During the 2017 Emmys, the announcer threatened to completely steal the show.
Jermaine Fowler almost instantly endeared himself to the audience with perfectly picked musical introductions and a whole lot of fan-boying as the stars were introduced. His enthusiasm and excitement didn’t go unnoticed, and Twitter immediately started to obsess over Fowler’s unique take on introducing the stars in an awards show that often takes itself and its stars too seriously.
Usually, the announcers are much more hushed and are kept off-camera, but for this year, the Emmys decided to shift gears, showing Fowler on-screen and letting him ad-lib and gush over all the stars at the show.
“What we will do is have Jermaine be an active part of the show. He will be connected with what’s happened on the telecast and what happens next,” said CBS Entertainment EVP Jack Sussman in an interview with Deadline before the show. “What we want to do is get a peek behind the curtain in a fun, engaging way.”
Of course, not everyone liked the change, with a few Twitter users suggesting that they wanted to go back to the usual format. One user even suggested that Sean Spicer would be a better announcer.
But either way, Fowler had the internet abuzz all night.
Yea, uh, no. Not feeling @jermaineFOWLER on @TheEmmys as narrator tonight. Thought it was @christuckerreal. #LilTooHip @CBS pic.twitter.com/kWy468kaBa
— kl swa (@swannlake202) September 18, 2017