The event is dubbed the 2011 Ford Hoodie Awards, with Hoodie inserted as a derivative of “neighborhood.”
Caught by phone Thursday afternoon, event founder and host Steve Harvey was in quite a tony neighborhood.
Harvey was hitting golf balls on the driving range at the TPC Summerlin, one of the valley’s finest country clubs. Harvey was prepping for the celebrity golf tournament that caps a four-day run of events revolving the Hoodie Awards. The hub of the extended weekend is Saturday’s ninth Hoodie Awards presentation at Mandalay Bay North Convention Center.
Presenters for the ninth installment include Kevin Hart, Kyle Massey, Tichina Arnold and Flamingo Las Vegas headliner George Wallace. Performances by R&B Soul stars Kem, Jill Scott and gospel singer Kirk Franklin are scheduled. Show time is 7 p.m. Tickets are $63.35; go to Ticketmaster.com for information (the event typically sells out). For information about all of the ancillary events surrounding the show, go to Steve Harvey’s Web site.
The show is to honor community businesses, leaders and organizations throughout the country and recognize the city-improvement efforts of those groups. Harvey is eager to talk about all this but takes one more swing before starting the chat.
So the interview starts with, “Given where you are and what you are doing, maybe the first question is, ‘Fore?!’ ”
“Not on that last shot!” Harvey says, laughing. “I hit that one great. But the two before that, yeah. Fore!”
More from the practice tee Q&A with the host of the syndicated “Family Feud” and feature performer in the comedy tour and Spike Lee film, “The Original Kings of Comedy.” Harvey also hosts his own radio show based in Los Angeles, “The Steve Harvey Morning Show,” which is where the idea of the Hoodies was born:
John Katsilometes: Do you recall exactly where you were and the environment you were in when you came up with the idea of the Hoodies?
Steve Harvey: I was in L.A., on the radio, talking to my radio partner Rushion (McDonald, co-producer of the Hoodies), and I was talking about how I was blessed to be able to walk on the red carpet at these events. I’d won a bunch of awards, and I thought how great it would be if the common man could feel that. I said, “Suppose we honored people from the neighborhoods we’re from, just to say thank you for keeping our communities nice, to share that?” And we came up with the Hoodies.
J.K.: The list of 12 honorees is wide-ranging. You’ve got Best Church Choir, Best High School, Best Soul Food, Best Fried Chicken, Best Barber Shop. How did you arrive at the categories?
S.H.: Well, you know, before, when we did the show in L.A., we had 16 categories. We had Best Mexican Restaurant, but not every city is going to have that. Best Shoeshine Shop, not everyone has that. So we thought, let’s vote on some businesses that are more universal, now that we have a national show coming from Las Vegas, so we’ve got people voting for Best Nail Salon, Best Car Wash, Best Beauty Salon, and everybody is eligible.
J.K.: These awards must be a boon to the winners.
S.H.: It’s incredible. We bring the top four nominees out and announce the winners at the show, and these people appear before thousands of people. The winners have seen up to a 30 or 35 percent increase in business.
J.K.: As you mentioned, the show has been held in both L.A. and in Las Vegas over the years. What about Las Vegas appeals to you?
S.H.: Well, now that we have a national show, we need a neutral stage, and Las Vegas is that. It can accommodate everything we want to do, it has a full range of venues. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Las Vegas. It is the place, I mean, c’mon! It has it all!
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow "Kats With the Dish" at twitter.com/KatsWithTheDish.