The 2008 recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime achievements are: music and screen icon Barbra Streisand, Academy Award winner Morgan Freeman, Grammy-winning country singer George Jones, choreographer Twyla Tharp and living rock legends Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey of The Who.

The Kennedy Center ceremony, one of the few red-carpet events that take place in Washington, is at its 31st edition. On Saturday, the honors recipients attended a dinner hosted by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the State Department.

The event included a gala at the John F. Kennedy Center. Artists such as B.B. King and actor Denzel Washington appeared on stage.

The Kennedy Center honors each year artists in the performing arts which have brought an important contribution to the United States culture. President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush attended the ceremony which bestows artists the highest national achievement in the performing arts.

The dinner was spiced by funny moments. One of the most memorable was Condoleezza Rice’s comment that Morgan Freeman is best known for roles in hit movies such as “Million Dollar Baby” and “Driving Miss Daisy,” but she liked him the most as the black U.S. president in the disaster movie “Deep Impact.”

The secretary of state joked that most people probably thought that a black U.S. president would probably happen when a comet would hit earth, but “wonder of wonders, fiction has become true.” She referred, of course, to United States President Elect Barack Obama.

Singer Barbara Streisand, a vocal critic of President Bush, did not miss the opportunity and said that she wouldn’t have minded waiting another year to receive the Kennedy Center honor so President Obama would watch her from the balcony.

“Would have been nice,” she added. “I’m just glad he’s in.”