Blogger Perez Hilton arrives at the 2009 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok
AUSTIN, Texas (Billboard) - Perez Hilton aims to hit Ryan Seacrest where it hurts.
The celebrity blogger will be launching a weekly music countdown show in the coming months, he told Billboard in an interview at the South By Southwest music festival.
“I’m really excited about it,” Hilton said, “because I want a cooler alternative to Ryan Seacrest.”
Hilton envisions the radio show as a platform for interviews as well as a mix of music. “I want the best songs in the country, plus, sprinkle that with my own picks: songs that I would love to expose the masses to.”
The Perezhilton.com mogul will also be launching a new website, but he was mum on details about that venture.
As for the countdown show, Hilton explained that he wants to “book great talent ... I want to talk in depth with Lady Gaga and Katy Perry and all of these acts whom I have relationships with. (I want to) ask them the questions that Ryan Seacrest would not ask them. I want to ask Justin Bieber, ‘Have you seen that website LesbiansWhoLookLikeJustinBieber.com?’”
I can make fun of someone,” Hilton said with a coy grin. “and still be a fan.”
On the final Saturday of South by Southwest, Perez put his talent-booking skills on display with a party on Austin’s Brazos Street that featured Macy Gray and Snoop Dogg. “It’s a beautiful storm, an awesome storm,” Hilton said of the show, which he called “1 Night in Austin.”
