Best Casting Award: Hosts/Judges
A film and television casting director’s best casting list
The all-time best casting award for hosts or judges on reality television, as chosen by a film and television casting director. Will the winners surprise you?
What makes great host or judge reality television show casting? Read on to find out the top ten all-time best host or judge casting picks, as chosen by a film and television casting director. See if you agree with the winners and reasons why these hosts or judges made the best casting list. What do you think?
Honorable Mention:
Jaymes Foster-Levy: Popstars. The female Simon Cowell. Jaymes’ cutting remarks made more than one inspiring singer cry. Her ex-husband, David Foster, has followed in her footsteps as a judge on Celebrity Duets and he has also appeared on American Idol.
Little Richard: Celebrity Duets. I’m still trying to figure out what he was saying and I loved it!
#10 Tommy Lee, Dave Navarro and Jason Newsted: Rockstar: Supernova. It’s like you are hanging out backstage! Racy, racy, racy…
#9 Andy Dick: The Assistant. So what if the majority of the show was scripted? Andy made me laugh! Also, he appeared as a host on The Surreal Life.
#8 Any Guest Judge: American Idol. I love to hear the creative comments after their song has been completely butchered!
#7 Phil Keoghan: The Amazing Race. The Amazing Race’s Emmy award winning show success is largely due to Phil’s hosting skills (while experiencing severe jetlag and often confused as to the continent he is currently on).
#6 Donald Trump: The Apprentice. The Donald’s not only a real-estate mogul, he’s also a television star! Donald Trump also recently received a star on the coveted Hollywood Walk of Fame.
#5 Tim Gunn: Project Runway. Although Heidi Klum is the official host of Project Runway, Tim’s upscale good looks, warm personality and extreme talent make him the star. Tim is such a hit on Project Runway that it is often impossible to access his blog on Bravo.com.
#4 Ryan Seacrest: American Idol. Poor Brian Dunkleman, who knew?
#3 Jeff Probst: Survivor. Seven years and counting!
#2 Simon Cowell: American Idol. The casting director and producers of Popstars knew that Simon was a television star and asked him to be a judge. Simon passed, later regretted it and helped create American Idol. Add Paula Abdul to the mix and you have magic. Plus, Simon is always right!
#1 Anderson Cooper: The Mole Season 1. The Mole was a not a bad career boost for Anderson Cooper. The result? Anderson has several multimillion-dollar television news contracts with multiple networks.
