It has been a rising topic of much bandwidth and personal chatter the past several days. Who will host the Academy Awards? The Academy had never gone this late into the season without having a celebrity in place to MC the evening. Well, all the speculating as to whom might take the job has come to an end as actor and comedian Kevin Hart has been announced as the host for next February’s ceremony.
Hart broke the news on his Instagram feed –
Hosting the Oscars has become a tougher gig over the last several years. The awards show has been facing declining ratings, and the host is usually the one who takes the brunt of the criticism in the days following the ceremony’s telecast.
Late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmell hosted Academy Awards the past two years. Notably, his first year ended with the confusion over the winner of the Best Picture Oscar – LaLa Land was originally announced, but it was Moonlight that had actually won.
Again, producers will try to reign the Oscar telecast in, keeping it down to a running time of under three hours. To that end, six to eight categories will be announced during commercial breaks. While the audience at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood will get to see the trophies presented live, audiences at home will only see edited excerpts from the acceptances later in the broadcast.
The Oscars will air live on Sunday, Feb. 24, on ABC.
