009 2:18 PM

Betsy Hijazi said...

Cindy - according to the program guide, the first song was the "Title Theme" to the "Air Force One Soundtrack", recorded by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.
July 12, 2009 2:31 PM