"Glee"'s Jane Lynch is only the third woman to host the Emmy Awards solo.

Only two other women — Angela Lansbury and Ellen DeGeneres — have ever hosted the Emmy Awards solo, so we’re especially excited to see the job go to Jane Lynch this year. Lynch appeared in the hilarious opening skit at last year’s Emmys and later took home the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. Now she’s poised to take the reins of the 63rd annual awards telecast, airing Sept. 18 on Fox. “My goal is that nobody will cringe — or at least very few people will cringe,” quips Lynch.

A song-and-dance number is planned, but she intends to keep references to her scheming Glee character, cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, to a minimum. “We’ll probably leave her tracksuit on the Paramount lot,” she says.

Lynch is admittedly nervous about the live aspect of the show. “It’s like when I did Saturday Night Live,” she says. “Once I was on stage, it was heaven, but it’s that anticipation.” So she keeps in mind, “It’s not all about me, it’s about awards. Move it along, and get your funny bits over with, and let’s go have a party.”

Lynch is nominated again this year, but win or lose, she certainly has a lot to celebrate, including the Sept. 15 publication of her memoir Happy Accidents (Voice, 2011). Writing the book with her wife, clinical psychologist Lara Embry, “was totally cathartic,” Lynch says.

“I don’t fear self-disclosure,” says Lynch. “It can be helpful.” In the book, she reveals that she was very anxious as a kid. “I created a lot of worry for myself. If I could go back and tell my 19-year-old self anything, I would say: ‘Relax. It’s going to be fine.’” At 51, she has no regrets about her role choices, good and bad. “I’ve said yes to everything — except porno — and it’s actually served me. Even the crappy stuff that I’ve done.”

As the popular Fox hit Glee returns for its third season Sept. 20, Lynch says her character will make life miserable for some new students and “continue her campaign for Congress on the Sue Sylvester American Liberty ticket. She’s going to be more rightwing than Michelle Bachmann.”

Next year, she’ll star in The Three Stooges as the mother superior of an orphanage where the title trio, played by Sean Hayes, Chris Diamantopoulos and Will Sasso, were raised — and still reside. Talk about quirky comedies: “Jennifer Hudson and Larry David play the other nuns.”

If you want to tune in to live backstage Emmy video streaming and you’re a VIVMag subscriber, you can do so directly through the pages of the Sept/Oct issue! Simply turn to page 2 and click on the Emmys ad featuring Lynch to get a glimpse backstage and view the pre- and post-awards shows, with highlights from the Emmys and red carpet.

What are you looking forward to most about the Emmys?

Photo credit: Williams & Hirakawa/FOX

Tags: Angela Lansbury, Chris Diamantopoulos, clinical psychologist, coach, Ellen DeGeneres, Emmy, Emmy Award, Emmys, Entertainment, Entertainment/Culture, Glee, Human Interest, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Hudson, Lara Embry, Larry David, Mass media, Michelle Bachman, Sean Hayes, Series, Sue Sylvester, Television in the United States, the Emmy Awards, the Emmys, VIVmag, Will Sasso