Phil Keoghan Talks 'Amazing Race,' Emmys, and Keeping it Exciting

by **JonL0ver** Sun 15 Jun 2008, 1:41 pm

The Amazing Race is critically-acclaimed, it wins Emmys, and is well-respected within the television establishment. One of The Amazing Race's key cogs is host Phil Keoghan, an amiable Kiwi who has been the face of the series since its debut. In anticipation of the upcoming Emmy nominations and the Fall debut of The Amazing Race's 13th season, Keoghan discussed his state of mind with TVWeek.

On the Emmy nominations:

“I hope we're still included in the nominations. I think we've maintained the same standard. In fact, I feel like last season we actually went up a notch from where we were before.”

I'm not so sure that last season was any more special than previous ones, but it was certainly solid.

On keeping it fresh:

“We're going to new countries, working with new people, and when they get caught up in the enthusiasm of ‘Race,' it keeps it fresh for all of us. Their enthusiasm reminds us that we're working on something incredibly special. They bring something to it themselves because they're looking at it from a totally different perspective.”

One of my favorite things in life is traveling, and I can see exactly what Phil is talking about. Going to new countries brings you a lot of perspective, and I can imagine that doing what Phil does is incredibly satisfying.

On the rigors of production:

“People in the industry know what it's like to get 30 to 40 cameras through customs and signing equipment in and out—every bit down to the smallest microphone has to be documented in and out of countries. They understand that taking one trip to a country is something, but if you're doing it every other day and they have to negotiate in and out of airports every single leg, lights, tripods, microphones, that have to make it. The show has to go on.”

The Amazing Race's production team goes through the most daunting and difficult task, every season, that reality TV can offer. There are so many variables on the race, and it's a small wonder that no major snafus have occurred in series history.

On how it all started:

“This is a monumental thing we're doing. When we set out, I remember we all took a breath after the first leg of the first race and we all said, ‘Oh my God, what did we just unleash? And can we keep this going?' Speaking for myself, it was a little overwhelming.”

I would have loved to have been a fly on that wall for the first season. It had to be touch and go that season, everyone learning on the fly.

The Amazing Race will air on Sundays at 8pm this Fall on CBS.

SOURCE: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-amazing-race/phil-keoghan-talks-amazing-rac-20521.aspx