Musician Harry Connick Jr. has gotten a taste of the small screen and wants more.
After a few year stint as a music expert/coach on FOX’ biggest show American Idol, the super-successful, Grammy winning artist and actor will star in a new daytime variety show, Harry, premiering September 12 on FOX.
Harry talked to Parade magazine about his new variety show, his love of food from his native New Orleans, giving back, and then some.
On his new TV show, he’ll be having fun with celebrities. “It’s going to be a real party,” he says. “Mindy Kaling was on the pilot and talked about singing a Disney song while auditioning for a Broadway show. Next thing you know, I accompanied her as she sang it.”
But he’ll also celebrate “real people”—teachers, Girl Scouts, single moms—and sometimes take over their chores for a day. “We’re featuring so many good people in this world. They’re dignified; they have deep work ethics. It’s fulfilling for me to be around people like that.”
His tailgating smoker bears the logo of his favorite team, the New Orleans Saints. But his red beans and rice, a traditional Cajun dish, doesn’t taste as good as it does back home. “It’s hard to find food that tastes the same way. The general consensus is that there’s probably something about the local water that contributes to the flavor.”
In his New Orleans hometown, after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he and fellow musician Branford Marsalis created Musicians Village, a group of homes, duplexes, a park and the Ellis Marsalis Center for Music. “New Orleans gave me everything. I felt compelled to do something. The Village will be there forever.”