All jokes aside, late

Paul McCartney performs an outdoor concert on Hollywood Boulevard for 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' on Sept. 23, 2013. / John Hill, Getty Images

2013 offered up infamous singles with tantalizing visual counterparts, from the rabid, barking dogs of Kanye West's Black Skinhead to Arcade Fire's sky-high performance of Afterlife atop Capitol Records headquarters in Los Angeles. Unlike Katy Perry's leopard-print-adorned Roar or Lorde's penetrating Royals gaze, these iconic images weren't sprung from music videos or awards shows, but from some of the best musical performances to ever grace late-night television.

The spectacle of Miley Cyrus twerking against Robin Thicke to We Can't Stop at the MTV Video Music Awards will follow her for the duration of her career. Thus, it was a welcome - and shocking - contrast when Cyrus took to Saturday Night Live five weeks later to sing a sincere, stripped-down version of the same single (along with a superlative rendition of hit ballad Wrecking Ball) with nary a foam finger or teddy bear in sight.

That same week, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots joined Cyrus for an a cappella rendition of We Can't Stop that styled the Late Night host, house band and Cyrus like a modern, more musically inclined Brady Bunch, yielding a YouTube video that has racked up nearly 15 million views to date.

'It was really a showcase of her voice,' recalls Entertainment Weekly music critic Nick Catucci of Cyrus' late-night rise. 'She was wearing this funny jersey (on SNL), and this big sparkly, chunky rope chain, but it was not about her swinging around on a wrecking ball and licking a sledgehammer. It was her opportunity to say, 'Hey, listen, I can stand in front of you here live, and I can really belt out this song!' She used that (TV) format specifically to her advantage.'

She's not alone. Cyrus' vocal chops shifted the conversation from her VMA outrageousness to her TV triumph, in no small part because of the limits being pushed in late-night programming. Across the board, the teams coordinating the performances at New York's Ed Sullivan Theater for Late Show With David Letterman to the Conan soundstage in Los Angeles hit a multitude of milestones in 2013, redefining expectations for what after-hours TV appearances could do for popular music.

The Arsenio Hall Show made its much-anticipated return in September, and a newfound interest in musical guests came with it, as Hall is one of the few late-night hosts to give rock stars and pop players passing through some couch time for a proper interview. Stephen Colbert threw a major curve ball when Daft Punk canceled its in-studio performance on The Colbert Report, and he moved forward with a star-studded dance-off to Get Lucky anyway. Kanye West premiered the first tracks of Yeezus in one of the darkest performances SNL had ever seen, and Lorde made her television debut on Late Night before becoming a household name.

At Jimmy Kimmel Live, music producer Scott Igoe and his team labor to create an environment worthy of the rock stars they've attracted in 2013, be it an intimate set with Elton John or the rooftop concert filmed to celebrate the release of Arcade Fire's Reflektor. For Igoe, it's about ensuring that the Kimmel performances are on par with the concerts these musicians sell out on the road.

'Bands are extremely comfortable playing our show,' he says. 'They add more production value from their live touring show with each visit. This collaborative effort really amps up the appearance and makes it unique.'

The musical prowess lent by The Roots at Late Night provides a superlative cornerstone for artists to sit in with the revered hip-hop band, which leads to extravagant, megawatt performances, namely a fully outfitted and full-scale production of Ylvis' viral hit The Fox and week-long residencies showcasing Justin Timberlake and Pearl Jam.

The balance of blockbuster hit and indie sensation kept things interesting. 'It's kind of a necessity of the structure of the late-night shows, where you need to have a musical guest five nights a week,' Catucci says. 'In a way, it's an excuse to say, 'We'll have an act who is not massive â?¦ we can see what the reaction is.' On the other hand, it's similar to social media, where you don't need the biggest audience, you just need the most passionate one in order to make something work. Late Night has definitely leveraged that. They know that they can reach out to a certain audience, and that audience is going to be flattered that they're seeing 'their' artist on network TV.'

The emphasis on raising up lesser-known acts alongside pop royalty and thus introducing them to new, loyal viewers is one that Jonathan Cohen, Late Night's talent booker, and his colleagues embraced in 2013.

'Late-night shows are more willing to take chances on up-and-coming artists than they may have been a few years ago,' Cohen says. ' The Colbert Report and The Daily Show are now booking more music, and we also have new shows like Arsenio Hall competing with us for talent. I take pride in our mix of superstar bookings and under-the-radar ones; our audience has really come to enjoy that part of the show. Our Justin Timberlake week was a great example of how the show can be a major partner in helping artists launch new projects. It was the first time we'd ever had an artist perform on all five shows during a single week.'

Cohen is looking to capitalize on 2013's growth with the team, but on another level: Fallon and The Roots are moving to The Tonight Show in February, a shift that partially inspired ideas such as Timberlake week and major social-media pushes such as the We Can't Stop video. He's anticipating maintaining this standard throughout the transition.

'The residencies are always special, as they are very unique to Late Night,' he says. '(But) I wanted to ramp up the momentum to our Tonight Show takeover by booking some really big names without sacrificing the left-field surprises and up-and-comers.'

Jimmy Kimmel Live achieved a number of firsts as well in 2013: Nine Inch Nails' network debut occurred on Kimmel's watch, and the show closed Hollywood Boulevard for Paul McCartney, a feat never before attempted for any other artist, and one Igoe considers a major coup for his team.

'Every year, our music department sets goals of who we would like to book,' he says. 'Paul McCartney is always at the top of that list, and in 2013, we got him. I'm pretty sure it was everyone's highlight of the year when Hollywood Boulevard was shut down to accommodate (the concert). It's three months later, and I still hear people talking about how awesome it was.'

Read the original story: All jokes aside, late-night TV is making great music

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