Students rehearse for the annual Cultural Rhythms show to be held this Saturday. This year's host will be Blair Underwood, who will be honored as the 2002 Artist of the Year.

Relatively unknown actor Blair Underwood will be honored as the 2002 Artist of the Year at the 17th annual Cultural Rhythms festival Saturday, the Harvard Foundation announced yesterday.

Since past years’ honorees have included Jackie Chan, Will Smith, Halle Berry and Matt Damon, Class of 1992, this year’s choice provoked puzzlement among students.

“Blair who? Underwood? Who’s he?” asked Hasani K. Baharanyi ’04, who bought tickets to Saturday’s event.

In a press release yesterday, S. Allen Counter, the director of the Harvard Foundation for Race and Intercultural Relations, called Underwood “one of the most brilliant actors in Hollywood today” and said he would be an excellent role model for students of all backgrounds.

“In addition to his outstanding work as an actor and director, he has advocated for persons with disabilities and has supported parenting initiatives nationally,” Counter said.

Cultural Rhythms is the Foundation’s annual flagship event and features music, dances and other performances by student groups. Tickets for the first show, traditionally hosted by the artist, sold out within two days of going on sale amid rumors that Jennifer Lopez or Salma Hayek would be hosting the event.

The honoree is selected by Counter, who asks various student cultural groups to nominate candidates, according to the show’s Co-Director Ada J. Maxwell ’02.

“Salma Hayek and Lauryn Hill were also considered for the award, but it often comes down to who can make the event,” she said.

Later, Maxwell clarified that Underwood was not a last resort, but a “very deserving candidate” who had made important contributions to race relations and the performing arts—important factors in choosing an honoree.

“Blair Underwood was extremely popular among the student groups,” she said.

Maxwell said she did not think that the lower-profile Underwood would prove less of a draw than previous celebrity hosts.

“Cultural Rhythms is the biggest show on campus, and people will come anyway. Our mission is to give exposure to different races and people shouldn’t lose faith over that,” she said.

But several students expressed disappointment with his selection.

“The name is familiar, but I have no idea who [Underwood] is. I obviously would have liked to see someone like Jackie Chan or Halle Berry, but really, it doesn’t make much diffeence,” said Matthew A. Hallanger ’02-’03, who had bought tickets to the first show.

Gina T. Waight ’04 echoed his sentiments: “I was going for the performance anyway because my friends are in it. I heard it was going to be Lenny Kravitz or Shakira when I bought the tickets and was very excited, but it doesn’t really matter.”

Underwood was unavailable for comment over how he felt about wining the award. His publicist did not return repeated phone calls yesterday.

The honoree made his feature film debut with Mystic Pizza in 1988 and recieved a Golden Globe nomination for his performance as a brilliant young lawyer in the TV series “L.A. Law.” He went on to star in the briefly-lived police drama “High Incident.”

Underwood will star opposite Julia Roberts in Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming film Full Frontal. He has also appeared in films like Gattica, Deep Impact and Just Cause.

Tickets for the first show on Saturday are sold out, but the free tickets for the second show are still available. The first show is at 3 p.m. and the second, also in Sanders Theatre, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

—Staff writer Ravi Agrawal can be reached at agrawal@fas.harvard.edu.