Jimmy Kimmel Talks Emmys Hosting Strategy: ‘I Want It To Be Jazzy!’

Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards this September and he thinks the job will be a breeze compared to heading up the White House Press Corps dinner.

“I think I’m more comfortable in front of an audience of fellow shallow Hollywood stars,” he said on Friday during ABC’s portion of the Television Critics Association summer tour, after a reporter asked which was a tougher gig.

The “Jimmy Kimmel Live” host said he hopes to be more visible during the event than some other award show hosts.

“I want it to be jazzy from beginning to end,” he said. “I don’t have a ton of control over how things go. What I do know is that I’d like to be part of the show throughout. I think sometimes at award shows the host is there at the beginning and then he or she disappears until about 45 minutes later and it’s nice to be able to comment on things as they’re happening… Hopefully I’ll be able to insert myself in the entirety of the broadcast.”

Jimmy said he expects the Emmys to have a broader appeal than his own show and noted his late night sidekick, Guillermo, will not be part of the event.

When asked by AccessHollywood.com about whether another one of his more prominent pals – Matt Damon (who often appears on his own show) — could appear on the Emmys, Jimmy said the actor is busy – for now.

“I actually did see him the other day… I think he’s busy making out with Liberace right now, filming,” Jimmy said, referring to the Liberace bio pic where Matt stars as Liberace’s lover. “So I don’t know. So far we have no plans to incorporate Matt into any aspect of my life.”

During the press event, the funnyman noted he is unlikely to throw in mean spirited barbs during the awards show and believes his relationship with Hollywood’s stars will help his jokes fly right.

“It’s, I guess, human nature,” he told reporters. “If you know somebody, you’re able to make a little bit more fun of them without them getting angry, so I think that will help me. I think I will know about 40 percent of the audience.”

He also said he planned to avoid the type of humor that could prompt “people… to come to my home with torches,” he said.

“There are certain things that are just dumb to say,” he continued. “I think Twitter has made it a lot easier to say something stupid in the middle of the night to everyone in the world and really, Twitter should be taken away from us.”

The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards air Sunday, September 23 at 8 PM ET, 5 PM PT on ABC.

Jolie Lash

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