Today the Recording Academy confirmed that LL Cool J will be the host at The Grammys when they go down on February 8. It was hardly a surprise to anyone who's paid attention in recent years: The emcee has hosted the event every year since 2012. That said, it's tough to blame the Academy and CBS for not wanting to shake things up: Although the performer will have now hosted 10 times, the recent results don't lie. The previous three years have featured, respectively, the no. 1, 3, and 2 highest viewerships since the '80s (the 2012 edition got a boost from those tuning in after Whitney Houston's death).
Still, couldn't the bump in viewers come from elsewhere besides the host? After all, this isn't the Oscars-people watch for music, not humor. No offense to Cool J but we came up with a crack list of five other hosting possibilities for the network to consider, just in case you can't break any records during 2015.
Queen Latifah
Let's break down the formula for deciding a good Grammy host. On one hand, they need to be in touch with the current face of music. Secondly, they need to not frighten the typical viewer, who is probably whiter and older than the average music fan. LL Cool J is perfect: He's still connected to the hip-hop world thanks to classic such as "Mama Said Knock You Out" but he's recognizable to my mom's TV demographic thanks to his role in NCIS: Los Angeles. Queen Latifah falls into the same Venn diagram, having made herself within the world of hip-hop and then reintroduced herself as an actress in many a family film. Experience doesn't hurt: She hosted the 2005 Grammys while receiving critical acclaim. The formula applies to quite a few individuals from the old-school hip-hop scene. Ice Cube and Ice T might take a few years to make it there.
Beyoncé
No one in the music world—except for icons such as Paul McCartney, David Bowie and Bruce Springsteen—has such universal acclaim as Beyoncé. Taylor Swift has more fans to be sure, but the loathing that those on the outskirts hold for her is so extreme that she'll turn away non-Swift fans from the program. Bey also has her one-upped when it comes to public speaking. Considering that McCartney and Bowie aren't in the best shape for such a role, and Springsteen simply wouldn't do it, why not invite Beyoncé as a performer/host? Latifah also performed when she last hosted but we have grander aspirations: The Tonys take the cake for the best performances of any awards show, not because you know the songs but because they're so massive in scale. Imagine the pop star filling in where Neil Patrick Harris has stood during Broadway's big night, as the centerpiece of a massive opening number.
Billy Crystal
Earlier we mentioned that "people watch for music, not humor." We're going to flip-flop harder than John Kerry on this one and throw out the name of the most popular Academy Awards host of the last 40-or-so years: Billy Crystal. Consider why people love Crystal so much at the Oscars: There's his classy and hilarious off-the-cuff humor, but more importantly there's his genuine interest in the subject matter. He's a great repeat at the Oscars because he's never gotten bored or detached from his role among the A-listers. Imagine how enthused he would be to work in an entirely different field from his typical film crowd. This experiment has happened before and it worked out great as you can see in this video from Crystal hosting during 1988, the second of a three-year run.
Blake Shelton
The finger on the pulse of youth that hip-hop performers present is great but there are a whole lot of genres out there for the Recording Academy and CBS to choose from. Believe it or not, as of 2015 there hasn't been a host at the Grammys that hasn't been associated with hip-hop (we admittedly phrased that so you wouldn't realize that every years from 2003 to 2015 that wasn't hosted by Cool J or Latifah didn't actually have a host. That's eight of the years during that stretch). Regardless of our statistical deception, it's at least worth a shot to get some new blood in there. One name that stands out from the country category would be Blake Shelton, popular not only for his music but also as the most successful coach on The Voice. Viewers obviously agree with his choice in contestants based on his results. A wise executive might include his wife Miranda Lambert—another well-liked face in the industry—in the proceedings as well, drawing support from both sides of the genre line.
Steven Colbert
People like Steven Colbert. Even more than they like Jon Stewart. That's why Comedy Central was forced to cut ties with the former at the behest of its more devious satirical news host. OK, not really, but Colbert did land the job of replacing David Letterman on The Late Show, which indicates that people really do like you and television executives think you've got the right stuff. Does his style of comedy mesh with the broadcast? We'd vote yes...no skits required. On the other hand, the last time a Late Show icon hosted an awards show was 1994, when Letterman notoriously led what's been called the worst Oscars ceremony of all time and pissed off Oprah Winfrey in the process. This might have been the perfect year to bring in Colbert if we were CBS...after all, The Late Show is their gig and this would have been the perfect opportunity to do some advanced advertising.
