Audiences across the globe will tune in to the 92nd Oscars on Feb. 9 to see which celebrities are wearing over-the-top designer creations and to see which film will earn the top prize.
But what they won’t see this year is a host.
For the second consecutive year, the Academy Awards will forgo a master of ceremonies. While that may not come as a surprise to die-hard watchers, the academy felt the need to make it clear on Wednesday.
In a cheeky post, the Twitter account for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made a short list of things viewers might expect this year. Green checks were placed next to stars, performances and surprises. However, the academy made sure to note there wouldn’t be a host.
“We expect that we’re going to have a very commercial set of nominations and a lot of incredible elements have come together that make us think we are going to have a very entertaining show again,” Karey Burke, entertainment president for ABC, said Wednesday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, according to Variety. She had previously hinted at the news in a March 2019 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, saying, “Odds are you’ll see us repeating what we consider to be a successful formula.”
In 2019, the show ran without a host after Kevin Hart stepped down from the job after some old homophobic tweets of his resurfaced. The show hadn’t been without a host since 1989.
In the place of a monologue, the show opened with a mini-medley from Queen and then welcomed a parade of stars — including Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Keegan-Michael Key, Trevor Noah and others — who took turns at the helm.
Last year’s show had 29.6 million viewers, a 12 percent increase from the 2018 telecast, which Jimmy Kimmel hosted. Among past shows, it ranked as the second-lowest viewership since Nielsen started keeping ratings records in 1974.
Hosting isn’t easy. This past Sunday, the Golden Globes enlisted Ricky Gervais to host its show for a fifth time. While the audience laughed, the comedian’s commentary and off-color jokes — including one about Judi Dench licking herself like a cat — drew criticism, groans and cringes. His opening monologue was bleeped twice, as well.
