Elvis Costello Turns Talk Show Host Wed.

Chewing the fat with Elton John, Lou Reed, Tony Bennett, Rufus Wainwright and more.

By Fred Mills

As previously outlined in this space, Elvis Costello is about to become a more-or-less talk show host when his new program for the Sundance Channel, Spectacle With Elvis Costello, debuts. And it's happening this week on the respected cable channel - Wednesday night, at 9 pm EST. Described as "a mix of music, talk, and music-oriented talk," it won't be featuring Paris Hilton, stupid people tricks or actors plugging their latest film, as one glance at the lineup should clue you in: Elton John (who appears in this week's debut program), Lou Reed, Tony Bennett, Rufus Wainwright and Smokey Robinson.

To date 13 episodes have been taped in New York, both at Studio 8H and the Apollo Theater. Costello kicks off each segment by doing a song by that show's guest; he'll do "Bordertown" for the Elton John episode.

In a story published in Sunday's New York Times the show is likened to a "a blend of The Dick Cavett Show, Inside the Actors Studio and Charlie Rose." Quoted in the article is Sundance Channel general manager Laura Michalchyshyn, who commented, on approaching Costell, "When I met him for our pitch, he said, ‘I want this be to a show about genres of music that may have been forgotten, about artists that haven't been in the spotlight and people performing in a way they haven't before.' His big, big point was ‘We are going to film for a much longer period than a conventional talk show. We're going to jam.' "

Added Costello, on why he was finally persuaded, after some hesitation, to take the gig, "[There's] no compulsion to talk about the new product, the thing that's coming out next week. And nobody's saying, ‘Wind it up after a couple seconds because we've got to get to the recipes.' "

Read the entire article HERE.