... or the Beloved Entertainer

Jim M emails with the observation that Elvis Costello's move into TV presenting isn't entirely comfortable:

the phrase "vanity project" springs to mind. Some of us remember when Costello confined his TV appearances to those occasions when he he actually had something to say, or perform. He's now turned into the sort of media darling he would once have scorned in his lyrics.

How showbiz is the project? The New York Times explains:

Cue Elton John. Mr. John and David Furnish, his partner, are friends of Mr. Costello’s through his wife, the jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall. (The two were married at Mr. John and Mr. Furnish’s English castle in 2003.) So last year, when Mr. Furnish was approached by a Canadian production company about creating a music-oriented program, one frontman came to mind.

It's not just a vanity project, it's a bloody vanity unit.