Trevor Noah has high hopes for this year’s very different Grammy Awards.
The “Daily Show” host is set to emcee music’s biggest night during a very unusual year, and he spoke with Billboard about hosting an awards show amid a pandemic.
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“Hopefully this can be a moment of hope,” he said. “We’ve gone March to March and I’m as exhausted as everyone else of not living life. Hopefully this can be a respite from that for a moment and then we’ll be like, ‘oh yeah, that was the beginning of when we got to start living our lives again.'”
Asked how the show will be assembled given COVID-19 restrictions, Noah explained, “It’s going to be multiple stages, everything is happening outdoors and socially distanced. It’s almost taking on the feel of a music festival but designed for an audience at home, which is really cool.”
He added, “That’s one of the reasons I decided to jump on. I love working with Ben and the Grammys is a dream, but I was interested in, ‘How do you do an awards show that doesn’t feel pandemic-y?’ It’s music and great performances done in a stylistically fresh way and that’s what I’m excited to see.”
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Noah also promised that this year’s Grammys will be a little different from other pandemic-era awards shows.
“In my opinion, it won’t have that depressing, ‘oh man, look at all of us stuck at home.'” I’m so tired of that imagery, I’m not going to lie to you. It’s everywhere,” he said. “Some TV shows have adopted it for their dramas or whatever. If it’s not current affairs, I’m like ‘take me away on whatever flight of fantasy you can.’ Luckily the Grammys can.”
