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Premiering Friday, December 11 at 10 p.m. ET on CTV.

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by: Tyrone Warner
Date: 12/8/2009 3:22:00 PM ET

Known for his wit as much as his music, Elvis Costello says he used to be a stubborn interview subject and sometimes fabricated his own responses.

Having been on the receiving end of a countless number of interviews, Costello admits that he was “less cooperative” earlier in his career, but now accepts that “Some things bear explanation, I suppose.”

And now that he’s been on both sides of the table, Costello has a good idea of what makes for a good interview.

“If the interviewer is not listening to what you’re saying, then there’s really no point of you being there. If I sense that a guy is a pompous ass or an idiot, I’ll make stuff up,” admits Costello.

“I’ll talk about my pet iguana or something.”

However, as the host of “Spectacle: Elvis Costello With…,” the musician-turned-host won’t have to worry about losing the interest of his subjects. With in-depth discussions and illustrative performances, “Spectacle” explores what goes on in the creative process, and how inspirations play a part in songwriting.

In the first season of the series, “Spectacle” featured guests like Smokey Robinson, Lou Reed, Kris Kristofferson and Bill Clinton. Season two begins with guests Bono and the Edge in Toronto’s Masonic Temple, where the duo talk about their musical influences and their charity work.

Season two is the first time “Spectacle” has filmed at the temple, which has its own storied history as a music venue and a television studio.

Built around 90 years ago and once known as the Rockpile, the venue saw Led Zeppelin’s first concert in Toronto, served as one of the Rolling Stones’ rehearsal venues, and now is the location of MTV Canada and their shows “MTV Live” and “The Hills Aftershow.”

After shooting the first season of the series in both the NBC facility 8H in New York City (where “Saturday Night Live” tapes) and the famed Apollo Theatre, Costello has learned that there are very specific qualities needs that a venue must meet in order to do the show properly.

“If you can get the combination of a venue that is ideal for playing, and is relatively intimate in size so that when you are doing the talking section you don’t feel as if you’re having this conversation in an aircraft hanger -- and all the technical things taken care of adequately -- you’re not going to be struggling to make it work for television,” Costello tells CTV.ca.

“The sightlines in the Masonic Temple are great for performers communicating with the audience, with the cameras in a good relationship with the stage. I think the two episodes we shot there look great.”

As for the future of “Spectacle,” Costello tells CTV.ca that he would like to set the record straight about his attitude towards the program, which he believes has been misconstrued.

“Unfortunately one of the first interviews I did for the launch of the series -- and has been excerpted in a couple places -- gives the impression that I’m very negative about the program,” explains Costello.

“I answered quite honestly that vocationally I am not a journalist or a television presenter -- and it’s something I’ve got to do as an aside from the vocation that I have as a musician. To concentrate on that exclusively -- it becomes attached to headlines that say I’ve quit the series.”

What Costello would like to clarify, is that beyond season two of “Spectacle,” there hasn’t been any decisions made about the future of the show.

“I have a number of meager powers and one of them is not clairvoyance. I have no way of knowing the future -- I have no way of knowing if season two will be well-received, or if there will be a season three,” says Costello.

“So to answer honestly, I don’t know what the future brings for me as a television presenter, but I am proud of in this series.”

“Spectacle: Elvis Costello With… Bono and the Edge” airs Friday, Dec. 11 at 10pm ET. The rest of the seven-part season will air as a part of CTV’s mid-season schedule in 2010.