In many ways, “Daily Show” star Trevor Noah has been the most challenged Grammy Awards host in history: Last year he emceed the first-ever pandemic show, which featured the traditional awards and somewhat traditional performances, but in a semi-outdoor setting before a small, rotating audience of artists, presenters and staff. This year it’s a more-normal show, although it’s been rescheduled to Sunday from its original Jan. 31 date and moved to Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, with multiple changes along the way.
There’s also the matter of an online dust-up between Kanye West and Noah that led to the former calling the latter a slur on social media, to which Noah responded with a thoughtful and conciliatory — but since deleted — post. The incident played at least some role in the Grammys disinviting West, a move that Noah publicly objected to: “I said to counsel Kanye not cancel Kanye,” he tweeted. (Through a rep, he declined to discuss the incident with Variety.) In the past few days, Foo Fighters canceled their scheduled appearance on the show due to the tragic and untimely death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, and Will Smith changed awards shows forever by walking onstage and slapping Chris Rock during the Oscars.
So no pressure! But in an interview earlier this month, Noah was upbeat and optimistic about hosting the Grammys for a second time — and noted that it’s actually a format he worked in for many years in his home country of South Africa, long before he ever hosted the show for which he is best known.
“I actually didn’t have to adjust to [hosting the Grammys] because I’d hosted the music awards in South Africa and a few others, so interestingly enough, I actually had to adjust to hosting ‘The Daily Show,’” he says. “So if anything, it was me just dusting off the old awards-show bones and getting back into the rhythm of hosting that type of way.”
Those years of experience are likely to serve him well on Sunday night.
How do you feel last year’s show went?
That’s an interesting question. There are two parts to doing my job — one part is doing the job and the other part is then seeing how people respond to the job that you’ve done, although in this case it was difficult to have a sense of that because there was no live audience. It was a Grammys like no other, it was a really complicated affair, it was the brainchild of [executive producer] Ben Winston and I think he did a fantastic job — but it was really a coming together of many ideas, so I was just happy that I didn’t screw the thing up and it went according to plan. I guess I felt good enough to do it again!
Have you watched it again?
No, I don’t do that because I cannot change anything. What I try to do is rely on the director and the showrunner to tell me what they need of me, as opposed to me trying to think of what I need of myself. If I’m doing standup, I’m performing for the audience — I’m not performing for me, if that makes sense. So what I’m trying to do is what’s correct for the show, the audience, my bosses, the director etc. I’m a tool and I’m trying to be used effectively on that stage.
There’s our headline: “I am a tool, says Trevor Noah” (laughter). That’s an interesting perspective, because musicians often say, “I make music for myself, and if other people like it that’s great,” but what you do is processed so differently.
Yeah, I think the difference fundamentally between comedy and music is that music can exist in a vacuum — you know, it can just play. You can listen by yourself, or I’ve been in many bars or restaurants where no one’s really paying the musicians attention, but the music is still doing its job and you still can be enjoying it, you know? Music can be both the focal point and it can be ambience; comedy cannot. You can never have a comedian telling jokes in the background while you’re having a romantic dinner.
There is no…
Read More: Trevor Noah Talks Hosting the Grammys, and Loving BTS and Silk Sonic