[applause] [applause]

that is the way you make an entrance, right? [applause] well, mayor lee, mrs. lee, and honored guests, for 50 years, the sounds of tony bennett and his rendition of "i left my heart in san francisco" has said to the world that this city by the bay is the capital of love, beauty, and a unique style that made it one of the plan its tourist destinations. mr. bennett, your voice is the voice of san francisco, and this is your day. [applause]

we have a fantastic program for you today. we have some local singers inspired by mr. bennett's career, and they will pay tribute to mr. bennett in song. tony bennett, your dedication to young people is known through countless projects such as your exploring the arts foundation and your founding of the frank sinatra school for the arts. you have proved to be a timeless link between artistic generations. and, of course, your inspiration continues with such incredible and wonderful projects as your recent "duets ii" cd. i have a copy. anybody else? [applause] and check this out, mr. bennett picked up two grammy awards sunday night for that album. [applause] so we congratulate you on that. i believe if you are scoring at home, that makes it 17 grammys

in his career. [applause] what we love -- well, we love the cd, but today, we have gone one step further. not just a duet, but an extraordinary trio. i'm pleased to present this trio, performing for the first time together, young people from the choir of the san francisco school of the arts, the san francisco boys chorus, and the san francisco girls chorus, take it away. [applause] ♪ >> ♪ the loveliness of paris

seems somehow sadly gay the glory that was rome is of another day i've been terribly alone and forgotten in manhattan i'm going home to my city by the bay i left my heart [applause] in san francisco high on a hill it calls to me

to be where little cable cars climb halfway to the stars the morning fog may chilly air -- chill the air i don't care my love waits there in san francisco of of -- above the blue and windy sea when i come home to you san francisco your golden sun will shine for

me ♪ [applause] >> that was great, right? fabulous performance by those young people. what an honor it must be for those children to perform for mr. tony bennett today, paying tribute to his great legacy. something they will never forget, i'm sure. we have many others who wanted to pay tribute to you, mr. bennett, an expression of their love for you and for san

francisco. i like to read to you just such an expression. this is a letter inspired by you and your song, the winning entry in the love letter to san francisco contest, sponsored by sf travel. if i may -- "dear sf -- can i call you sf? i remember the first time i was in your presence. age nine. even on your surface, you enchanted me and i never quite recovered. i did not truly fall in love until i spent my 22nd birthday with you. i explore the depths of chinatown. i toured the rock and froze my but off at a giants game in june. i was hooked. unfortunately, i had plans. plans with that boy in missouri, but how i was wrong to leave you. when i found out he was cheating, i ran to you and you took me in without asking questions. i packed my bags and never

looked back. every day, i love you more and more. you had made me the happiest girl in the world and given me a real love. i want to spend my life with you exploring every corner and the depths of your soul. i cannot imagine being with any other city. thank you for saving my life. you truly did. sign your is, until the big one kills us all" -- [laughter] "andy." andy is with us, too. andy lives in the haight. right there. thank you for your love letter to the city. now, i believe we are ready to take a trip down memory lane and check out some of those san francisco landmark that you have made famous, mr. bennett, with

your incredible voice and visit some of your longtime friends who also want to pay tribute to you today. >> dear tony, we are here to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the recording of your song and our son, -- song, "i left my heart in san francisco." what better place to be then the fairmont hotel in san francisco where you first sang your song, our song, in the venetian room? i'm going to meet you in places where you have helped us celebrate the city by the bay, so follow me down memory lane. >> ♪ going home to my city by the bay ♪ >> toni, you have been an

integral part of my life, and i get emotional because it was a wonderfully happy time. so i want to thank you. >> hello. you are at the home of the little cable cars that climb halfway to the stars. you know that line, don't you? you remember when we had the celebration to bring back the cable cars in union square and all over town, and you were there. and here is our pal, a bell ringer of the cable cars for 10 years, and he was there on that day, so what happened? >> i had the honor and privilege of meeting mr. bennett. he wrote on my car with me, and we've run down the high-speed hill with the turnarounds, and he sang a few lines of "i left my heart." >> that song?

>> yes, and i just wanted to tell him thank-you for all he has done for this city. >> tony bennett, a household word in san francisco, and for me, all the years i have lived in this city, tony bennett has been like the next door neighbor. wherever i am, whether it is paris, whether it is wrong, whether it is nice, whether it is beijing -- whether it is rome, whether it is shanghai, whether it is some place in africa or some place in russia. if i say, ♪ i left my heart ♪ they immediately say tony and them. that means the national anthem for san francisco and literally for america have come from this extraordinarily talented human

being. >> ♪ i left my heart in san francisco ♪ >> ok, here we are down memory lane. we are at the at&t park, home of the san francisco giants. as you know, we sing your song after every win of the giants, so we have been sitting here a lot. you were here in 2011 for the opening, and you sang your song, and guess what? we won the world series. so, tony, we want you back. [applause] >> tony bennett has said his song "i left my heart in san francisco" changed his whole life. well, it has affected our lives as well. from the first time tony sang this beautiful love song to every time we hear it sweet

sounds after a winning giants game, it deepens our love for our home town and for tony bennett. >> ♪ above the blue >> here we are above the blue and windy city been -- sea in your city by the bay. remember 25 years ago, you were to come here and sing with the san francisco symphony for the 50th anniversary of the golden gate bridge -- you were before me at the theater, and you may remember that this place was really filled with people, thousands and thousands of people that came to celebrate. and you could not get through the crowd. so i said, cassette and ok, let's get a helicopter land it in front of city hall -- "ok, let's get a helicopter, led it in front of city hall." they said you were afraid of

helicopters, and i said to blindfold you. magically, you got here and sang your song. when you sang "i left my heart in san francisco" and the cascade of fireworks came over the bridge, it was a moment -- i'm getting chill bumps -- it was a moment to remember. >> i wish i were still mayor of san francisco to be able to be the one that gives you the key to the city, but what i can show you is a painting that goes a ways back. it was in 1983, i think. both of us on a newly restored cable car, and celebrating the return of the cable cars and also "i left my heart in san francisco." you have helped put san francisco on the map and kept it there with that beautiful song. thank you and congratulations.

>> ♪ in san francisco >> i guess you recognize where i am. you left your heart and lots of memories for thousands and thousands of patrons for the san francisco symphony. most recently, you were here with k.d. lang and you all were having the best time. it was for the black and white ball, and you made us have a wonderful time, as you always have. what i really remember is when you were here, sitting right up there was her royal majesty queen elizabeth of england. you made her smile. you made her laugh. the show was by beach blanket babylon and cast of about 1000. mary margaret sanger "getting to

know all about you" and you ended the show with your song, "i left my heart in san francisco." you have left it here, but please come back many times because your heart is waiting for you here, and so are we. much love. thank you. >> thank you. >> it has been the height of my career to welcome you here. >> so nice to have you with us again. >> ♪ your golden sun will shine for me ♪ [applause] >> 50 years of "i left my heart

in san francisco." phenomenal. lot of san franciscans have left a big part of their hearts with you, and one of those is the man who leads our world champion san francisco giants. that is championships' problem -- championship bling right there. i want to bring up to the stage now my boss, the man who leads your san francisco giants, and your biggest fan, mr. larry bvaer -- baer. >>thanks renel. tony's recording is a huge part of not just the city tradition but the san francisco giants

tradition. since we have been in the new ball park, it has been played a total of 573 times after giants wins, including playoff wins and including world series wins. [applause] importantly, you know, we almost lost the giants. in 1993, we made some desperate calls to tony when the team was saved, and we asked tony -- there is only one person that could kick off the new generation, the new era of giants baseball on opening day in 1993, and that was tony bennett. he sang "god bless america" and "i left my heart in san francisco" on that date. it was an unbelievable day.

it brought down the house, as did your performance at the all- star game. as did your performance at the world series. you are a huge part of the san francisco giants. as we all know, you have not arrived until you have your own bobblehead. [laughter] last year, we created a created abobblehea -- a tony bennett bobblehead for tony bennett night. it has a voice chip, and when you push the head, it sings "i left my heart in san francisco." tony painted a heart, part of the heroes with hart's program, and it is permanently on display at union square. next time you are at union square, check it out. it is really quite beautiful. it is only fitting that on this 50th anniversary, we create a

permanent place in honor of tony at our ball park. we are going to rename suite 1, the most majestic in the park, sweeping views of the day and the city -- it is now going to be the tony bennett suite. come by for a visit. [applause] we love you, tony. [applause] >> thank you, larry. i have to find a way to make it down to that sweet this season -- suite this season. i think we know the most popular place to watch a giant game is going to be this city. our city is blessed with many wonderful one-of-a-kind institutions that are no less part of san francisco than the golden gate bridge, such as the world's longest-running musical revue, "beach blanket babylon."

yes. [applause] so we have a special treat for you today. "beach blanket babylon" together with mayor lee have created a special musical tribute to tony bennett in honor of all the things he has done to our city -- done for our city. i'm honored to present this to our friend, tony bennett. ♪ >> ♪ the fabulous tony bennett

home the world all seems to know sang a song about this town and it left our city of low -- aglow grammy awards, and the awards, and a kennedy nominate a star on hollywood and vine all to honor his legacy he's a painter his picasso he's got the class of fred astaire and today, we are gathered here to show you just how much we care you hold our hearts

in san francisco so many songs you've sung to me and the rags to riches what a sound and a man who sings never retire of san francisco i love your album "duets" both i and ii

for there is no one quite like you you are the heart of san francisco one of the greats we know it's true for when you graced us -- our town of san francisco our golden sun will shine on

new -- you ♪ [applause] mr. bennett. ♪ it only takes a tiny corner of this great big world to find a place that you love you have brought us so much joy you are a golden boy we love to have you here in our great towner of -- town of san

francisco open your golden gates san francisco here is your wondering words singing other places only make me love you better you are the heart of all the gold in the world san francisco welcome me home again i'm coming home ♪ [applause]

>> keep the applause going for the fabulous lisa malone. that was just terrific. [applause] i almost wore the same thing today. [laughter] would have been so awkward. [laughter] no, she was fantastic. now, everyone, without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome our host, the 43rd mayor of the city and county of san been cisco, the honorable edwin m. lee -- the 43rd mayor of the city and county of san francisco. [applause] mayor lee: wow, welcome to city

hall. and thank you, beach blanket babylon. what a wonderful performance. let's give her another hand. that was just fantastic. when i started being mayor of the city, i turned to our protocol officer and said, "you know, charlotte, we are going to do a lot of work this year, but these years forthcoming, as we work hard, i want to also have fun. isn't this fun? all right. [applause] this is our 50th anniversary of the wonderful song, "i left my heart in san francisco." tony, it is wonderful for you to be here and grace us and honor us with your presence. your 17 grammys are just so unprecedented. you just won two more this past week, and what a wonderful

career. congratulations, tony. i want to thank our school of the arts. i want to thank our boys and girls choruses. thank you. wonderful performances. it is a fitting tribute that our boys and girls choruses and ouryouth -- our yout are here today to perform because they reflect tony's dedicated career to ensure the future of arts education. we have seen what he has done and seen what his support is, and he is encouraging youth to be leaders on and off the stage, to make sure they grow up with the values and the shared values that he has. this is such a wonderful opportunity. i also want to thank some of the school kids