Trevor Noah had a special guest on his Spotify podcast Now what? With Trevor Noah on Thursday (February 8) – Ben Winston, who was one of the executive producers of the Grammy telecast on Sunday, February 4 (along with Raj Kapoor and Jesse Collins).
Noah, who has hosted the show for the past four years and this year was also credited as a producer, opened by saying “Can I tell you there are few concerts I've done in my life that are more stressful than the Grammys? It's exciting, it's fun, but … it's very stressful.”
Winston agreed. “I worked on this show for about four months and then the last three or four weeks it gets intense and then the last few days it's even more intense and then the last hour before the show is like the worst because then everything you planned here and one year they fall apart because the artists don't show up… I've been running the Grammys for four years. In the last two years, half an hour before we go live, I would say without a doubt that they are the two most stressful half hours of my life. Just the things that come and how it feels like you're sinking into a ship that you've been building for months.”
One of the major stressors was a number of top stars arriving late for the 5:00pm start time. PT, the result of a combination of factors – always heavy LA traffic exacerbated by a storm the day of the show, tight security and protests near Crypto. com Arena where the show was taped, which blocked traffic.
Trevor asked Winston if a story he had heard was true – that Mariah Carey, who was to present the first prize, pulled up in a golf cart to get to the show on time.
“That's 100 percent real,” Winston said. He recalled that at 4:48, none of the original three presenters (Carey, Christina Aguilera and Kacey Musgraves) were in the building. “It was an absolute nightmare. So Patrick Mendon, the show's head of talent and co-executive producer, put a guy in a golf cart – that's God's honest truth – to drive the wrong way. [freeway] on the hard shoulder, drove over a mile, got Mariah out of her SUV, stuck umbrellas on either side of him to keep him from getting soaked [and got her there].”
Winston contacted Noah through an earpiece worn by the host during the telecast. “I try not to stress you out because I'm in your ears all the time. Gotta give him props here. Trevor is incredible at getting information live in your ear. I slowed you down because Mariah wasn't ready yet. [As soon as] they said “Maria is ready”, you went “Time for our first prize”.
Noah and Winston also discussed Jay-Z calling out Grammy voters for repeatedly denying his wife Beyoncé the album of the year award. Jay's remarks were unexpected, but both men defended his right to say what he said.
The podcast played an excerpt of Jay's remarks: “Think about it: the album of the year with the most Grammys, that never won. This doesn't work. Some of you will go home tonight feeling like you've been robbed. Some of you may get robbed. Some of you don't belong in the category. When I'm nervous, I tell the truth.”
“I will tell you this much. I didn't expect that,” Noah said, likening it to the moment in 2005 when Kanye West went off script on his Hurricane Katrina telethon and said “George Bush doesn't care about black people.” Noah said when Jay made his surprise comments: 'I felt a bit like Mike Myers' [who was West’s shocked co-presenter on that telethon].
Noah set the scene: “I just introduced Jay to Dr. Dre [Global Impact] Prize. I'm on stage. I stand to the side. I expect Jay-Z to come and give a speech and I expect it to be a speech like everybody gives a speech. very much, I love you all, good night.”
And then Jay stands up and begins his speech. There are times when I'm like, “Am I hearing that right?” because I'm behind and you can't really hear what exactly he did. … People laugh. It was almost like a roast meets an acceptance speech. I liked it, though, I'll say that. I like it when people are honest, I won't lie.”
Winston agreed. “I don't think it was as disrespectful to the Grammys as it was taken. He and his wife between them have won 60 [56, actually] Grammy as a couple. So he stood there as a real honored guy. Listen, I have nothing to do with the awards. I'm not even in the Academy. I can't vote. I'm doing the TV show with you Trevor. I've been doing it for the past four years.
“In the last four years, three out of four have appeared. The only thing they didn't come to was the one in Vegas [in 2022]. So, I think it matters to them. I think the Grammys and the Recording Academy matter to them as an institution. And any institution that matters to you, you want it done right and you care about that. I respect that. And I also say “fair play” at the Grammys because I said “speak what you feel.” He also gave him credit saying that the Black Music Collective has done a very good job. So yes, it feels that way Beyoncé should have won an album of the year…”
Noah interjected, “which, by the way, the second one.” Noah parodied West's infamous interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards and said: “Ben, I'll let you finish, but I think Beyoncé should have won for one of the greatest albums of all time.” . [an apparent reference to Lemonade, which lost to Adele’s 25].
Later in the conversation, Noah returned to the subject of the Jay-Z explosion. “I appreciate the moments when Jay-Z comes on stage and throws some spice into the pot. Man, thank you Jay-Z. If Jay-Z can't do it, who can? Maybe it will inspire more people to do it. That's life. It makes people interested. It gets us talking. It's entertainment.”
Both defended Swift, who has been criticized for not acknowledging Celine Dion, who presented her with album of the year.
“To be fair, she was thrilled to have just won album of the year,” Winston said. “I don't think he meant any disrespect in any way. I think she was just excited.”
Noah agreed. “In those moments, speaking from experience, humbly, you kill a little bit when it's like an important moment.”
Noah may have been referring to the moment on Jan. 15 when he won a Primetime Emmy as executive producer and host of The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, which was voted Outstanding Speech Series. For his part, Winston has won at least one Primetime Emmy in each of the past eight years. He won last month as its executive producer Elton John Farewell to Dodger Stadiumwhich was voted excellent variety special (live).
Winston asked Noah if he was worried when he started his monologue that so few of the people mentioned in the monologue were still in the room.
“Live TV is live,” Noah said. “… Right now in particular, you're going to do something in a room where people haven't been in yet, but you're talking about them and for them and they're not there. I literally scan the room praying to see anyone, anyone, anyone in their seats. So you look around and you're like, “Oh, thank God, there's Ed Sheeran, there's 21 Savage.”
“Like when Meryl Streep came on… First of all, it's Meryl Streep. He didn't need to run because he was late. He ran inside. He apologized for being late in a very nice, respectful, human way.. At that moment I said, “Okay, everything will be fine and thank you Jesus. I think we're doing to overcome this thing.”
Winston credited Noah for being willing to do his opening monologue in public, among the celebrity guests. “Most of the time with comedians at the beginning of the show, they're on stage, they're safe, they've got their manager. We literally stick you in between them, for two reasons. First, I think it's a much more interesting watch. You walk in the room you show who is in the room. The second reason is… [we’ve] he had to clear that stage for the next artist. We have no room for you on this stage.''
“I love it and I hate it,” Noah said, making his opening jokes while standing in the audience. “I like it from a producer's point of view. I understand why you wanted to do it and I enjoy that element of it. As a performer, it's a mess… I won't lie to you. It's scary, but I'm enjoying it.”
Winston concluded the podcast by explaining his role as one of the executive producers of the Grammys.
“My job I think is to schedule this show to do my best to make sure I have something for everybody, whether you're Aunt Margaret in Alabama or the Cool Kid in New York, there's something for you. You only get one viewing figure [good rating] for a Burna Boy if you follow it with a Billy Joel. So you have to find that balance so that you can get the audience for these new artists, get people excited about Victoria Monét, Burna Boy, because they're watching these others that they came for.”
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/trevor-noah-ben-winston-2024-grammys-stories-host-executive-producer-1235603636/
