| Kristian Luuk | |
|---|---|
Luuk at Melodifestivalen 2008 |
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| Born | 14 June 1966 Stockholm, Sweden |
| Occupation | Television host |
Ants Robert Kristian Luuk (born 14 June 1966) is a Swedish comedian and talk show-host of Estonian descent. A graduate of the Stockholm School of Economics, he is currently working for the broadcaster SVT after previous spells at TV4, ZTV and SR public radio. He is in a relationship with television personality Carina Berg.
Luuk has made himself famous, mainly for his talents as an interviewer. After doing prank calls in the radio show Hassan during the early nineties, Luuk started hosting the ZTV-talk show Knesset, where his abilities as a talk show host became obvious. Transferred to Swedish publicly accessed channel TV4, and to a large degree inspired by Conan O'Brien, Luuk's breakthrough show Sen kväll med Luuk featured Luuk interviewing various celebrities of Swedish as well as international origin. Among others, Luuk interviewed John Cleese, Alanis Morissette and Madonna in the show. Luuk is remembered for rounding up every interview by challenging the interviewee in a staring contest.
Luuk hosted Melodifestivalen 2007, the Swedish national selection to the Eurovision Song Contest 2007. The show is regarded the most popular TV show in Sweden, the final being watched by some four million Swedish viewers every year. He was also the commentator for SVT's Swedish broadcast of Eurovision Song Contest 2007.[1] He also hosted Melodifestivalen 2008. He commentated both semi finals and the final of Eurovision Song Contest 2008.
Luuk acted as a host on SVT's election broadcast in September 2010 and received criticism in some quarters for his perceived trivialisation of the occasion.[2] Welcoming the leaders of all the main parties to the television studios, Luuk conducted them to the make-up room chatting informally. He was also suspected of trying to stage manage a confrontation between the Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson and the leader of the Left Party, Lars Ohly, which Ohly suspected and refused to take part in.