When the show Today with Hoda & Jenna will broadcast live from New Orleans on Monday, May 1, it will be the product of a seed Hoda Kotb planted in the minds of executives of the Today Show.
For the former WWL-TV anchor and reporter, the upcoming trip is among several previous trips to the city.
“We’ve taken our show to New Orleans because it’s my second home. But I wanted to bring the show to New Orleans for Jazz Fest for a long time. And it’s always like well, it’s on a weekend, and our shows are during the week and blah blah blah. But the bottom line is, the flavor and love that I have for that city doesn’t fade. I’ve done it in the past and I’ll do it in the future, but this is special because Jazz Fest is my favorite event in New Orleans. And you know how competitive favorite events are because there’s so many, but Jazz Fest to me is the crown jewel. So, I’m just really happy to bring Jenna, to bring the crew, to bring our executive producer to bring NBC.
You know people aren’t going to want to leave. I’m a little nervous. It may end up that way,” Hoda told me.
Hoda is speaking from experience. In the six years she spent delivering news in New Orleans, she formed bonds with the newsroom, the audience that consumed their work and the city in general. Those connections keep her personally coming back to New Orleans. And when she does, it’s often an actual production. Today with Hoda & Jenna even held a contest in which the winner got an expense paid trip to New Orleans to attend the first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and spend time with the show hosts. New Orleans and Company, the marketing wing of the tourism and hospitality industry in New Orleans is sponsoring the trip. Clearly, the exposure that Hoda and the Today Show brand brings to one of the marquee events in New Orleans is seen as an opportunity. But, at the core of the whirlwind that often follows a Hoda Kotb visit to New Orleans is a less visible gift which Hoda says the city and its people gave to her during the 1990’s.
“New Orleans gave me everything. It gave me confidence in myself to know that if people could love me, then maybe I’m worthy of that love. It gave you confidence that maybe you didn’t have going in. It gave me all the things and tools I needed in life and more than that. It gives me a place to call home,” said Hoda.
Since so much of Hoda’s current life plays out on TV or online, I thought we should do what many people in New Orleans do; talk about the good ‘ole days. Who were the people that made a lasting mark on her life? How does the late Jefferson Parish Harry Lee fit in her memories? And what was the greatest lesson she learned from Angela Hill? Listen to our conversation here.
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