Sophia Michaels
Some things never change: Following his emotional departure from the Daily Show after seven years, Trevor Noah has been announced as host for the 2023 Grammy Awards. His return to the stage on Feb. 5 for Music’s Biggest Night marks his third year in the role. He joins LL Cool J as the only Grammys host to lead three or more separate years of ceremonies.
In 2021, Noah hosted the first post-pandemic Grammy Awards from the Los Angeles Convention Center, still working out the kinks of helming a major award show with masking and social distancing in mind. Earlier this year, the ceremony moved to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas with significantly more lax restrictions. For 2023, the Grammys will return to the Crypto.com Arena, its near-permanent home since 2000, when it was still called the Staples Center.
“I’ve been lucky enough to work in television — when I count South Africa as well — for 18 years,” Noah told Billboard in a recent interview. “I’ve been lucky enough to host crazy productions where everyone’s running around and you have to hit your marks and do different things. And most importantly — funny enough — is that I don’t take myself too seriously. I allow myself [to be] comfortable with the idea that everything could go wrong in a moment.”
He applied a similar philosophy to his stint on the Daily Show, though he was much more in control there than he could ever be at the Grammy Awards. Not necessarily because the awards ceremony often delivers levels of chaos as high as past MTV Video Music Awards ceremonies, but because it isn’t the Trevor Noah Show.
“I’m always aware that I am there in service of the show,” Noah added. “This is not my show, nor do I try to pretend that it is. A good host is somebody who keeps the show moving in the right direction, makes sure that they bring the audience into what’s happening, engages and entertains everybody who’s in the room and really turns it into a party. Everyone is there to have a good time. It’s an awards show, but it’s also one of the greatest concerts you’ll ever get the opportunity to go to.”
