For what it's worth, this Oscar season has presented far less controversy than it did last year. By this point, a variety of things felt set to derail the ceremony entirely from problematic movies (Bohemian Rhapsody) to Kevin Hart dropping out of hosting. With that said, it looks like one thing went right. After having a stellar year in 2019, The Academy has decided to continue the trend of hosting the ceremony without any host. Yes, it looks like the days of hosts are gone, at least for Hollywood's favorite award. That can only mean that there's more room for excitement and spontaneity to make up for it.
Going into The Academy Awards last year was a bit of a gamble. Besides the controversy, nobody could've predicted how things would play out. The season theoretically started with a turkey of a decision in the Best Popular Film category, which paved the way for other maligned decisions. Still, it felt like The Academy was cutting their losses by having no host when everything was going wrong. However, it was a chance for the exact opposite to happen. With the absence of a host, there wasn't any lag of time or need to transition to the next person. While it had ended disastrously in the past, 2019's ceremony showed how to do it correctly, and in the process set a new template.
It's still yet to be seen if this is the new normal, but it does seem likely given its consecutiveness. With that said, it's going to be exciting to see if the show can better reach the more accessible format that it's been trying to reach by smoothing down corners and fitting in more content. One could argue that last year was a test run for this format, and it works for the most part. There's less padding, even if it negates the heart of awards shows. It isn't about fitting things into a box, it's a shameless celebration of the arts that bring us together. With that said, last year presented it in a compromising and satisfying way.
If nothing else, it will provide an interesting shift from other recent awards shows. The recent Golden Globes were once again a divisive disaster thanks to Ricky Gervais' hosting. The Emmy Awards, even without a host, was among the lowest-rated TV broadcasts of an awards show (ponder that one). There's so much to be had with The Academy producing one of the better awards shows last year without a host, and one can imagine that it will continue this year.
That is especially startling that The Academy took this long to provide such simple news (likely to avoid prolonged controversy?) when the ceremony is notoriously early this year. In fact, we're roughly only a month out from the ceremony, and the nominations are announced next Monday. It all feels so abrupt that one has to wonder how things will turn out. Maybe this streamlined impact will be for the best, especially since it allows relevance to remain stronger than presenting it later. It also allows for a lack of voter overlap with other guilds as there's not a chance to piggyback off of other winners. It's all instinct, and that's the fun of it. So now it will be fun to see if Joker, Parasite, The Irishman, and others will dominate in different ways or if there will even be a big surprise. Who knows. It's definitely an exciting year going into it, and one hopes that things deliver.
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