Emmys Welcome Kanye, Jersey Boys...Justin?

Wed., Sep. 12, 2007 12:55 PM PDT by Gina Serpe

The Emmy Awards are taking a cue from the Grammys. And the Tonys. But not, luckily for Kanye West, from the Video Music Awards.

Despite having no obvious ties to the TV world, the VMA-deprived rapper has been confirmed to perform at this Sunday's Primetime Emmys. Also joining the bill is the cast of Broadway's Jersey's Boys, which will perform a musical tribute to The Sopranos.

West, who vowed this week to keep himself and his videos away from MTV after going home empty-handed from the cable net's ceremony over the weekend, apparently has no such qualms with network TV and will perform a musical number during this weekend's show.

According to E! Online Senior Editor Marc Malkin, who first reported the unusual booking last week, the hip-hop star will perform as part of a skit inspired by some of the current music competition shows and will be joined onstage by The Office star—and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series nominee—Rainn Wilson.

Emmy producers confirmed to E! News anchor, and Emmy host, Ryan Seacrest that West would indeed be taking part in the show, though did not specify in what capacity. Fox, which is televising the ceremony, has so far declined to comment on the potential Wilson-West partnership.

But there was no such omertà at the network when it came to another song-and-dance routine. Ken Erlich, the longtime executive producer of the Emmy telecast, trumpeted the Jersey Boys' salute to those other Jersey boys in a press release Wednesday.

"We would be remiss if we didn't recognize the longtime contribution to television by one of our medium's most creative and durable drama series, The Sopranos," he said.

The Tony-winning musical follows the meteoric rise of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons from the blue-collar streets of Newark to international stardom. The show's four stars will pay homage to Tony Soprano and families, who over the course of their television tenure have garnered 18 Emmys and are up for another 15 on Sunday.

But Erlich isn't quite as chatty about another of the evening's potential musical acts, the much-speculated reprise of Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake's already Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live number, "Dick in a Box."

The duo scored the award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics at last weekend's Creative Arts Emmys. Samberg told reporters backstage that he was in talks with Emmy producers; however, Timberlake's rep said the singer's only engagement for the evening is a concert later Sunday night down the street at Los Angeles' Staples Center.

Whoever shows up to the ceremony, though, can do so with something of a clean conscience. Fox has unveiled plans for its "Green with Emmy" campaign, attempting to use only eco-friendly renewable energy to power the broadcast. Organizers already installed a solar panel canopy above the red carpet and will combine solar, wind energy and hydropower for the remainder of the show.

Still, the network, whose goal is to become entirely carbon neutral by 2010, isn't going completely green. Organizers shot down early plans to change the hue of the red carpet to something a little more shamrock in honor of Mother Nature.