Ok, so rumors have been flying for months all over the blogosphere about Stephen Colbert possibly hosting the Grammy Awards this weekend. However, the only place the information could be found, and the origin of the rumor as far as I can tell, is this Wikipedia entry: Grammy Awards of 2007
Sharilyn tipped me off to a blog post in the Palm Beach Post. Post writer Leslie Gray Streeter blogged today that she was able to verify through a CBS spokesperson that Colbert is NOT hosting the Grammy awards. She states:
There’s been some Internet buzz that Stephen Colbert, fresh from his feud with The Decemberists, was hosting Sunday’s Grammy awards. That’s not so, says a CBS publicist I just spoke to. In fact, “nobody is hosting the Grammys,” she confirms. She also says she’s aware of the rumors and “that’s not gonna happen.”
After personally calling the same spokesperson, I feel confident in saying that the rumors of Colbert’s hosting have been greatly exaggerated.
One word, kids: Wikiality.
The relevant authorities also said that there was no such thing as Stephen Ice Cream. And now we know there is. I’m not too sure about trusting the word of the person who is paid by the network that is airing the Grammys. She’s saying what the Grammys want people to be told. They naturally do not want their big announcement, if there is one, “scooped.” Although I personally think the Grammys are an awful venue for him. But yes, I’d watch the entire ridiculous spectacle.
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To answer your points:
1) The relevant parties at Ben & Jerry’s coyly mentiontioned that they could neither confirm nor deny the existance of said ice cream. They never completely denied it and said they would “contact me in mid-April” if there was any more information. And, I said from the beginning that this was a tip and not a reported fact of news. It did turn out to be a good lead, being confirmed by a Ben & Jerry’s spokesperson that they most probably had a flavor in development.
2) If Colbert was going to be on the show, they’d use it as advertisement for the show, not use him as a “surprise guest.” The spokesperson I spoke to stated there is NO host. To me, and to the Post, that is validation enough that Colbert is not hosting the Grammy Awards.
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You are right, I’m sure – for one thing I think he’d be out there already. And secondly, CBS would be fools not to advertise it. What possible good does it do for them to keep it a secret? They can only lose ratings by not publicizing it. Although I think “no host” is kinda weird. But it’s Viacom, so it’s not surprising. (Yep, I really really am down on Viacom lately.)
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Meow House – a number of music awards shows have gone without hosts in recent years. The Billboard Awards have done it. The Grammys themselves did it in ’03 (presumably to cleanse themselves after Jon exposed himself). This isn’t anything new, and it’s certainly not worth creating a conspiracy theory over.
There are plenty of valid media issues that could use that kind of attention right now {cough}YOUTUBE{*ahem*}.
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The Golden Globes NEVER have a host. So it’s not out of the question. I too am glad that he won’t be hosting the show. As much as I would have liked to have seen him, I doubt that the crowd would have “gotten” him.
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“Not gonna happen..?” I don’t know if I like that spokesperson’s tone. I mean, yeah, it’s not gonna happen this year, but that sounds as if they would refuse to have him host any year. I think I’m one of the only people who think he would be a tremendous Grammies host. He’d be just as good as Jon was, plus, he can sing and dance, so he’s a triple treat host. But, whatever. Not gonna happen…
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@murry:
When I spoke to the CBS contact, the attitude wasn’t rude or dismissive, it was more trying to clarify that the rumors about Colbert hositing the awards THIS YEAR were not true. They weren’t rude about it at all. It was more like they had answered the question a dozen times and wanted to make sure I understood the answer.
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Of course, Stephen Colbert will be at the Grammy Award Show–
even if only in spirit! All those love songs are all about Stephen!
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