Oscars 2020: Award ceremony to go hostless again following last year's successful drama-free show
For a second year in a row, the Oscars will be held without a traditional host, according to Karey Burke, the ABC entertainment president.
Industry experts had predicted that Oscars will be going hostless this year too since there were no official announcements made. But at the Television Critics Association's winter press tour in Pasadena, Burke officially confirmed that the award show this season will not have a host.
"Let me confirm it now, together with the Academy, that there will be no traditional host this year," Burke said.
"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," she said, adding that this year around, the telecast will also feature "huge entertainment values, big musical numbers, comedy, and star power".
Last year, Kevin Hart was set to host the award ceremony. But after fans had made it clear that his past complete with jokes and tweets that expressed anti-gay sentiments and derogatory homophobic terminology was unacceptable, he stepped down. While he had decided to not apologize at first, he finally backtracked. And so, Oscars 2019 relied on big presenters and an opening performance by Queen without ever replacing him.
"The main goal, which I’m told the Academy promised last year, is to keep the show to three hours. The producers decided to wisely not have a host and have the presenters and the movies be the stars. That’s the best way to keep the show to a brisk three hours," she had said at the TCA winter press tour last February.
The nominees for this year will be revealed on January 13, 2020. It is expected that '1917', 'The Irishman', 'Marriage Story', 'Parasite' and 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' will be the top contenders. The 92nd Academy Awards will be held Sunday, February 9, 2020, on ABC.
