Word: hosting
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
This is, without a doubt, the sexiest setting ever for a meeting of aspiring astronauts: under swaying palm trees on the beach of a private island owned by Richard Branson in the British Virgin Islands. It is the week after Thanksgiving, and Branson is playing host to a "galactic get-together" on Necker Island. Beer and wine are being consumed like so much rocket fuel. Sushi floats in on a boat--to the middle of the pool. (Swimsuits required!) There's a casino party one night, a tennis tourney in the pouring rain and golf off the top deck...
...Beijing is getting ready to host the 2008 Olympics, but even that can't explain why the government just spent some $56,000 painting southwest China's Laoshou Mountain green to cover up scars left by a strip-mining operation. Here are some of China's other "beautification" campaigns that are in the works...
When I heard that Ellen DeGeneres was going to host the Oscars, I thought, They're sure playing it safe. In 2005 and 2006 the Academy went edgy--well, Oscar edgy--with hosts Chris Rock and Jon Stewart. This year they got likable Ellen, Finding Nemo Ellen, good-natured, dancing Ellen...
...remarkable how unremarkable it is that a gay person is hosting the Oscars. True, it's not as if we lack for gay people watching the Oscars, and DeGeneres did host the Emmys in 2001. But the Academy Awards is something else; with the Super Bowl and American Idol, it's one of our last three true mass-media rituals. Its host is the de facto M.C. of mainstream America. And it's not as if homosexuality has faded as an issue. When gay people unite a mass of straight people, it's usually for defense-of-marriage ballot issues...
...DeGeneres is not the only lesbian host who's having a great year. Last fall Rosie O'Donnell took over The View like the loudest third-grader at a school recital and made it a must-see--building buzz, tweaking Donald Trump and waving her sexuality like a semaphore flag. This doesn't mean America is about to elect Barney Frank President. But it means that in the intimate genre of TV hosting, there's an open seat for gay people at the national coffee table...