Sunday September 7, 2008
Brand-conscious
By SANDY COHEN
A notorious British bloke is set to rock America, if not the world, as the host of tonight’s MTV Video Music Awards.
AMERICA is about to meet Russell Brand.
In his native Britain, he is a comedy giant – instantly identifiable by his Einstein-like tousle of black hair and formfitting, chest-baring, glam-rock clothes – a television host and standup comic with his own radio show and weekly column in The Guardian newspaper. In the United States, he’s that British guy who was in the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
Russell Brand, on hosting the 2008 MTV VMAs: ‘I think I’d be insane if I wasn’t anxious, although I’ve clinically been declared insane on several occasions.’ – AP But that all could change today, when Brand hosts the MTV Video Music Awards – the TV institution that lured millions of viewers with Britney Spears’ fumbled comeback last year and her fabled kiss with Madonna before that. Brand said he has no intentions to hijack the awards for his own promotional purposes, but he knows the show will serve as his introduction to a broad American audience.
“It’s amazing, because obviously I’m not known in America, so it’s a really unusual situation to be in,’’ said the 33-year-old in Los Angeles, noting that past hosts have been “really, really famous.” “I think I’d be insane if I wasn’t anxious, although I’ve clinically been declared insane on several occasions. Perhaps my slight apprehension is a mark of my return to sanity.”
Brand might not be exaggerating about his diagnosis. At home he’s known for his hedonistic tendencies and drug-addled past, and he sought treatment for drug addiction and sex addiction. He detailed his storied history in My Booky Wook, a memoir that was a best-seller in Britain and is due to be published in the United States in February.
A movie version of his story has already been greenlit, but the film has been put on hold while Brand juggles other projects, including shaping his American image.
“I was just advised that this is not the right time to do that due to the content,” he said. “Also, because really I’m getting a lot of offers to play a lot of other people and I play myself,” in the movie. “Maybe that isn’t the best way for the people in America to get to know me because that book is kind of candid in some places.”
Besides, Brand’s schedule is packed. He’ll appear with Adam Sandler and Keri Russell in the Christmas family film Bedtime Stories. He’s also co-writing and starring in a film Sandler will produce next year, Brand said. He is reprising his Forgetting Sarah Marshall role in Get Him to the Greek, a film based on his rock-star character, Aldous Snow. He has another book in the works, and he is keeping up with his weekly newspaper column, radio show and standup gigs back home.
“My entire life is utterly defined by work and activity,” he said. “Luckily I work with really talented and well-organised people, otherwise I think I would become ill.”
This week, though, his focus is on the MTV Video Music Awards, where he hopes to create a “celebratory’’ vibe that keeps the spotlight on the performers and winners.
“The focus will only come on to me if spontaneity ensues,” he said. “It would be shortsighted and narcissistic for me to make it about me, although inevitably I will a bit.”
It’s Brand’s undeniable charm and knack for spontaneous comedy that inspired MTV to tap the relative unknown as host of its banner awards show, said MTV Networks Music Group president Van Toffler.
“He is both cerebral and straight-ahead lowbrow in the same sense, and he’s really got a great take on American culture,” Toffler said. “For us it’s similar to the first year we had Chris Rock and Arsenio Hall. They were kind of about to bust wide open. (They) weren’t huge household names, but they definitely brought the edge and the unpredictability.”
Rihanna, the Jonas Brothers, T.I. and Pink are among the performers set to appear on the live show, which begins at 9pm (9am Malaysian time). Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, Scarlett Johansson and Michael Phelps are set to present awards. Spears will make an appearance, and other surprises are planned, though Brand won’t offer any hints.
“I’m hoping that spontaneity will play a part,” he said. “When you hear some of the performances that they’ve got planned, there’s so much technical precision required. How on Earth are they going to do that? Surely something is going to catch fire.”
It might just be Brand’s American image. – AP
> The ‘2008 MTV Video Music Awards’ takes place at the Paramount Studios in Hollywood tonight. The performers also include Paramore, Lil Wayne and Kid Rock. DJ AM and Travis Barker will rock the party, mixing live drum beats to scratched records throughout the show. Britney Spears will be the opening act while Kanye West will close out the VMAs. Among the presenters are Jamie Foxx, Ashlee Simpson, John Legend, Kobe Bryant, Leona Lewis, Paris Hilton, Slash, Taylor Swift and Shia LaBeouf (apart from those mentioned in the story).
Catch the excitement on MTV (Astro Channel 713) at 10.30pm tomorrow. Repeats are on Friday (4.30pm), Saturday (2pm) and next Sunday (9pm).
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