The Academy Awards appear to be going without a host again this year.
Deadline is reporting that the producers of the upcoming April 25th Oscar telecast are in the process of putting out offers “for high profile presenters [who will] deal out the awards on a rotating basis.”
The Academy has not yet commented or confirmed the report.
Currently this year’s Academy Awards will be presented from two locations – the show’s traditional Dolby Theater home in Los Angeles as well as LA’s Union Station. The Union Station location was chosen for its large open space which would enable nominees and their guests to social distance. Presentation of the Oscar statuettes will be at Union Station, while the Dolby will be used for the staging of various performances for the telecast.
This is the third year in a row that the Academy Awards show will go without a host. This streak started in 2019, when Kevin Hart, who had been picked to serve as the show’s host, had to drop out following controversy over old jokes posted to social media. His departure was too soon to the show’s date, so the producers decided to experiment with going without a host. Although reviews were mixed, ratings for the show were up twelve percent increase over 2018’s viewership. The Academy seemed happy enough with how the show came off that they repeated not having a host last year as well.
Personally, I have been less enamored of the show’s that have gone without a host. True, sometimes the host of any given year may not do a great job. But ultimately, the host’s job is to be a Master of Ceremony, keeping things moving and providing an overall continuity to the evening. And that was something that was extremely lacking in the last two years’ ceremonies.
