Multi-award winner and former The Daily Show personality, Trevor Noah is set to host the prestigious GRAMMY awards for the third time in a row. In a recent interview with Billboard magazine, the comedian recalls his hosting experience during the pandemic and gives a sneak peek of what happens behind the scenes.
Noah admits that the show is like “a cheat code because I’m a fan of almost all the people who are there. It has also been interesting because of the journey. The first one was [during] COVID-19, and it was a completely different way to make the show. And then the next one was in Las Vegas because of the restrictions [in Los Angeles], and that was a different type of show. Now it’s exciting [because] it’ll be the first one for me back in L.A. — that’s hopefully not just normal, but different for the right reasons.”
The Emmy-winning comedian also confesses that he had some hesitations when approached by the Recording Academy for the first time, because of the pandemic and restrictions, “You’re wondering what and how it will be, but no, because I love working with Ben Winston. The entire team makes it easy to have as few inhibitions as possible about hosting. I don’t ever want to do something reflexively and then have it be half-hearted. I always think, “That sounds like something I’d want to do, but let me think about it. What would I bring to it? What can I add?” It’s an obvious yes, but I always take a moment regardless.”
Concerning what goes on behind the scenes, Noah says, “Sometimes [producers] don’t know where the artist is, or someone went to the bathroom at the wrong time. It’s just the craziest, unluckiest thing that will happen to you, and 99 times out of 100, it doesn’t happen. But when it does, everybody needs to breathe and keep everything aimed in the right direction. We always plan for the worst and hope for the best.”
The actor doesn’t forget to praise executive producer Ben Winston, “I’m really lucky that he creates an environment where you don’t work for him, you work with him. That’s what makes it so much fun. We’re always thinking of new ideas, coming up with different moments — him proposing the genesis of the idea and then me figuring out how to take it somewhere else or [vice versa]. I am lucky that there are some moments where I go, “This was a seed that germinated in my head, and we grew it into something that ended up being on the show.”
The 65th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on February 5, 2023.
