Former Miss America Vanessa Williams to host Fourth of July celebrations in US

New Delhi: For the Capitol Fourth celebrations on July 4, 2021, actress and former Miss America Vanessa Williams will be taking charge as the host and will also be performing the song 'Lift Every Voice and Sing' to honour Juneteenth (June 19), a newly declared national holiday in the US celebrating the emancipation of African-Americans from slavery.

 In an interview with The Associated Press (AP), she expressed that the Fourth of July celebration will be a great way to commemorate Juneteenth. “It’s in celebration of the wonderful opportunity that we now have to celebrate Juneteenth. So we are reflective of the times,” she said.

For the unversed, the Capitol Fourth celebration is held every year in honour of America's Independence Day (July 4) and broadcasted on PBS. It is traditionally presented from the west lawn of the United States Capitol Building in Washington. This year the show will mark 41 glorious years on the air.

Due to COVD-19, the celebration will not be held live, as per Williams statement to the AP. She elaborated, "Performers will be remote in New York and California, Nashville, all over the place."

Williams, the first African-American woman to be crowned as Miss America, will be performing the song 'Lift Every Voice and Sing', a popular Black anthem.

Apart from her, artists such as Cynthia Erivo, Christopher Jackson, and Laura Osnes, Gladys Knight,  Alan Jackson, Jennifer Nettles, and the iconic Jimmy Buffett will also partake in the remote but lively celebration.

Interestingly, in the same interview, Williams revealed that astronauts from space will be giving special messages for the Fourth of July celebration, giving the event an 'out of the world' experience.