Washington, US: The 94th Academy Awards is scheduled to be aired on March 27. It will be the first time since 2018 that the ceremony will have a host. During ABC’s winter Television Critics Association virtual press tour, Craig Erwich, the president of Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment announced that the Oscars would return to a host (after three years without one).
However, the name of the host was disclosed. “It might be me,” Erwich quipped, before advertising his confidence in Will Packer, the executive producer of Oscars. “Will really has his pulse on popular culture and entertainment. I know he has a lot in store and we’ll have more details to share soon,” Erwich said.
Jimmy Kimmel hosted the ceremony in 2017 and 2018. Some of the past hosts include Chris Rock (2016), Neil Patrick Harris (2015), Ellen DeGeneres (2014), Seth MacFarlane (2013), Billy Crystal (2012), and James Franco/Anne Hathaway (2011). For 2019, the Academy announced Kevin Hart as the host of the show. However, Kevin later decided to drop out after the organisation asked him to apologise for his years-old homophobic tweets, and so the 2019 event went hostless.
The 2019 Oscars saw an increase in ratings with respect to the previous year and so the Academy and ABC decided to go without a host in 2020. The ratings dipped slightly in 2020; but in 2021 the COVID outbreak delayed Oscars, which finally took place at the Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, on 25th April instead of 28th February. This time too the event went without a host and lost more than half of its audience.
The ceremony will return to the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, its usual spot. The Oscar nominations will be announced on February 8.
