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‘Showtime at the Apollo’ to Be Revived With a Popular Host

Oct 13, 2016  •  Post A Comment

The classic talent showcase “Showtime at the Apollo” is coming back to TV as a two-hour event to be hosted by Steve Harvey. The program will air Monday, Dec. 5, on Fox.

A second special, also to be hosted by Harvey, will air as a one-hour program in early 2017.

The project marks a homecoming for Harvey, who launched his own career at the famed theater.

“Also to be featured in the special are elements from the Apollo’s legendary Amateur Night — the long-running, live talent competition, now in its 82nd year — which provides a platform for up-and-coming artists to perform in front of the toughest audience in the world,” Fox notes in its announcement.

The announcement adds: “The Apollo audience is famed as one of entertainment’s most boisterous and brutally honest and those amateurs who don’t win over the crowd risk being booed off the stage. Amateur Night at the Apollo launched the careers of many iconic artists, including James Brown, Stevie Wonder, Lauryn Hill, Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five, D’Angelo and countless others, and the show continues to present new talent on the legendary Apollo stage every Wednesday night.”

Said Harvey: “I’m excited to be going back home to the Apollo to celebrate the history of this great theater. I have great memories from my time there, and this is going to be a homecoming party that you won’t want to miss.”

Added Jonelle Procope, President and CEO of the Apollo Theater and an executive producer of the special: “Since its inception in 1934, the world’s original talent competition — Amateur Night at the Apollo — was, and continues to be, a primary source for discovering new talent and spotlighting up-and-coming artists. That tradition was continued with the successful 21-year run of the ‘Showtime at the Apollo’ television program. We’re proud to continue to produce our live, weekly show, and are equally excited to be partnering with FOX to produce this ‘Showtime at the Apollo’ special and to bring the Apollo experience back to television!”

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