Originally posted Thursday, October 10, 2019 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
For the first time in its 27-year history, the Trumpet Awards is leaving Atlanta and going to the bright lights of Hollywood in 2020 with comedienne Wanda Sykes as host.
The awards - created by civil rights legend Xernona Clayton in the early 1990s to celebrate notable African Americans across multiple fields - have been aired on Atlanta-based Bounce TV since 2017.
Past honorees include Muhammad Ali, Maya Angelou, Ray Charles, President Nelson Mandela, Beyoncé, Janelle Monáe, Steve Harvey, Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry, Stevie Wonder, Spike Lee and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Bounce will tape the awards show at Hollywood’s vaunte Dolby Theatre on December 4 and air it on Sunday, February 23, 2020.
"Relocating the Bounce Trumpet Awards to Hollywood gives us an opportunity to build upon the show's enormous entertainment value by tapping into Hollywood's talent resources," said Bounce's Executive Vice President of Original Programming David Hudson in a press release.
The awards were originally conceived by Clayton, an Atlanta-based civil rights leader and broadcasting executive. She hosted a daily prime-time talk show and was an executive at Turner Broadcasting.
In an exclusive interview Friday, Clayton said she is now a consultant, no longer handling day-to-day operations. When a producer suggested the move to Hollywood, she said she was fine with the idea, that the show was in need of a “refresh.”
"He wants to give the show a new look and vitality," Clayton said.
She once moved the awards show to Vegas for a year and she said she got a lot of flak for it. She expects a similar reaction this time.
Clayton said this is not necessarily permanent, that it’s an experiment to see if the show can add more glitz and glamour to it by being in Los Angeles.
A few years ago, the Soul Train Awards were shot in Atlanta but left for Las Vegas in 2012. The BET Hip Hop Awards has been in Atlanta since it debuted in 2006.
Credit: Marcus Ingram
Credit: Marcus Ingram
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