OnTheRedCarpet.com caught up with Neil in a short video interview at the Academy of Magical Arts awards on Sunday.

Actor Neil Patrick Harris is directing a special production of Rent at the Hollywood Bowl this summer. He’s no stranger to the stage or the show, (he played Mark Cohen in the 2nd National Tour), but he’s taken some flak recently for casting High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens for the lead role of Mimi.

On The Red Carpet caught up with Harris, who defended his decision, “Vanessa is awesome. She’s a friend. I asked her to come in and sing to make sure she had the chops for it. And she was very committed and seemed great.”

io9.com reports that the sequel to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is now in development; no official word on if Neil will return as Steve the Monkey just yet.

Neil’s episode of Celebrity Jeopardy, in which he competes against CSI New York’s Hill Harper and former basketball player Rebecca Lobo, will air this coming Thursday, April 15th at 7pm PST on ABC-TV. Visit the show’s website for a short video interview with him. Neil was playing on behalf of Food on Foot.

Finally, NYMag’s Vulture section has read the script for A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. Mild plot spoilers are in the article, so if you don’t want to know, suffice it to say that the script confirms that Neil has a part to play.

Don’t forget, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs is out on DVD and BluRay this Tuesday, January 5th.

Michael Ausiello reports that Neil will perform a Dr Horrible themed production number during Sunday’s ceremony. This news could explain a recent tweet by Maurissa Tancharoen: “Be sure to watch the Emmys tomorrow. Just do it.”

In non-Emmy news, Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs looks set to be the clear box office winner this weekend.

Lots of articles today! First the LA Times has a nice piece with a few more details on how they’re saving time without cutting awards.

“There will be seven presenting teams,” producer Don Mischer tells Gold Derby. “They’ll each do two awards instead of one. That saves us walk-out time and the banter the presenters usually have to do before introducing an award. After presenting one award, the presenting team will jump right into giving out the next one.”

The same piece informs us that Neil will be “appearing on stage more than any other Emmy host ever”, and includes a running order for the awards. Neil’s Supporting Actor category is the third award of the night.

Bing claims to be the place to be for up to the minute Emmy news on the night, NPR have done a spotlight piece (and thanks to the reader who let us know that Neil will be on NPR’s Morning Edition today).

Videos: Neil previews the Emmys for Entertainment Weekly, and ETOnline catch up with the star at Wednesday’s CBS Season Premieres party. Finally, Neil discusses his part in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Kind of.

The NY Times today posted an interview with Neil about the upcoming Emmy Awards.

Variety reports that Hairspray writers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (who also memorably wrote the song Neil sang as his closing number at the Tonys in June) are composing an Emmy themed song for Neil to perform at the event.

Finally, there are some photos in our gallery of Neil arriving at today’s LA premiere of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Yahoo Movies has got hold of a new clip from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in which Neil voices Steve the Monkey, and it’s introduced by Neil. If you have trouble viewing it, it’s also up on AceShowbiz. The movie is released in the US and UK on September 18th.

We’re back! Sorry for the extended hiatus, catching up after holidays is always hard work!

Many thanks to Vanessa for getting in touch about this – Neil’s episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold (“Mayhem of the Music Meister”) is set to air in Australia this Saturday (August 8th) on Channel 9 at 8.35am/9.35am depending on your time zone. The episode is listed on both yourtv.com.au and Channel Nine‘s website, so it seems pretty accurate. The episode has so far only aired at Comic Con and isn’t set to air in the US until “sometime in the fall” so if it’s correct, Australia are getting a treat!

There’s been some controversy over the last day or so about the announcement of the decision to present some of the awards at this year’s Emmys before the ceremony airs on TV. The LA Times reports on what Neil and executive producer Don Mischer had to say about that at this year’s TCA Press Tour. Neil is currently still in Montreal shooting “Beastly” and so appeared at the Press Tour via Satellite – EW.com’s Michael Ausiello reports on what went on during the Emmy segment.

And we’ve finally had some confirmation on Neil’s part in “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”. Cinematical.com talks to the people behind the movie here – How I Met Your Mother writers Chris Miller and Phil Lord. He will indeed be voiceing Steve the Monkey, “Flint’s monkey who has been hardwired with a speech device. However, he usually only runs around saying his own name.”

Some eagle-eyed people have pointed out to us that Neil’s name has been added to the IMDB rumoured cast list for Sony Pictures’ upcoming animated movie, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. While we still haven’t had any official confirmation, he’s apparently voicing Steve the Monkey.

Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs is released on September 18th in North America and the United Kingdon. Click here for international release dates for other countries!