Giddyup!
NBC's looking for a way to get more real people engaged in its hours-long coverage of Saturday's Kentucky Derby from Churchill Downs.
So they’re turning to the, um, real-est person they know:
Johnny Weir.
Joined by his on-air partner Tara Lipinski, the champion figure skater-turned-NBC "fashion and lifestyle reporter" will cover the scene starting at noon on cable channel NBCSN; coverage of the 142nd Run for the Roses moves over to NBC at 4 p.m.
Weir, whose outfits tend to be even more colorful than his on-air commentary (and that’s saying a lot), is upping the ante Saturday. As usual, he’ll be sporting some sort of outrageous hat worthy of the Derby. But this year, he’ll be also be wearing a “Tweet-powered” brooch on his lapel.
Shaped like a white horse, the brooch will light up and gallop at frenzied levels dependent on how much "conversation is generated on Twitter around Johnny's hat" using a specific hashtag, NBC says.
And that hashtag is …
#WatchMeNeighNeigh.
NBC also announced this week that Lipinski and Weir (who, it must be said, bring a refreshing level of candor and insight to much of their on-air work) will serve as correspondents for its coverage of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The former figure skaters will explore the "rich culture" of Rio, NBC said, which sounds like lots of time spent on Ipanema, Copacabana and the rest of its famed sexy beaches.
Gulp. Are we really ready to see Johnny sporting a light-up brooch on his Speedo?
