Emmy celebrated its 60th birthday last night at the new NOKIA Theatre in Los Angeles. One major modification was made this year: As opposed to having one host, there were five. Each of the Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality Competition Program nominees, which consisted of Jeff Probst, Heidi Klum, Tom Bergeron, Howie Mandel and Ryan Seacrest, hosted in unison.
Oprah Winfrey came out on stage first, commencing the awards ceremony. Once the five hosts emerged, they informed audience members and viewers that they, literally, had no speech prepared. Howie Mandel said, “We’re five reality hosts, and we don’t even have a contestant,” on just how ill-equipped they were. Truthfully, the act was probably supposed to be cute, but came off as unprofessional. Unfortunately, the hosting abilities did not improve at all during the nights’ events. The five hosts tried to be comedic and charming, but they always dropped the ball.
One respectable accomplishment that the quintuplet managed, on the plus side, was time management. Anyone who watches awards shows knows they have a tendency to run overtime. However, this ceremony was scheduled to conclude at 11pm, but actually ended two minutes earlier.
The highlight of the show was, without a doubt, Ricky Gervais’ speech about acceptance speeches. It was absolutely hysterical, causing breathing difficulty and tears. Last year, Gervais won an Emmy, but was not in attendance to accept it. Presenters Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart thus bestowed the award to their friend, and actor of “The Office” (an adaptation of Gervais’ British show), Steve Carell.
Last night, Gervais called Carell out in front of the whole audience, requesting his well-earned award to be returned. Gervais continued to say how he deserved the award and that he knew Carell carried it on his person to get into certain restaurants. Additionally, Gervais attacked Carell’s project choices, insinuating that his new film, Ghost Town, was levels above Carell’s Evan Almighty. All throughout the jokes, Carell kept a face straighter than a line. Ultimately, Gervais needed to tickle Carell to get the award returned, but he did, indeed, get his gold statue.
Moreover, there were two major blips in the ceremony. The first of which occurred when Outstanding Writing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special winner Kirk Ellis’ acceptance speech was midway interrupted by a commercial depicting the hosts as nominees for their category. It was rude and disrespectful.
Also, there was one technical glitch when America Ferrera and Vanessa Williams were presenting the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series where the microphone simply did not work. Otherwise, the show proceeded without a hitch, despite often lengthy and boring presentations.
For a complete list of winners, please visit www.emmys.tv.