New TV show: "Spectacle: Elvis Costello with ..."

[Otis Westinghouse]

Exactly the same edit, I'm afraid.

[martinfoyle]

They've been discussing this over on a Guardian blog for nearly a week, to spectacularly little reaction, a sure sign of Elvis' almost zero presence around here these days.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/tv/2008/04/ ... our_i.html

[ken krimstein]

i was lucky enough to go to a taping of last week's show -- with lou reed. here is a link to a review i posted of the show. there was so much more, but this will give you a taste...

http://culturecatch.com/music/elvis-cos ... n-schnabel

[johnfoyle]

Thanks Ken - great account!

[cigarandyak]

Here in the U.S., we don't get the show

[migdd]

Not yet. It doesn't debut (on the Sundance Channel) until November!

[Otis Westinghouse]

i was lucky enough to go to a taping of last week's show -- with lou reed. here is a link to a review i posted of the show. there was so much more, but this will give you a taste...

A self-styled grump! I like it.

[johnfoyle]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1794

BAZ BAMIGBOYE
Daily Mail

25th April 2008

ELVIS COSTELLO, who has recorded interviews with Bill Clinton, Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed and Julian Schnabel for his 13-part talk show Spectacle: Elvis Costello With . .. which begins broadcasting on Channel 4 in December.

David Furnish, the programme's executive producer, told me that Clinton talks about the presidency and the importance of music (particularly in the White House).

Other guests are being set for chats to be filmed in the coming months.

[verbal gymnastics]

David Furnish is the show's executive producer. No doubt he applied and was interviewed for the job!

[And No Coffee Table]

The performance of "You Win Again" mentioned on the official site must be part of the Bill Clinton episode, right? There were no reports of Charlie Haden or Pat Metheny participating in the other tapings.

It was a little more surprising to find myself singing a Hank Williams song in a line-up that consisted of Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny and James Burton, with Pat deferring to James to take the lead.

Charlie is making a terrific record with his daughters, Petra, Tanya and Rachel and, his son, Josh, continuing the tradition of the Haden Family Band. He was playing in his parent's hillbilly band at the age of two, long before his work with Ornette Coleman, Hank Jones, Quartet West or Liberation Music Orchestra.

It seems he thought well enough of our SPECTACLE rendition of "You Win Again", to ask me to sing it in the studio a couple of days later.

[johnfoyle]

Presumably this is in the next week or so , before the Police tour resumes -

http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2008 ... -at-f.html


Posted by Aaron Barnhart on July 03, 2008


As I prepare for my annual journey to L.A. for the fall TV previews............Elvis Costello will be on hand to talk about his Sundance Channel interview series that sounds an awful lot like HBO's “On the Record.”

[BlueChair]

CTV just posted this press release:

CTV's Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... Completes Production of Four Episodes with Top-Notch International Guest Lineup

For Immediate Release (July 3, 2008)

--Sir Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed and former U.S. President Bill Clinton among headliners--

Toronto, ON (July 3, 2008) - With filming of four episodes of the highly anticipated new series Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... complete, CTV announced today the initial guest lineup for the groundbreaking new music television series. The series boasts an impressive international guest list which includes Sir Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed, artist-director Julian Schnabel and former President Bill Clinton. Additional guests appearing this season will be announced soon. Production of Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... continues this summer and fall; the series will premiere later this year on CTV and Bravo!

As previously announced, the Canada/United Kingdom co-production will air on CTV in Canada, Channel 4 in the UK and the Sundance Channel in the U.S. (broadcast schedule is yet to be announced). FremantleMedia Enterprises will handle sales of the show to the rest of the world.

Fusing the best of talk and music television, the first episode taped for this 13-part series invites viewers to enjoy an intimate conversation between host Elvis Costello and Spectacle Executive Producer Sir Elton John before they make music history by performing together for the first time on television.

"I'm hoping that future shows continue to embody the great joy, passion and celebration of music we've had thus far, mixed with rare poignant and powerful moments," said Spectacle host Elvis Costello. "It's early to say too much about Spectacle other than it has been a wonderful and surprising experience."

"You very rarely get to hear what a great musician has to say. You're on and off in five minutes," said Sir Elton John. "This is an intelligent show hosted by an extremely intelligent man - with intelligent artists as guests ... and to get this on tape is important. It's very hard to do something like this ... give Elvis 10 out of 10 for balls."

"This eclectic group of international performers will not only provide memorable performances, but through the intimate environment of the show, viewers will also be exposed to a new side of some of their favourite musicians," said Susanne Boyce, President, Creative, Content and Channels, CTV Inc.

"Elvis Costello plus three music legends, an art world maverick and one uniquely engaged former President of the United States produced some of the most insightful conversations about music (and a few other things), as well as a stack of extraordinary and original musical performances that were almost certainly once-in-a-lifetime moments. All in all, not a bad start," said Executive Producer and creator Stephen Warden.

"My partners and I set out to make a program that we would want to watch. Spectacle is an unapologetically intelligent and massively entertaining show about music and contemporary culture that has no parallel in television today. Our first few episodes feature a knight, a president and the guitar player to the king," added Executive Producer Martin Katz, referring to Sir Elton John, President Bill Clinton and James Burton, Elvis Presley's long-time band member.

Additional musical special guests confirmed for this season include musicians Davey Faragher, Pete Thomas and Steve Nieve of The Imposters; guitarist James Burton, who played with Elvis Presley; legendary producer, pianist, writer, arranger and singer Allen Toussaint; three-time Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist Charlie Haden; jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, winner of 17 Grammy Awards; jazz pianist Bill Charlap; Larry Campbell and Tony Garnier of Bob Dylan's touring band; keyboard player Kevin Hearn, of Barenaked Ladies; and violinist/vocalist Jenny Scheinman. More will be announced soon.

The series of 13 one-hour episodes of Spectacle will feature everything from intimate one-on-ones with legendary performers and notable newcomers to thematic panel discussions.

The program's eclecticism and depth reflect its uniquely qualified host. Elvis Costello is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee; a Grammy and Ivor Novello Award-winning (and Oscar-nominated) songwriter and performer comfortable in almost every genre imaginable; a musicologist of formidable breadth and knowledge; a contributor to Vanity Fair magazine; and a noted wit whose stint as guest host on The Late Show with David Letterman won rave reviews.

Consistent with Sir Elton John's long-standing commitment to philanthropy and music, the series producers have struck an exciting association with the (Product) RED (www.joinred.com) campaign created to raise awareness and money for the Global Fund (www.theglobalfund.org) to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in Africa. Select program excerpts and performances will be distributed in a variety of new media and conventional platforms, with a portion of the profits directed to the Global Fund.

The producers of Spectacle: Elvis Costello with... are Stephen Warden, former music journalist and artist manager (Remy Shand) of reinvention entertainment; entertainment lawyer Jordan Jacobs (numerous Grammy and JUNO winners) of SpyBox Pictures; and film producer Martin Katz (Hotel Rwanda) of Prospero Pictures. The three, based in Toronto, formed Tri-Fi Productions to produce the series in partnership with David Furnish and Steve Hamilton-Shaw of Rocket Pictures. The series is produced in association with CTV, Sundance Channel, Channel 4 and FremantleMedia. Executive Producers are Sir Elton John, Elvis Costello, David Furnish, Steve Hamilton-Shaw, Jordan Jacobs, Martin Katz and Stephen Warden. Co-Executive Producer is Alex Coletti.

For CTV, Ed Robinson is Executive Vice-President, Programming, CTV. Susanne Boyce is President, Creative, Content and Channels, CTV Inc.

CTV, Canada's largest private broadcaster, offers a wide range of quality news, sports, information, and entertainment programming. It has the number-one national newscast, CTV National News With Lloyd Robertson, and is the number-one choice for prime-time viewing. CTVglobemedia Inc. is Canada's premier multi-media company which owns CTV Inc. and The Globe and Mail. CTV Inc. also owns radio stations across the country, and leading national specialty channels. Other CTVglobemedia investments include an interest in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, and in Dome Productions, a North American leader in the provision of mobile high definition production facilities. More information about CTV may be found on the company website at www.ctv.ca

[blooch]

I will certainly be keeping my eyes peeled for this show in the UK.

[jmm]

From 7/7/08 New York Times - Nothing new really

Arts, Briefly
The Costello Show

Compiled by STEVEN McELROY
Published: July 7, 2008
Elton John, Tony Bennett and Lou Reed will be among the first guests on “Spectacle: Elvis Costello With ...,” a new variety show co-produced by CTV in Canada, Channel 4 in Britain and the Sundance Channel in the United States. On the show Mr. Costello will chat with and sometimes perform with guests, also including the guitarist James Burton, who played with Elvis Presley, and the jazz guitarist and composer Pat Metheny. Four hourlong episodes of a planned 13 have been taped, but a broadcast schedule has not been announced. Mr. Costello’s guest list on the show will not be confined to career musicians: expect an early appearance by the former president and saxophonist Bill Clinton. ... And speaking of Elvis Costello, he received an honorary doctorate in music on Thursday at the University of Liverpool, in the British city where he spent part of his formative years, The Liverpool Daily Post reported. “I’m slightly humbled to receive it in the company of those who have actually been working hard for their degrees,” he joked to a crowd of graduates at the university’s Philharmonic Hall.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/arts/ ... ref=slogin

[johnfoyle]

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/small ... th_Clinton

( extract)

'Thursday, July 10th will see Costello with show producers Steve Warden, Jordan Jacobs and Martin Katz at the TCA meetings in Beverly Hills to discuss this new series, along with other Sundance Channel programming stars.'


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television ... ssociation


'The Television Critics Association (or TCA) is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian journalists and columnists who cover television programming. They meet in the Los Angeles area twice a year, in January and July, in conferences known as Winter and Summer Press Tours.'

A blog via this site -

http://www.tvcriticsassociation.com/tca/index.php

should have essential info. ( colour of socks worn etc.) eventually

[verbal gymnastics]

Therewas a brief article on Channel 4's teletext service saying the programme would be shown in the autumn. There was nothing on the report that we don't already know. Except for the bit about Elvis and the Imposters playing a cover of The Sex Pistols Anarchy In The UK whilst dressed as Glam Rock stars The Sweet.

[migdd]

Therewas a brief article on Channel 4's teletext service saying the programme would be shown in the autumn. There was nothing on the report that we don't already know. Except for the bit about Elvis and the Imposters playing a cover of The Sex Pistols Anarchy In The UK whilst dressed as Glam Rock stars The Sweet.

Always figured EC was a fan of The Sweet! In a related story, here's a little blurb about TV's newest, oddest couple, EC and Ozzy. . .

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/i ... -tv-shows/

[verbal gymnastics]

Wouldn't it be funny if the TV shows talked about were reversed? Can you imagine Diana and Elvis doing a show in the style of Donny and Marie Osmond? The closing song could be sung to the tune of Puppy Love

"and they called it peace and love (and understanding),
Well I'll guess they'll never know..

[johnfoyle]

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.

[johnfoyle]

'New' news from below -

(future episodes will tape at the Apollo, EC told me, because the "SNL" studio will be in use during the Beijing Olympics).

http://www.apollotheater.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Summer_Olympics

The 2008 Summer Olympics..will be held in Beijing..... from August 8 to August 24, 2008


http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2008 ... -true.html



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.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]

From listserv -

It's too bad about that whole "Summer Olympics"
thing preempting our man from his rightful venue.

I propose an alternative "spectacle:" The Elvis
Costello Summer Olympics; one that will not
mollycoddle Asian fascist regimes. Preliminary list of events:

1) twin stroller pushing
2) twee hat preening
3) outré project dilettanting
4) native country bashing
5) guitar noodling
6) epic low CD sales figuring
7) re-releasing
8)gerunding

The gold is his for the taking! Bring it on,
Stingmeister!!

Pete

[jmm]

I guess my discussion about the show with him in the NOLA ariport after jazzfest was better than some of these professionals could muster - go figure???

[johnfoyle]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... /TPComment



CANADIAN-BRITISH CO-PRODUCTION

How Elvis is getting Elton on the couch

Andrew Ryan talks to Elvis Costello about his new talk show, and who will make the guest list: Bennett is in, animal trainers are out

July 12, 2008



BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. -- Elvis Costello used to be disgusted. Now he seems to be bemused.

The impish pop chameleon is entirely in his element chatting to music icons and other very famous people on the upcoming television series Spectacle: Elvis Costello with.... And judging from clips of the first few episodes, Costello proves both capable and comfortable in his new TV role, though he appears to be tickled greatly by the notion that anyone might think he's turned talk-show host.

"I could never be a real TV presenter," says Costello, with a small smile. "There's no way I could feign the enthusiasm. You can tell when a talk-show host is feigning enthusiasm - 'So, you have a parakeet?' You see that all the time. It's a soul-sapping experience when the host doesn't care and the subjects aren't interesting."

Neither case is the norm on Spectacle. The 13-episode series is a Canadian-British co-production and slated to debut later this year on CTV and Bravo! in Canada, with simultaneous premieres on Britain's Channel 4 and the Sundance Channel in the United States.

Costello met with journalists at the TV-critics tour a few days back in support of the show's launch on Sundance. While commandeering the press conference, he calmly explained the show's concept and endured sophomoric queries from reporters ("How did you choose the name Elvis Costello?"). At 53, he's still terribly cool.

Sitting down shortly afterward for a less-formal chat, Costello is charming and well-spoken, if politely immovable in his insistence that Spectacle is different from other TV-interview programs. "We're not Inside the Actor's Studio, or one of those chat shows where stars come on to promote a new album or movie," he says. "Television often tends to categorize everything, which works opposite to the way I think."

The eclecticism of Spectacle is made evident by the first four guests: Elton John, Tony Bennett, Lou Reed and Bill Clinton. Costello holds the dual role of executive producer on the series - along with Elton John; John's partner, David Furnish; and several others - and begins each hour with a musical performance to set the tone.

In the case of Clinton, Costello opens with the little-known Elvis Presley song Mystery Train, with accompaniment from guitarist James Burton, a member of the King's original band. "As you know, President Clinton's nickname in the White House was Elvis, so that's how we brought him in," he says.

Costello's own versatility speaks for itself. He has demonstrated remarkable range since the release of his breakout album, My Aim Is True, in 1977. Over three decades, he's shifted effortlessly through rock, soul, blues, country, classical and latterly even jazz, in collaboration with his Canadian wife, singer Diana Krall. "I've always done what appeals to me at the moment," he says simply. "And then it's on to the next thing."

The genesis of Spectacle reaches back to 2003, when Canadian music journalist Stephen Warden, who conceived the show, was watching when Costello filled in one night as host on The Late Show with David Letterman, when Letterman was ill. "Seeing Elvis on Letterman, the light bulb came on," he says.

A noted musicologist and regular contributor to Vanity Fair magazine, Costello was, in fact, the only person considered to host the program. He's quite the bon vivant in the first few outings of Spectacle; topics vary with each guest, but the discussion invariably comes back to music, which results in fascinating conversation.

John talks of the influence Allen Toussaint exerted in his piano-playing. The famously reticent Reed demonstrates some subtle variations on the familiar chords of Sweet Jane. Bennett speaks of his admiration for the songwriting skills of Hank Williams. Clinton talks about the day he decided to give up his dream of playing saxophone for a living.

"Each show has been slightly different in structure," says Costello, "because obviously they're all such different people."

Both Costello and his creative partners in Spectacle are staying mum about the guest roster rounding out the remaining nine hours. The show's most connected producer is already putting out the feelers. "Elton has a lot of phone numbers," says Costello, "and I believe most people will take his call."

In the meantime, the beat goes on for Costello. The filming of Spectacle, scheduled to resume next month, is being worked in-between promotion for his most recent musical release, Momofuku (the title is a homage to Momofuku Ando, the man who invented dried noodles in a cup), in addition to concert dates and plans for more songs to come. Dabbling in television is a pleasant creative dalliance for Costello, but it's not his life's passion.

"It's been enjoyable so far," he says. "If viewers take to the show, and the networks want more, I supposed we'll have to see if we can come up with 13 more subjects. But I'm not trying to build a new career in television. I'm a musician."


http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainm ... _____.html


Sat, Jul. 12, 2008


Jonathan Storm writes -

(extract)

Elvis Costello: Talking music. After his way-decent performance filling in for Dave Letterman a few years back, Elvis Costello will come to Sundance Channel in December with what sounds like a truly fascinating show, Spectacle: Elvis Costello With . . .

Already in the can are performances and interviews with Elton John (who's a co-producer), former President Bill Clinton, artist-director Julian Schnabel, and rock legend Lou Reed. Promised for some of the other nine episodes are younger and more female artists and musicians.

The man born Declan MacManus said he chose his stage name because Elvis Presley was already taken. "We just moved on down through the family names until I arrived at Costello, which is a family name," explained.

Costello declined to say what new artists he's listening to, "not because I can't recall their names, but because then they don't necessarily want my stamp of approval. That might kind of make them unhip."

Right.

One of Costello's best experiences so far doing the show: getting the notoriously reticent Lou Reed to open up: "He actually told a joke," Costello marveled.

[johnfoyle]

I propose an alternative "spectacle:" The Elvis
Costello Summer Olympics; one that will not
mollycoddle Asian fascist regimes. Preliminary list of events:

More from listserv -

9) serial collaborating
10) journalist lecturing
11) ex-bandmate feud perpetuating
12) spoken accent chameleoning
13) between the front teeth spitting
14) trade wife in for newer modelling
15) never going to make another album hissyfitting
16) irrational dislike of Led Zeppeling


Mark

[johnfoyle]

http://gozelim.info/news/2008/07/12/tca ... annel.html


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.”