During the Grammy’s last night I spent more than hour on the web seeking the name of the (obviously accomplished) live female announcer on CBS for the big show.
The frustrating search turned up nothing (and I’m pretty good at this).
I checked all over…CBS sites, Grammy sites, LA Times, Huffington Post, Entertainment sites. I did advanced searches, Boolean searches. No mention no where. This is the business we work in. Apparently we’re the only ones who care or notice.
Finally, I launched the question on FaceBook.
Interestingly, other Voice Actors were thinking the same thing, and a healthy thread got going. Randy Thomas‘ name came up first, but in the end the defnitive answer came from Melanie Haynes, who (living in a different time zone) was able to fast forward her TIVO recording to the credits rolling at the end, and saw the listing for the announcer: Ellen K.
Here is a webpage extolling her appearance as the announcer on the 2012 Grammys. (2012, not 2013)
Here are my unadorned observations about this whole experience:
1) I’ve never heard of Ellen K…but apparently that only shows my own (a) seclusion (b) stupidity (c) pop culture ignorance (d) lack of sophistication.
2) Do announcers from Dallas or Des Moines ever get these gigs? Certainly there are qualified talent all over the US. Hollywood helps its own (or they’re too lazy to search, or Ellen has a great agent, or proximity really does count).
3) Is the identity of the live announcer for one of the most-watched shows on the year’s TV schedule so insignificant that even Google’s best search bots can’t find it (see #4)
4) …which means Ellen K’s publicist should be fired if the most recent Ellen K hype is from LAST YEAR’S Grammy’s.
5) Stop telling me radio is not a gateway to Voice Over jobs. Even if it WAS Randy Thomas, or Beau Weaver, or Joe Cipriano (I could go on)…all of them made their name FIRST in radio. (Ellen K is Ryan Seacrest’s sidekick on KIIS’s morning show in LA’s radio scene).
6) If being a voice actor making the really good coin, and it means EVERYTHING to you…move to LA or NYC. Apparently proximity DOES count.
People finding fault with #6 above will quickly point out that certain high-earning talent (like Randy Thomas) no longer live in either of those cities. Right. But they moved only AFTER making it big in the big city.
Congrats Ellen K. Good to meet you, and nice going on the Grammy’s last night!
CourVO
