Emmys get the Idol treatment

By Peter Bowes
BBC News, Los Angeles

American Idol presenter Ryan Seacrest will host the Emmys

Television's annual back-slapping bash, the Emmy Awards, takes place in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Mob drama The Sopranos is among the leading contenders, with Heroes and Grey's Anatomy also in the running.

And there is a strong contingent of British actors such as Ricky Gervais, Hugh Laurie and Dame Helen Mirren all vying for the prestigious awards.

But TV critics have given up trying to find any logic in some of the Emmy choices in recent years.

"The Emmy voters have so wilfully chosen to utterly disregard The Wire," says David Kronke, TV critic with the Los Angeles Daily News.

"It is emerging as one of the best shows in TV history and it's gotten maybe two or three nominations over the course of its four year run.

"I think that will, in the end, prove to be a real embarrassment."

Ugly Betty and Entourage are among the shows up for the best comedy award this year.

The best actor and actress categories include some familiar names - Kiefer Sutherland for 24, James Gandolfini and Edie Falco from The Sopranos and Sir Ian McKellen, who is nominated for playing himself in the BBC comedy Extras.

The show will be presented by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest - a decision that has raised some eyebrows.

Unusual choice

"My initial reaction was dismay," Mr Kronke says. "He just doesn't really seem to fit the template.

"He's not really known for being terribly funny - he is the host of a reality show, hosting an awards show that is by and large honouring scripted excellence."

Previous Emmy hosts include Ellen DeGeneres, Conan O'Brien and Jon Stewart - all veteran comics with their own shows on US TV.

Seacrest's role on American Idol, a programme that showcases wannabe talent, is that of ringmaster.

He is respected as a slick host, a master of the teleprompter, but he is not known for his ability to deliver an opening monologue designed to get laughs from one of the toughest live audiences in the world.

Musical Number

So instead, this year's show will start with a musical number. Seacrest has said he "may or may not be" part of the song routine, depending on how "confident" he feels on the night.

The DJ told reporters he was being intentionally vague and that the opening of the show would "be nothing like you've seen in the past".

Last year's Emmys drew about 16.1 million viewers in America, the second least-watched Emmy telecast since 1991.

Last year, comedian Conan O'Brien hosted the awards

According to Dick Askin, chairman and chief executive of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which runs the awards, Seacrest is expected to be the "magnet for attracting a diverse array of viewers".

In the US, the show will be broadcast on Fox this year - the home of American Idol.

"Maybe what they'll hope is that they'll also get Simon Cowell and he can sit at a table off to the side of the stage and tell Ryan Seacrest just what a terrible job he's doing hosting the show," Mr Kronke says.

On the night, it will be the Emmys as an institution rather than the list of winners that comes in for most scrutiny.

"They'll survive intact after Seacrest has hosted the show and some people will continue to take them semi-seriously," Mr Kronke says.