New England's own patriotic holiday tradition, the "Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular," will air on network television for the first time as CBS broadcasts the concert live (9 p.m. Friday on Channel 4). Country singer LeAnn Rimes and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir will perform. Harry Smith, anchor of the CBS News "Early Show," is the host.
"The great thing about the July Fourth concert is that we reach our broadest demographic of any time of the year," said Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops. "If the Boston Pops is America's orchestra, then the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is America's chorus. With a choir of that massiveness singing 'Battle Hymn of the Republic,' and LeAnn singing her new song 'We Can' from 'Legally Blonde 2,' we're offering something for everybody."