Reality-show hosting is a tough gig, Emmy recognition for it even tougher

During the course of hosting more than 200 episodes of “America’s Got Talent,” Nick Cannon has (by his own accounting) sung, danced, mimed and pranked.

“I’ve risked my life, stood on top of the Grand Canyon and the Golden Gate Bridge, and scuba dived with sharks,” he says.

And he has zero reality host Emmy nominations to show for it. Cannon may be one of the longest-running reality show hosts, but he’s not alone among the reality show host veterans who’ve been left behind by Emmy voters. Ever since the category of host for a reality or reality-competition category was introduced in 2007, only five people have earned the prize. And none of them has been “American Idol’s” Ryan Seacrest, “The Voice’s” Carson Daly, “Top Chef’s” Padma Lakshmi or “Amazing Race’s” Phil Keoghan.

Part of the problem is that at their best, hosts are in the background. “It’s like when you watch golf,” says Daly, who has no host nominations. “You think about how easy it is, then you go on the driving range and completely miss the ball. If someone can make one of these shows look like, ‘I can do that!’ then they’re doing their job.”

Keoghan (four nominations as host) has the additional challenge of not always being able to glam himself up for the camera – or even clean himself up. “Twelve shows in 21 days in 10 or more countries,” he notes. “All the jet lag and lack of sleep means the synapses don’t fire as quickly toward the end [of a season], and I find it harder to make efficient script changes and remember my scripts.”

Lakshmi, who has one nomination (with co-host Tom Colicchio), says the structure of her show doesn’t allow for much personality to emerge. “I do think the version of me that people see is so narrow because of how formatted our show is,” she says, adding that she also has the unusual challenge of conveying something viewers can’t experience for themselves – the taste of a particular food dish.

One other thing that voters may not consider is the live element with which many reality hosts must sink or swim. Seacrest, who hosted “Idol” live for 15 seasons, has six host nominations and no wins. This year is the last he’ll be eligible for a win for hosting it. “Live television is something I prefer,” he says. “There’s no safety net. You either cover something as it happens, or it shows to the world. It’s a sitcom circus.”

Seacrest has an Emmy already for his producing work on “Food Revolution.” But one for his unique talents as a host would be welcome in many quarters. “It would be very, very special to me. Even more so because the show closed this year. And it would be especially nice for my mom.”

--Randee Dawn