Dawn of Superwoman
AMMAARAH MOOKADAM
Lilly Singh is making her big move from online to on air. Singh, better known for her YouTube alter ego, Superwoman, made the announcement that she’s getting her own late night show while visiting as a guest, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on 14 March. They were joined by fellow late night host, Seth Meyers, to officially toast and celebrate Singh’s newest project. Her new show will replace Last Call with Carson Daly on NBC and is to be called A Little Late with Lilly Singh. She’ll also be the executive producer of the show alongside her friend, Polly Auritt, who heads Singh’s production company, Unicorn Island Productions.
Singh’s hosting this new show is historic as this makes Lilly Singh the first woman to host a late night show in recent times. CNN claimed that “it’s no secret that the world of late night has long been a boys’ club, from the heyday of Johnny Carson in the 1970s to David Letterman and Jay Leno in the 1990s.” Singh not only takes the leap for women in this male-dominated field, but does so as a woman of colour , a child born from immigrant parents and part of the queer community. There hasn’t been a host this non-conforming on American late night television since Trevor Noah replaced John Stewart on The Daily Show.
“Lilly is truly a star and we’re thrilled to welcome her to our NBC family,” said Doug Vaughan, executive vice president of NBC Entertainment. “She is a multi-talented performer who will surely have a great rapport with not only all her guests but also with our devoted late-night audience. We can’t wait to get started.”
“Lilly is truly a star and we’re thrilled to welcome her to our NBC family”
Lilly made a name for herself as Superwoman on YouTube almost nine years ago, posting relatable content and playing caricatures of her Indian parents. As the years progressed, Singh started to divert from humorous, easy binge-watching videos and became more serious regarding topics of racism, sexism, mental health and homophobia. She created a safe space of expression for herself and her fans in her YouTube community and cultivated a worldwide loving fanbase with fans ranging from ages of four to forty.
With over 14 million subscribers, multiple celebrity cameos and corporative collaborations in 2016, Singh’s next endeavour was her self-help book, How To Be A Bawse ? It hit number one on The New York Times’ monthly business bestseller list. What began as making fan-favourite parody videos of rap/ pop songs took a professional route for Singh as she has now sat in the studio and recorded credible music alongside Humble The Poet and exclusive sets for their music videos. She’s been on two world tours – last year was her first time in South Africa – where she hosts fan-meeting conventions as well as philanthropic campaigns. Over the years Singh has had minor roles in TV series and movies and even her own YouTube Original documentary, A Trip To Unicorn Island, but last year she had a major role, starring opposite Michael B. Jordan in HBO’s adaptation of Fahrenheit 451. She’s frequently featured on the Forbes List and the reigning queen of YouTube but manages to always remain grounded to her roots.
We can expect the same free-spirited energy and serious approach from Singh’s YouTube videos in A Little Late with Lilly Singh. Her career trajectory has only been about breaking barriers while entertaining others, so her late night show will only prove how super a multi-faceted woman like her can be.
Photo: Youtube.com
