Who is 'the host of Jeopardy!'?

With the final week of Alex Trebek at the helm of Jeopardy! upon us, a few thoughts:

• According to a press release from Sony, Trebek makes notable comments at the top of Monday's show (January 4), and there will be a tribute segment at the end of Friday's show.

• It seems we're maybe going to get a series of guest hosts for a while, and I think that's an excellent idea. There's no need to rush into anointing the successor; take the time to get it right.

• In the following week (January 11), uber-champion Ken Jennings begins his turn as guest host. His aptitude for this seems to have been met with some skepticism among fans, but I say give him his chance. He's had enough time in the limelight to become at ease with it, and his ability to do the schmoozing with contestants might surprise us all. Or not. My gut feeling is that he will not become the permanent host, but who knows.

• Quite forgotten amidst all this is the one fine audition that's already in the can: Jeff Probst's 100-episode stint as host of Rock & Roll Jeopardy! (1998-2001) on VH1; episodes also aired on the Game Show Network for a time. He's a smooth question reader and an amiable personality, and his long tenure on Survivor has only made him more capable. Sometimes the solution is right under your nose …

• Other possibilities? This is difficult, since we don't really have professional game show emcees anymore; Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak is now the last of the old guard. As I've said before, it's unfortunate that third-tier comedians and random actors have become the go-to choices to host game shows. It's been reported that politico George Stephanopoulos has expressed interest in the gig. He's a nice chap — give him his turn as guest host — but I don't think he's The One. I think one direction to consider might be a larger than life personality — the Millionaire team had the right idea when they snagged Regis Philbin. It will take someone with gravity and gravitas to successfully follow Alex Trebek.

An episode of Rock & Roll Jeopardy:

 

Music that moved me in 2020

Most played (new songs)

For songs released in or near 2020, Pet Shop Boys win the year with “New Boy,” a “b-side” from the “I Don’t Wanna” single. It’s one of those brilliantly maudlin midtempo meditations they reel off effortlessly, like “Only the Wind” and “Always,” which are often buried as extra tracks on singles and are better than most of what’s on the accompanying album.

The runners-up are the Pets’ “Only the Dark” from this year’s Hotspot album and “Do You Feel,” which emerged as the favorite from La Roux’s latest album, Supervision.

Most played (oldies)

Don Henley’s synthy “Sunset Grill” wins by a point over three tied songs — Tori Amos’ “Silent All These Years,” The Lighting Seeds’ “Don’t Let Go” and Paula Abdul’s “The Promise of a New Day (7” Edit).” When I went to an Eagles concert in Tupelo with my parents back around ’99 or so, the highlight for me was “Sunset Grill.”

Most interesting

From the first time I heard it, I thought Miley Cyrus’ “Midnight Sky” was the most interesting song of the year. It feels like she’s channeling the dark electronic sounds of The Weeknd on this one, and the whole Plastic Hearts album is sounding strikingly good.

What’s so hot about the Hot 100?

It’s becoming a trend that one song from Billboard’s Hot 100 of the year makes my year-end chart. This year, somewhat surprisingly, it’s Billboard’s top song of the year, “Blinding Lights,” by The Weeknd, which sits at #59 on my year-ender. It’s probably his best since "Can't Feel My Face," although I ended up playing “In Your Eyes,” with that killer sax riff, more (#27 for the year); it is currently in my top 10, having recently topped my chart, and could have finished even higher if its run had come earlier.

Lukewarm

Some of my core favorite artists significantly underperformed with new releases (this, sadly, has been a recurring theme in the last few years). With Chromatica, it’s time to accept that Lady Gaga isn’t going to reach the heights of The Fame / The Fame Monster / Born This Way and, to a slightly lesser degree, Artpop, again. Chromatica, to my ears, has a disturbing homogeneity, particularly when compared to her first few albums. It does land a couple of songs on the year-end chart — “Alice” (#51) and “911” (#56). Then there’s Erasure, whose last several albums have underwhelmed; their lone entry from The Neon is “Shot a Satellite” (#62). And the Pets’ Hotspot had some gems, as always, but it was not at all what I expected for the conclusion of their trilogy with Stuart Price, who has essentially been a Pet Shop Boy for the past decade.

Posthumously

It’s not unusual for me to have a Roxette song in rotation, and the late 2019 death of Marie Fredriksson had me hunting for some deeper cuts. They finish the year with several entries — “Wish I could Fly” (#32), “Queen of Rain” (#44) and “Perfect Day” (#66). And my favorite Eddie Money tune, “I Wanna Go Back,” is in at #78, while the posthumously released George Michael song “This is How (We Want You to Get High)" scrapes in at #95.

Ava Max

“Sweet but Psycho” was big enough to repeat; it was #53 for 2019 and #90 for 2020. “Kings & Queens” finished at #115 this year.

The chart statistics are courtesy of scrobbling via Last.fm.

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