Check out this thread on the EC forum!
http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB3 ... f=2&t=7087
Should be fabulous; I've always found his interviews very enlightening and informative. Discovered a lot of great new music that way. Then there was that time a while back when he filled in for Dave Letterman and apparently got offers for his own music/ chat show as a result, so I guess this really isn't much of a surprise.
I'm sure Diana will be involved at some point, at least symbolically. Guess EC is playing the stay-at-home dad while Diana's out on tour for the next little while.
DianaKrallfans.com
The message board
Elvis gets his own TV show in Canada, US, UK
Moderator: Bud
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Elvis gets his own TV show in Canada, US, UK
by scielle on 02 Apr 2008, 20:38
- scielle
- Black Crow
- Posts: 1131
- Joined: 20 May 2004, 07:19
- Location: Berkeley, CA
by gundy516 on 06 Apr 2008, 00:13
I"m excited to see the program. The article about this was in our local paper and it said it would be shown on the Sundance channel which we get on Comcast Cable. I agree that I think this is a great fit for Elvis. In just listening to his interviews he does seem extremely well versed in a lot of areas. I've always thought him to be very intelligent, very knowledgable. Can't wait to see his guest list!
- gundy516
- Big Foot
- Posts: 344
- Joined: 05 Aug 2004, 17:43
- Location: Spokane, WA, USA
by scielle on 07 Apr 2008, 23:53
Oh wow, no messing around here.
Guest numero uno: Elton
No. 2: Bill Clinton!
You can attend the live tapings on April 8th and 9th -
http://hoboken411.com:80/archives/11333
Guest numero uno: Elton
No. 2: Bill Clinton!
You can attend the live tapings on April 8th and 9th -
http://hoboken411.com:80/archives/11333
- scielle
- Black Crow
- Posts: 1131
- Joined: 20 May 2004, 07:19
- Location: Berkeley, CA
Sudance in America
by char44256 on 10 Apr 2008, 00:06
Does anyone know when this will be televised in America? I just canceled Sundance through Time Warner cable. I would love to see this.
I heard that Elvis supports Hillary Clinton. I'm an Obama supporter myself, but that's okay. At least, he's not supporting John Mc Cain and 100 years more years of bloodshed if it takes that!
Char
I heard that Elvis supports Hillary Clinton. I'm an Obama supporter myself, but that's okay. At least, he's not supporting John Mc Cain and 100 years more years of bloodshed if it takes that!
Char
"Classy, classy, classy- Diana Krall is one of those rare talents who could make a recipe for spaghetti carbonra sound seductive.
The Sunday Times- London
The Sunday Times- London
- char44256
- Popsicle Toe
- Posts: 182
- Joined: 27 May 2004, 02:58
- Location: Austin, Texas
by christratton on 15 Apr 2008, 06:35
I understand Bill is very fond of both of them and their music.
Every day, to myself I say,
Point the way, what would it be?
I ask myself what's the best thing for you,
And myself and I seem to agree,
That the best thing for you would be me. ...
Point the way, what would it be?
I ask myself what's the best thing for you,
And myself and I seem to agree,
That the best thing for you would be me. ...
- christratton
- Big Foot
- Posts: 296
- Joined: 29 Mar 2007, 00:03
- Location: West Hartford, CT
by scielle on 17 Apr 2008, 08:58
Some accounts on the EC board from tapings of the show at NBC studios this week:
Tue, with Tony Bennett
[Tony] invited Diana Krall out from the
audience to play (and sing) with him. She was actually texting
someone on her cell phone at the time, and she had to pop up onstage
and was telling Tony that she was just blown away throughout the
taping. She was great.
[...]
Surprisingly, [EC and TB] didn't sing a duet together. Elvis was, though,
gushing over his wife getting to sing with Tony. As Elvis ended the
show, he walked into the audience, paused when he came to Diana in the
2nd row, and planted a big kiss on her. A great end to a nice evening.
Wed, with Lou Reed
Diana is in her same spot, sitting next to the same guy for tonight's
taping. The stage manager called her out when telling people to turn
off their cell phones and refrain from text messaging during the
show. ha ha.
Tue, with Tony Bennett
[Tony] invited Diana Krall out from the
audience to play (and sing) with him. She was actually texting
someone on her cell phone at the time, and she had to pop up onstage
and was telling Tony that she was just blown away throughout the
taping. She was great.
[...]
Surprisingly, [EC and TB] didn't sing a duet together. Elvis was, though,
gushing over his wife getting to sing with Tony. As Elvis ended the
show, he walked into the audience, paused when he came to Diana in the
2nd row, and planted a big kiss on her. A great end to a nice evening.
Wed, with Lou Reed
Diana is in her same spot, sitting next to the same guy for tonight's
taping. The stage manager called her out when telling people to turn
off their cell phones and refrain from text messaging during the
show. ha ha.
- scielle
- Black Crow
- Posts: 1131
- Joined: 20 May 2004, 07:19
- Location: Berkeley, CA
by johnfoyle on 11 Jul 2008, 19:48
http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2008 ... -true.html
http://blogs.kansascity.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/11/costello0710081522.jpg
Aaron Barnhart
July 11, 2008
His aim is true. Mine sucks.
Even if I had been given a few days' notice, as opposed to a few hours, that I had been granted an audience with the King, as in Elvis Costello, I'm not sure I would've had any easier time interviewing him. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
In one of the great all-time squanders of my career, I spent most of my 20 minutes with the host of the new Sundance Channel interview series "Spectacle" chasing a very smart and agile cat down a pitch-black alley. In fact, the most economical exchange I had with Costello was the first one:
AB: You didn't say in the press conference why the show was called "Spectacle." EC: [points to his eyeglasses]
The rest of the session went downhill from there. After establishing that he and I had watched the same episode of Dave Stewart's "Off the Record," the one where Stewart interviewed Ringo Starr, I perceived a chance to tie Costello's career to Starr's — bad idea. (Starr said that by age 30 all he wanted to do was play the blues. Costello's response was more or less, I never got so successful that I couldn't play what I wanted.)
Then I tried the how-is-the-show-like-the-career angle. That went nowhere. Oh dear. I even prepped for this, and yet had forgotten a simple detail like whether Costello had performed recently in Kansas City or not (of course he had, opening for the Police on May 13).
I got a chance to regroup when Costello pulled out his phone in mid-question and said, "Hold on, I just have a little bit of family...." and left the room, presumably to speak with Diana Krall (whom he would not confirm as a future guest on his show). Things did go slightly better after that. But still.
When I got back to my room, I realized that among the various discs bulging out of my jacket pocket was the pilot for "Spectacle." Apparently a publicist had handed this to me. I watched it. EC and the Imposters (who have a great new disc out) and Alvin Touissant performed "Border Song" before an audience at NBC Studio 8H (future episodes will tape at the Apollo, EC told me, because the "SNL" studio will be in use during the Beijing Olympics). They sounded wonderful. Then out came the guest, and the show's co-producer, Elton John, and the two masters talked about Elton's musical influences and his career effortlessly for almost an hour. Maybe it takes a master to interview a master.
Anyway, the show premieres in December on Sundance Channel, and by then I expect to have pulled something out of the mess of quotage. It's times like this I remember Murray Kempton's description of himself as "a terrible interviewer." You'd never know from his columns.
http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/enter ... ink-socks/
Elvis Costello Rocks in Pink Socks
Posted By Walt Belcher at Jul 10, 2008 at 06:16 PM
Updated Jul 10, 2008 at 07:04 PM
Here I am back in the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where about 200 TV critics, columnists and bloggers are gathered to interview stars, producers and network honchos about what is coming our way in the 2008-2009 TV season. It’s the annual Television Critics Association fall preview tour. We’ve got wall-to-wall interviews all day long.
A cool thing: I passed Elvis Costello in the hallway. He was wearing a black derby, dark suit, an ascot and neon pink and lime green socks. He said the ascot was to protect his throat in the air conditioned hotel.
Costello interviews and performs with noted musicians like Elton John (also a co-producer), Tony Bennett, Allen Toussaint, Lou Reed and even former President Bill Clinton (who once dreamed of being a rock star).
So far, four episodes of “Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...” have been taped.
Sundance has set Dec. 13 as the debut date so it’s going to be awhile before this one hits the air.
Costello says Clinton was picked because of the former President’s interest in how music has been a thread through his life. “Frankly, I think he enjoyed talking about music for two hours instead of political things,” Costello said.
Each hour of the 13-part series will open with a song by or related to the featured performer. For instance, the opening number for the Clinton episode is “Mystery Train,” a musical reference to Clinton’s White House nickname Elvis.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainmen ... 6-sun.html
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- His name is Elvis Costello and his talk is true.
"What I'm doing in my career is not a trick, I'm not trying to trick anybody," said Costello, the legendary musician who appeared at the Television Critics Tour yesterday to promote his new TV talk/music show, Spectacle: Elvis Costello with ...
"Sometimes, particularly when you've had a long career, there is a danger that, even with something like this, you're seen as a giant puzzle which has to be somehow solved, that there's a significance to plug this in next to the fact that I've played rock 'n' roll. There's too much consideration of this puzzle, and there really isn't a puzzle.
"I'm just trying to do things that come up, and hope that somebody sees some value in them. I'm not a professional presenter. I hope people don't find that a negative, but rather that it's real."
Spectacle is a 13-part series hosted by Costello and executive-produced by Elton John. It will debut later this year on CTV in Canada, on the Sundance Channel in the United States and through various other outlets around the world.
Guests who have been confirmed thus far include John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed and former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Costello ventured into hosting back in 2003, when he was one of a series of guest-hosts who filled in on David Letterman's late-night show, when Letterman was sidelined due to a case of shingles. Steve Warden, the Canadian creator, writer and co-executive producer of Spectacle, said he saw Costello's performance on Letterman, too, and that did play a role as the show was being developed.
Costello is married to Canadian musician Diana Krall, who, on one of the four Spectacle episodes that already has been taped, was pulled out of the audience spontaneously to perform with Bennett. But would Costello ever interview Krall in a straight-forward manner?
"Well, you've seen these reality shows," Costello said. "We could just be sitting around at home in our underwear, which is a prospect that would be much more attractive in one direction than the other."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://yourfamilyviewer.com/2008/07/10/ ... -its-cool/
Tour Grinds On, But Sometimes It’s Cool
By Anne Louise Bannon
YourFamilyViewer.com
(extract)
High on that list was a session with rock legend Elvis Costello. He’s got a new talk show coming up in December on the Sundance Channel called “Spectacle: Elvis Costello with….” Costello is a freaking legend. He’s also the nicest, most self-effacing fellow you could possibly imagine. A reporter asked about what new young artists Costello is listening to and his response was that he doesn’t like naming new artists because he thinks they wouldn’t want him to. “That might make them unhip,” Costello said.
Which I have to counter because I know a lot of young teens and such who know about Costello and get who he is. There are plenty who don’t. But I’m getting the sense that there is a portion of young ‘uns who respect for the past and appreciate it. That’s cool, too.
http://canadianpress.google.com/article ... B2JP4S5UNg
Elvis Costello interviews celebs in new TV series 'Spectacle'
Bill Brioux
July 11 '08
LOS ANGELES — What if you could eavesdrop into the conversations of the rich and famous? Then, what if you could turn that into a TV show hosted by Elvis Costello?
That was the mad plan hatched by Stephen Warden, a Winnipeg-born writer and interviewer who had spent years in conversation with the likes of Mick Jagger and Peter Gabriel on assignments for print and radio.
"I had had the privilege of these long, one-on-one interviews with these guys," Warden said poolside this week at the Beverly Hilton.
"I always thought that if you could let people in on that, give them that fly-on-the-wall perspective - with real icons of music, some interesting people - if there was a show like that, I'd watch it."
That show is now a reality: "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With " will premiere Dec. 3 (??) on the U.S. cable channel Sundance and at a still to be determined date in Canada on CTV and later Bravo.
The series of hour-long interviews and impromptu jam sessions - taped in New York with Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed and former president Bill Clinton among the first guests - is a unique co-production with broadcasters in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
Normally, it would be a mammoth undertaking to pull off bookings with these kinds of A-level icons from the world of music and politics (and require a team of lawyers and accountants to sort out various music rights and clearances).
Producers Warden and Jordan Jacobs took their crazy idea to Martin Katz, who had produced the movie "It's a Boy Girl Thing" with Elton John and his Toronto-born partner, David Furnish. Katz pitched the plan to John and Furnish and they embraced it, with John stepping up to place the first phone calls to the guests to invite them on the show. "The phone rates are killing us," jokes Katz.
While all this was going on, Costello had filled in as a substitute host for David Letterman one night a few years ago when the talk show host was felled with shingles. "We saw that and thought, he could do this," says Warden. Costello, who lives in New York and Vancouver (the home of his musician wife Diana Krall), agreed to give hosting a shot.
"I've always been curious about the things that make people motivated to make music throughout their life," Costello, 53, told critics at the semi-annual network press tour in Los Angeles.
"It's not a show about trying to uncover a dark secret that somebody's got hidden; rather, their opportunity to talk about some things that they don't get to talk about in the regular showbiz interview."
Katz says that's what will hook viewers, the chance to see somebody like Costello go peer-to-peer with other icons of the world stage. The fact that he'll open each show by picking up a guitar and doing a cover of songs either written by or associated with his guests all adds to the mix.
People will be surprised, says Costello, that John spends much of their conversation talking about other, sometimes forgotten, musicians. "What really is within him is his love of music," he says.
Costello learned one important thing about that impromptu Letterman gig: "That you shouldn't take too much for granted in having prior knowledge of the person."
He says he had two guests that night - Kim Cattrall, whom he had never met, and Eddie Izzard, whom he was acquainted with.
"She came on largely in a version of her character from 'Sex and the City' and flirted and it was very funny," he says. Izzard's segment, he felt, didn't go as well because "I maybe made too many assumptions that would get us through the interview. And, in fact, I felt that I could have done better."
Katz says viewers will be surprised at how genuinely funny the host can be.
"He has a wry, clever sense of humour. People who know him only as a musician are not aware of how genial and entertaining he is."
Costello's career shift comes after Alec Baldwin won raves for his intimate interview skills on a TCM special where he went one-on-one with Gene Wilder. The success of that has led to more Baldwin specials, as well as his part in interviewing the cast of "The Sopranos" for a boxed DVD set of that series.
Long conversation is a lost art on television, especially for anyone who remembers the days of Bob Costas or Tom Snyder's late-night encounters with the rich and famous. While his aim may be true, don't put him in that league yet, says Costello, begging off a comparison to Dick Cavett at the press tour session.
"I'm not a professional presenter," he says. "I'm hoping I'm managing to be reasonably coherent."
Bill Brioux is a freelance TV columnist based in Brampton, Ont.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entert ... ritic.html
Jul 11, 2008
Hal Boedeker blogs
( extract)
Day 3 on the tour was the most encouraging so far. Sundance Channel previewed "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ...," an interview program that debuts in December. Elton John is an executive producer on the program in which musicians and personalities discuss their musical influences. Early guests range from Tony Bennett to Lou Reed to former President Bill Clinton. Costello's wife, Diana Krall, was pulled from the audience to perform in the Bennett show.
I asked: "Will your wife be a full-fledged guest?"
"That's a state secret, and I can't divulge how that will be achieved," Costello said.
I persisted. "How would it work? Would that be an easy interview for you?"
Costello: "Well, I don't know. You've seen those reality shows. We could just be sitting around at home in our underwear, which is a prospect that would be a lot more attractive in one direction than the other."
I have to think she's going to be a guest, and they won't be sitting around in their underwear.
http://blogs.kansascity.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/11/costello0710081522.jpg
Aaron Barnhart
July 11, 2008
His aim is true. Mine sucks.
Even if I had been given a few days' notice, as opposed to a few hours, that I had been granted an audience with the King, as in Elvis Costello, I'm not sure I would've had any easier time interviewing him. At least that's what I'm telling myself.
In one of the great all-time squanders of my career, I spent most of my 20 minutes with the host of the new Sundance Channel interview series "Spectacle" chasing a very smart and agile cat down a pitch-black alley. In fact, the most economical exchange I had with Costello was the first one:
AB: You didn't say in the press conference why the show was called "Spectacle." EC: [points to his eyeglasses]
The rest of the session went downhill from there. After establishing that he and I had watched the same episode of Dave Stewart's "Off the Record," the one where Stewart interviewed Ringo Starr, I perceived a chance to tie Costello's career to Starr's — bad idea. (Starr said that by age 30 all he wanted to do was play the blues. Costello's response was more or less, I never got so successful that I couldn't play what I wanted.)
Then I tried the how-is-the-show-like-the-career angle. That went nowhere. Oh dear. I even prepped for this, and yet had forgotten a simple detail like whether Costello had performed recently in Kansas City or not (of course he had, opening for the Police on May 13).
I got a chance to regroup when Costello pulled out his phone in mid-question and said, "Hold on, I just have a little bit of family...." and left the room, presumably to speak with Diana Krall (whom he would not confirm as a future guest on his show). Things did go slightly better after that. But still.
When I got back to my room, I realized that among the various discs bulging out of my jacket pocket was the pilot for "Spectacle." Apparently a publicist had handed this to me. I watched it. EC and the Imposters (who have a great new disc out) and Alvin Touissant performed "Border Song" before an audience at NBC Studio 8H (future episodes will tape at the Apollo, EC told me, because the "SNL" studio will be in use during the Beijing Olympics). They sounded wonderful. Then out came the guest, and the show's co-producer, Elton John, and the two masters talked about Elton's musical influences and his career effortlessly for almost an hour. Maybe it takes a master to interview a master.
Anyway, the show premieres in December on Sundance Channel, and by then I expect to have pulled something out of the mess of quotage. It's times like this I remember Murray Kempton's description of himself as "a terrible interviewer." You'd never know from his columns.
http://www.tboblogs.com/index.php/enter ... ink-socks/
Elvis Costello Rocks in Pink Socks
Posted By Walt Belcher at Jul 10, 2008 at 06:16 PM
Updated Jul 10, 2008 at 07:04 PM
Here I am back in the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel where about 200 TV critics, columnists and bloggers are gathered to interview stars, producers and network honchos about what is coming our way in the 2008-2009 TV season. It’s the annual Television Critics Association fall preview tour. We’ve got wall-to-wall interviews all day long.
A cool thing: I passed Elvis Costello in the hallway. He was wearing a black derby, dark suit, an ascot and neon pink and lime green socks. He said the ascot was to protect his throat in the air conditioned hotel.
Costello interviews and performs with noted musicians like Elton John (also a co-producer), Tony Bennett, Allen Toussaint, Lou Reed and even former President Bill Clinton (who once dreamed of being a rock star).
So far, four episodes of “Spectacle: Elvis Costello with...” have been taped.
Sundance has set Dec. 13 as the debut date so it’s going to be awhile before this one hits the air.
Costello says Clinton was picked because of the former President’s interest in how music has been a thread through his life. “Frankly, I think he enjoyed talking about music for two hours instead of political things,” Costello said.
Each hour of the 13-part series will open with a song by or related to the featured performer. For instance, the opening number for the Clinton episode is “Mystery Train,” a musical reference to Clinton’s White House nickname Elvis.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainmen ... 6-sun.html
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- His name is Elvis Costello and his talk is true.
"What I'm doing in my career is not a trick, I'm not trying to trick anybody," said Costello, the legendary musician who appeared at the Television Critics Tour yesterday to promote his new TV talk/music show, Spectacle: Elvis Costello with ...
"Sometimes, particularly when you've had a long career, there is a danger that, even with something like this, you're seen as a giant puzzle which has to be somehow solved, that there's a significance to plug this in next to the fact that I've played rock 'n' roll. There's too much consideration of this puzzle, and there really isn't a puzzle.
"I'm just trying to do things that come up, and hope that somebody sees some value in them. I'm not a professional presenter. I hope people don't find that a negative, but rather that it's real."
Spectacle is a 13-part series hosted by Costello and executive-produced by Elton John. It will debut later this year on CTV in Canada, on the Sundance Channel in the United States and through various other outlets around the world.
Guests who have been confirmed thus far include John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed and former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
Costello ventured into hosting back in 2003, when he was one of a series of guest-hosts who filled in on David Letterman's late-night show, when Letterman was sidelined due to a case of shingles. Steve Warden, the Canadian creator, writer and co-executive producer of Spectacle, said he saw Costello's performance on Letterman, too, and that did play a role as the show was being developed.
Costello is married to Canadian musician Diana Krall, who, on one of the four Spectacle episodes that already has been taped, was pulled out of the audience spontaneously to perform with Bennett. But would Costello ever interview Krall in a straight-forward manner?
"Well, you've seen these reality shows," Costello said. "We could just be sitting around at home in our underwear, which is a prospect that would be much more attractive in one direction than the other."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://yourfamilyviewer.com/2008/07/10/ ... -its-cool/
Tour Grinds On, But Sometimes It’s Cool
By Anne Louise Bannon
YourFamilyViewer.com
(extract)
High on that list was a session with rock legend Elvis Costello. He’s got a new talk show coming up in December on the Sundance Channel called “Spectacle: Elvis Costello with….” Costello is a freaking legend. He’s also the nicest, most self-effacing fellow you could possibly imagine. A reporter asked about what new young artists Costello is listening to and his response was that he doesn’t like naming new artists because he thinks they wouldn’t want him to. “That might make them unhip,” Costello said.
Which I have to counter because I know a lot of young teens and such who know about Costello and get who he is. There are plenty who don’t. But I’m getting the sense that there is a portion of young ‘uns who respect for the past and appreciate it. That’s cool, too.
http://canadianpress.google.com/article ... B2JP4S5UNg
Elvis Costello interviews celebs in new TV series 'Spectacle'
Bill Brioux
July 11 '08
LOS ANGELES — What if you could eavesdrop into the conversations of the rich and famous? Then, what if you could turn that into a TV show hosted by Elvis Costello?
That was the mad plan hatched by Stephen Warden, a Winnipeg-born writer and interviewer who had spent years in conversation with the likes of Mick Jagger and Peter Gabriel on assignments for print and radio.
"I had had the privilege of these long, one-on-one interviews with these guys," Warden said poolside this week at the Beverly Hilton.
"I always thought that if you could let people in on that, give them that fly-on-the-wall perspective - with real icons of music, some interesting people - if there was a show like that, I'd watch it."
That show is now a reality: "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With " will premiere Dec. 3 (??) on the U.S. cable channel Sundance and at a still to be determined date in Canada on CTV and later Bravo.
The series of hour-long interviews and impromptu jam sessions - taped in New York with Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed and former president Bill Clinton among the first guests - is a unique co-production with broadcasters in the U.S., Canada and the U.K.
Normally, it would be a mammoth undertaking to pull off bookings with these kinds of A-level icons from the world of music and politics (and require a team of lawyers and accountants to sort out various music rights and clearances).
Producers Warden and Jordan Jacobs took their crazy idea to Martin Katz, who had produced the movie "It's a Boy Girl Thing" with Elton John and his Toronto-born partner, David Furnish. Katz pitched the plan to John and Furnish and they embraced it, with John stepping up to place the first phone calls to the guests to invite them on the show. "The phone rates are killing us," jokes Katz.
While all this was going on, Costello had filled in as a substitute host for David Letterman one night a few years ago when the talk show host was felled with shingles. "We saw that and thought, he could do this," says Warden. Costello, who lives in New York and Vancouver (the home of his musician wife Diana Krall), agreed to give hosting a shot.
"I've always been curious about the things that make people motivated to make music throughout their life," Costello, 53, told critics at the semi-annual network press tour in Los Angeles.
"It's not a show about trying to uncover a dark secret that somebody's got hidden; rather, their opportunity to talk about some things that they don't get to talk about in the regular showbiz interview."
Katz says that's what will hook viewers, the chance to see somebody like Costello go peer-to-peer with other icons of the world stage. The fact that he'll open each show by picking up a guitar and doing a cover of songs either written by or associated with his guests all adds to the mix.
People will be surprised, says Costello, that John spends much of their conversation talking about other, sometimes forgotten, musicians. "What really is within him is his love of music," he says.
Costello learned one important thing about that impromptu Letterman gig: "That you shouldn't take too much for granted in having prior knowledge of the person."
He says he had two guests that night - Kim Cattrall, whom he had never met, and Eddie Izzard, whom he was acquainted with.
"She came on largely in a version of her character from 'Sex and the City' and flirted and it was very funny," he says. Izzard's segment, he felt, didn't go as well because "I maybe made too many assumptions that would get us through the interview. And, in fact, I felt that I could have done better."
Katz says viewers will be surprised at how genuinely funny the host can be.
"He has a wry, clever sense of humour. People who know him only as a musician are not aware of how genial and entertaining he is."
Costello's career shift comes after Alec Baldwin won raves for his intimate interview skills on a TCM special where he went one-on-one with Gene Wilder. The success of that has led to more Baldwin specials, as well as his part in interviewing the cast of "The Sopranos" for a boxed DVD set of that series.
Long conversation is a lost art on television, especially for anyone who remembers the days of Bob Costas or Tom Snyder's late-night encounters with the rich and famous. While his aim may be true, don't put him in that league yet, says Costello, begging off a comparison to Dick Cavett at the press tour session.
"I'm not a professional presenter," he says. "I'm hoping I'm managing to be reasonably coherent."
Bill Brioux is a freelance TV columnist based in Brampton, Ont.
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entert ... ritic.html
Jul 11, 2008
Hal Boedeker blogs
( extract)
Day 3 on the tour was the most encouraging so far. Sundance Channel previewed "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ...," an interview program that debuts in December. Elton John is an executive producer on the program in which musicians and personalities discuss their musical influences. Early guests range from Tony Bennett to Lou Reed to former President Bill Clinton. Costello's wife, Diana Krall, was pulled from the audience to perform in the Bennett show.
I asked: "Will your wife be a full-fledged guest?"
"That's a state secret, and I can't divulge how that will be achieved," Costello said.
I persisted. "How would it work? Would that be an easy interview for you?"
Costello: "Well, I don't know. You've seen those reality shows. We could just be sitting around at home in our underwear, which is a prospect that would be a lot more attractive in one direction than the other."
I have to think she's going to be a guest, and they won't be sitting around in their underwear.
- johnfoyle
- Big Foot
- Posts: 334
- Joined: 19 May 2004, 14:11
- Location: Dublin , Ireland
by char44256 on 17 Jul 2008, 23:52
I ordered the Sundance Channel again yesterday. Diana Krall and Cheryl Crowe are on tonight recording at Abbey Road. I can't believe that I did that! Wait a minute; yes, I can. More later.
Char
Char
"Classy, classy, classy- Diana Krall is one of those rare talents who could make a recipe for spaghetti carbonra sound seductive.
The Sunday Times- London
The Sunday Times- London
- char44256
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by char44256 on 19 Jul 2008, 02:34
Diana was very relaxed and sang three songs on Abbey Road. She said that she just loves her life RIGHT NOW. She loves being a mom and is crazy about her husband. She sang "Exactly Like You," I'll String Along With You," and "Lets Face the Music and Dance." Anthony Wilson was there.
She loves to bake Christmas cookies for her sons.
Cheryl Crow was good too.
Did anyone else see Sundance? Hi-Tech was there too. I wasn't into their music much.
Char
She loves to bake Christmas cookies for her sons.
Cheryl Crow was good too.
Did anyone else see Sundance? Hi-Tech was there too. I wasn't into their music much.
Char
"Classy, classy, classy- Diana Krall is one of those rare talents who could make a recipe for spaghetti carbonra sound seductive.
The Sunday Times- London
The Sunday Times- London
- char44256
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- Location: Austin, Texas
by johnfoyle on 19 Jul 2008, 23:25
Video of four and a half minute interview with Elvis re- 'Spectacle' -
http://watch.ctv.ca/etalk/tv/extended-- ... #clip67405
http://gozelim.info/news/2008/07/12/tca ... annel.html
http://www.bullz-eye.com/images/blogs/ph/tca/2008/Elvis_Costello_1.jpg
Will Harris
Will Harris
July 12, 2008
(extract)
Me: Elvis, do you have a kind of a wish list of guests who you want to have on the show and, if so, are they more mainstream or obscure?
Elvis: Well, I described the process to one of the people that we were currently trying to schedule as similar to vaudevillian plate spinning, particularly if you’re talking about a collaboration. As you see in the opening clip, I’m singing “Border Song” with the Imposters’ rhythm section and James Burton on guitar, who played with Elvis Presley. In the background, there was Allen Toussaint, who sings a second verse of the song. Now, on a number of the shows, we have musical guests supporting the conversation. Every show begins with a performance which is either a song by the artist or in reference to the artist. And then, if the conversation leads that way, we hope that the subject… (Elvis’s cell phone suddenly causes interference on the speakers)…and here they are calling now! But you can imagine in trying to book these things — and these gentlemen will back me up on this, I’m sure — that it can be a process where you get somebody in place, and then somebody else isn’t available. So it’s one thing to have a wish list. It’s another thing to make it a reality. And the window of opportunity where studio facilities are available, where I’m not on tour, where the people that we want to speak to are not on tour or not making a film or not about to launch themselves off in a rocket ship…it’s a little bit tricky, you know?
If you’re unaware of Elvis’s history as a chat show presenter, he actually served as a guest host on “The Late Show with David Letterman” when our man Dave was in recovery from his heart surgery a few years back. It wasn’t a lengthy stint - it was a one-night gig - but he nonetheless managed to learn a valuable lesson: “You shouldn’t take too much for granted in having any prior knowledge of the preson. I’d never met Kim Cattrall before, and she came on largely in a version of her character from ‘Sex and the City’ and flirted, and it was very funny. I had met Eddie Izzard a few times, and I maybe made too many assumptions that that would get us through the interview…and, in fact, I felt that I could have done better.”
Even with that educational experience under his belt, however, he’s not going in with any delusions of having conquered the medium. “I’m not a professional presenter,” he admitted. “I’m hoping I’m managing to be reasonably coherent. The help that I have in shaping the scripts, you know, I try to write the questions. And then we sit in a room, Steven (Warden, producer) and Bill Flanagan and Alex Collettim, who are working on the team, and we sit in a very confined space and try and hone the questions down to a card that I can glance at and make it seem as if that idea just popped into my head. But I’m not practiced at reading audio cue. I’m not going to suddenly become a highly polished presenter in that way. And I hope that people will not find that a negative but, rather, that it’s real. The conversation is real. And at times we’ve had some very surprising exchanges, and I think that not knowing all about somebody gives me the opportunity to find out during the conversation. What I don’t really want to do is fake enthusiasm for people. That’s not the kind of show it is.”
And what kind of show is it? Well, the best way to answer that is to let Elvis describe an upcoming episode which featured President Clinton as his guest, which gives you a really great idea of the musical talent that’s going to turning up on a regular basis.
“The episode began with a performance of ‘Mystery Train,’ by Elvis Presley,” said Elvis. “We thought that was a good way of introducing the President to the stage because, as you know, his nickname in the White House was Elvis. We had James Burton, who played with Elvis Presley, playing along on electric guitar. The conversation inevitably was more reflective, and at the end, as the President is a fan of jazz, we had scheduled a performance of ‘Abide With Me,’ by Hank Jones and Charlie Hayden, from a wonderful collaboration that they made a number of years ago. Now, Hank is in his 90th year now, and, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to join us at very short notice. Pat Metheny stepped in at two hours’ notice and provided us with a very beautiful totally spontaneous finale for that show. And that’s the kind of unexpected thing. In addition, in a conversation with Charlie Hayden, who began playing in his parent’s hillbilly band, we mentioned a shared love of Hank Williams. And we closed the show with a Hank Williams number with Charlie Hayden, Pat Matheny, James Burton and myself.”
http://watch.ctv.ca/etalk/tv/extended-- ... #clip67405
http://gozelim.info/news/2008/07/12/tca ... annel.html
http://www.bullz-eye.com/images/blogs/ph/tca/2008/Elvis_Costello_1.jpg
Will Harris
Will Harris
July 12, 2008
(extract)
Me: Elvis, do you have a kind of a wish list of guests who you want to have on the show and, if so, are they more mainstream or obscure?
Elvis: Well, I described the process to one of the people that we were currently trying to schedule as similar to vaudevillian plate spinning, particularly if you’re talking about a collaboration. As you see in the opening clip, I’m singing “Border Song” with the Imposters’ rhythm section and James Burton on guitar, who played with Elvis Presley. In the background, there was Allen Toussaint, who sings a second verse of the song. Now, on a number of the shows, we have musical guests supporting the conversation. Every show begins with a performance which is either a song by the artist or in reference to the artist. And then, if the conversation leads that way, we hope that the subject… (Elvis’s cell phone suddenly causes interference on the speakers)…and here they are calling now! But you can imagine in trying to book these things — and these gentlemen will back me up on this, I’m sure — that it can be a process where you get somebody in place, and then somebody else isn’t available. So it’s one thing to have a wish list. It’s another thing to make it a reality. And the window of opportunity where studio facilities are available, where I’m not on tour, where the people that we want to speak to are not on tour or not making a film or not about to launch themselves off in a rocket ship…it’s a little bit tricky, you know?
If you’re unaware of Elvis’s history as a chat show presenter, he actually served as a guest host on “The Late Show with David Letterman” when our man Dave was in recovery from his heart surgery a few years back. It wasn’t a lengthy stint - it was a one-night gig - but he nonetheless managed to learn a valuable lesson: “You shouldn’t take too much for granted in having any prior knowledge of the preson. I’d never met Kim Cattrall before, and she came on largely in a version of her character from ‘Sex and the City’ and flirted, and it was very funny. I had met Eddie Izzard a few times, and I maybe made too many assumptions that that would get us through the interview…and, in fact, I felt that I could have done better.”
Even with that educational experience under his belt, however, he’s not going in with any delusions of having conquered the medium. “I’m not a professional presenter,” he admitted. “I’m hoping I’m managing to be reasonably coherent. The help that I have in shaping the scripts, you know, I try to write the questions. And then we sit in a room, Steven (Warden, producer) and Bill Flanagan and Alex Collettim, who are working on the team, and we sit in a very confined space and try and hone the questions down to a card that I can glance at and make it seem as if that idea just popped into my head. But I’m not practiced at reading audio cue. I’m not going to suddenly become a highly polished presenter in that way. And I hope that people will not find that a negative but, rather, that it’s real. The conversation is real. And at times we’ve had some very surprising exchanges, and I think that not knowing all about somebody gives me the opportunity to find out during the conversation. What I don’t really want to do is fake enthusiasm for people. That’s not the kind of show it is.”
And what kind of show is it? Well, the best way to answer that is to let Elvis describe an upcoming episode which featured President Clinton as his guest, which gives you a really great idea of the musical talent that’s going to turning up on a regular basis.
“The episode began with a performance of ‘Mystery Train,’ by Elvis Presley,” said Elvis. “We thought that was a good way of introducing the President to the stage because, as you know, his nickname in the White House was Elvis. We had James Burton, who played with Elvis Presley, playing along on electric guitar. The conversation inevitably was more reflective, and at the end, as the President is a fan of jazz, we had scheduled a performance of ‘Abide With Me,’ by Hank Jones and Charlie Hayden, from a wonderful collaboration that they made a number of years ago. Now, Hank is in his 90th year now, and, unfortunately, he wasn’t able to join us at very short notice. Pat Metheny stepped in at two hours’ notice and provided us with a very beautiful totally spontaneous finale for that show. And that’s the kind of unexpected thing. In addition, in a conversation with Charlie Hayden, who began playing in his parent’s hillbilly band, we mentioned a shared love of Hank Williams. And we closed the show with a Hank Williams number with Charlie Hayden, Pat Matheny, James Burton and myself.”
- johnfoyle
- Big Foot
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Re: Elvis gets his own TV show in Canada, US, UK
by Bud on 09 Nov 2008, 16:19
The official info from EC's website.
http://www.elviscostello.com/news/news.php?uid=35
Wednesday, February 18th at 9:00pm
"Spectacle: Elvis Costello with Diana Krall" - Elvis welcomes his wife, international jazz sensation Krall; she is interviewed by the program's executive producer, Elton John
http://www.elviscostello.com/news/news.php?uid=35
-
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Re: Elvis gets his own TV show in Canada, US, UK
by scielle on 09 Nov 2008, 18:10
There's an account of the taping on the Elvis forum -
http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7087&p=120782#p120782
I'm hoping Night Train doesn't get edited out of the show for some reason - would be great to finally hear her full rendition of it.
http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7087&p=120782#p120782
Anyway, went to the Elton/Elvis taping Wed. Elvis came out in a black suit, scarf and a black and purple hat. He sang 'Almost Blue' with Christian McBride on bass and Kareem Wiggins on drums - twice (feedback problem which only he could hear) and than introduced Elton as guest host. He said the show would not let him interview his wife.
Elvis left and Elton explained that since the show was called 'Spectacle' they had to find a guest host with glasses. Elton looked in shape and was dressed in a black suit with a purple tee-shirt and matching glasses. He intorduced Diana Krall who sat at the piano while Elton stood or sat in a chair behind the piano. He stated he had never interviewed anyone before. Diana was in a black dress and looked great (as any mother can appreciate). They talked about her influences and start. She sang ‘But Not for Me' the traditional way and her way. I found it interesting that she did not start singing until the age of 26 but that she just played in the band. I apparently an early music teacher said her voice was too low and she could not sing. She also mentioned that she was a fan of Elton and Elvis growing up. That makes for an interesting marriage.
She also played ‘Exactly Like You' with her band and than Elton requested 'Night Train" which she apparently played unrehersed. She also sang Joni Mitchell’s ‘A Case For You’ unrehersed and apparently skipped a planned Peggy Lee song. She did the Joni song twice also. There was something she didn't like. Elton and Diana sang ‘Sorry Seems To Be the hardest Word' after Elvis brought Elton his microphone out on a royal pillow and than disappeared agian.
I also noticed during the show that Elton did not pay much attention to the suggestions on the teleprompt saying what ever he wanted. But than there was the song 'Making Whoopee' with Elvis, Elton, Diana and the band. Elton started by singing that the teleprompt wasn't working. Than the second take Diana just lost it somewhere in the middle and than Elvis blew the words on the third try. There was much laughter throught the song, and they finally got it. Everyone liked the line about Elvis changing diapers and Diana singing "thats right".
It was a great show.
I'm hoping Night Train doesn't get edited out of the show for some reason - would be great to finally hear her full rendition of it.
- scielle
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Re: Elvis gets his own TV show in Canada, US, UK
by Bud on 04 Dec 2008, 12:58
Anyone catch the show? There were a few shots of Diana in the audience towards the end.
Official site: http://sundancechannel.com/spectacle
This review is fair enough: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=254051
Costello makes a 'Spectacle' of himself -- and fellow songwriters
By Ted Cox | Daily Herald Columnist
Published: 12/2/2008 12:01 AM
Tired of rote, by-the-numbers music performances punctuated by obsequious interviews on late-night talk shows? If so, does the Sundance Channel have a program for you.
None other than Elvis Costello plays host to the new series "Spectacle" when it debuts at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, on Sundance. Subtitled "Elvis Costello With -," the premiere finds him sitting down - and sometimes playing - with Elton John.
The show opens routinely enough with Elvis - the good one, not the dead one - doing a version of Elton's "Border Song." Then, in fact, he does his best James Lipton imitation by introducing "Sir Elton John" and doing him honors. Truth be told, at first there's an air about them of two self-satisfied Englishmen stuffed with roast beef and sitting down after dinner at their gentlemen's club.
A music fan might expect this of Elton, the rock 'n' roll Liberace, the former hit maker who in more recent decades has become a troubadour of dead princesses and AIDS victims, but whatever happened to the angry young Elvis who mixed punk outrage with exquisite tunecraft?
Yet give them a few minutes to warm to each other and they soon get going on just that craftsmanship, celebrating nearly forgotten songwriters like Laura Nyro and David Ackles, as well as obscure soul singers like Billy Stewart and Chicago's own Major Lance.
"We're music crazy, both of us," Elton says, and indeed they are, in only the best way. Elton mentions how the Band's "Music From Big Pink" influenced his early album "Tumbleweed Connection," and Elvis talks openly about how Elton was the one who turned him on to Rufus Wainwright and Amy Winehouse. They come off as two impassioned fans rather than a couple of jaded bizzers. Then, just to remind a viewer what pros they are, they do a few songs together, with the help of sideman Allen Toussaint.
After the slow start, it turns into a lovely hour, and it's no accident. Next week's follow-up finds Elvis welcoming Lou Reed to the stage at the Apollo Theater in New York City, where the 13-part series is taped. He opens with a folky reworking of Lou's "Femme Fatale" (which also plays to Elvis' own penchant for offhand misogyny), and before long Lou is sitting down to discuss songwriter Doc Pomus and demonstrating the "secret chord" in the trademark progression to "Sweet Jane."
Lou comes as close as any critic to defining what set his Velvet Underground apart in the '60s by saying they totally rejected any hint of blue riffs in their music. "We didn't have the right," he says, and indeed that's a large part of what makes the Velvets sound as edgy today as they did back then, while blues-based groups like Steppenwolf sound rooted to the late '60s.
It's not just music, either. Julian Schnabel pops in next week as well, and while I think Lou is perfectly capable of holding forth for an hour himself, same as Elton, who's to argue with the visionary director of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly?" And the week after that, Bill Clinton sits in.
Look for Elvis to find distracting topics of conversation to keep Bill away from his saxophone.
"Spectacle" isn't a perfect program. It can indulge in cliché crowd reaction shots, and Elvis can be obsequious at times. Later in the season he'll indulge in a little nepotism by welcoming his wife, Diana Krall, to the show, and he'll also spend time with well-meaning over-the-hillers like James Taylor and Tony Bennett. Yet Rufus Wainwright himself and Elvis' punk-pop contemporaries the Police are also on the guest list, and the first season - one can only hope this is the first of many - ends with Smokey Robinson.
So forget Elvis the angry young punk. He might have made better music than his middle-aged incarnation, but as a music fan and a craftsman he's much more engaging as host of "Spectacle." This is a warm, intelligent series to get any music fan through the cold winter months ahead.
• Ted Cox writes Tuesday and Thursday in L&E and Friday in Sports and Time out!
Official site: http://sundancechannel.com/spectacle
This review is fair enough: http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=254051
Costello makes a 'Spectacle' of himself -- and fellow songwriters
By Ted Cox | Daily Herald Columnist
Published: 12/2/2008 12:01 AM
Tired of rote, by-the-numbers music performances punctuated by obsequious interviews on late-night talk shows? If so, does the Sundance Channel have a program for you.
None other than Elvis Costello plays host to the new series "Spectacle" when it debuts at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3, on Sundance. Subtitled "Elvis Costello With -," the premiere finds him sitting down - and sometimes playing - with Elton John.
The show opens routinely enough with Elvis - the good one, not the dead one - doing a version of Elton's "Border Song." Then, in fact, he does his best James Lipton imitation by introducing "Sir Elton John" and doing him honors. Truth be told, at first there's an air about them of two self-satisfied Englishmen stuffed with roast beef and sitting down after dinner at their gentlemen's club.
A music fan might expect this of Elton, the rock 'n' roll Liberace, the former hit maker who in more recent decades has become a troubadour of dead princesses and AIDS victims, but whatever happened to the angry young Elvis who mixed punk outrage with exquisite tunecraft?
Yet give them a few minutes to warm to each other and they soon get going on just that craftsmanship, celebrating nearly forgotten songwriters like Laura Nyro and David Ackles, as well as obscure soul singers like Billy Stewart and Chicago's own Major Lance.
"We're music crazy, both of us," Elton says, and indeed they are, in only the best way. Elton mentions how the Band's "Music From Big Pink" influenced his early album "Tumbleweed Connection," and Elvis talks openly about how Elton was the one who turned him on to Rufus Wainwright and Amy Winehouse. They come off as two impassioned fans rather than a couple of jaded bizzers. Then, just to remind a viewer what pros they are, they do a few songs together, with the help of sideman Allen Toussaint.
After the slow start, it turns into a lovely hour, and it's no accident. Next week's follow-up finds Elvis welcoming Lou Reed to the stage at the Apollo Theater in New York City, where the 13-part series is taped. He opens with a folky reworking of Lou's "Femme Fatale" (which also plays to Elvis' own penchant for offhand misogyny), and before long Lou is sitting down to discuss songwriter Doc Pomus and demonstrating the "secret chord" in the trademark progression to "Sweet Jane."
Lou comes as close as any critic to defining what set his Velvet Underground apart in the '60s by saying they totally rejected any hint of blue riffs in their music. "We didn't have the right," he says, and indeed that's a large part of what makes the Velvets sound as edgy today as they did back then, while blues-based groups like Steppenwolf sound rooted to the late '60s.
It's not just music, either. Julian Schnabel pops in next week as well, and while I think Lou is perfectly capable of holding forth for an hour himself, same as Elton, who's to argue with the visionary director of "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly?" And the week after that, Bill Clinton sits in.
Look for Elvis to find distracting topics of conversation to keep Bill away from his saxophone.
"Spectacle" isn't a perfect program. It can indulge in cliché crowd reaction shots, and Elvis can be obsequious at times. Later in the season he'll indulge in a little nepotism by welcoming his wife, Diana Krall, to the show, and he'll also spend time with well-meaning over-the-hillers like James Taylor and Tony Bennett. Yet Rufus Wainwright himself and Elvis' punk-pop contemporaries the Police are also on the guest list, and the first season - one can only hope this is the first of many - ends with Smokey Robinson.
So forget Elvis the angry young punk. He might have made better music than his middle-aged incarnation, but as a music fan and a craftsman he's much more engaging as host of "Spectacle." This is a warm, intelligent series to get any music fan through the cold winter months ahead.
• Ted Cox writes Tuesday and Thursday in L&E and Friday in Sports and Time out!
-
Bud - Moderator
- Posts: 2162
- Joined: 19 May 2004, 18:42
- Location: Northern VA, just outside of Washington, DC
Re: Elvis gets his own TV show in Canada, US, UK
by gundy516 on 04 Dec 2008, 19:59
Watched the first episode last night and really enjoyed it! It is soooooo nice to have a show that concentrates on music. I am one of those people that has always thought the late night talk shows never give the musical guests the same courtesy as their other guests.
I now have a show to get me through the winter! AND I can't wait till Elton interviews Diana!!!!!!! That is going to be a fantastic hour to watch.
Thank you to Sundance Channel for getting this quality program on the air.
I now have a show to get me through the winter! AND I can't wait till Elton interviews Diana!!!!!!! That is going to be a fantastic hour to watch.
Thank you to Sundance Channel for getting this quality program on the air.
- gundy516
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Re: Elvis gets his own TV show in Canada, US, UK
by Bud on 08 Dec 2008, 04:08
Maybe we'll get to see Diana perform before the last episode!
http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2008 ... tello.html
Wife Diana Krall is the guest on one of the 13 episodes this season, though she is actually interviewed by Sir Elton. But she also pops up during the Tony Bennett episode, where the songmeister announces she'll be accompanying him on a number, an apparently unrehearsed moment -- "I am?" says Krall.
http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2008 ... tello.html
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