Posted on 12/04/2018 5:40:30 PM PST by EdnaMode
Kevin Host is officially set to host the 91st Academy Awards ceremony. "I will be sure to make this years Oscars a special one," the comedian wrote Tuesday afternoon in an Instagram post, adding, "now it's time to rise to the occasion."
The star is emceeing the event for the first time. First-time producers Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss will oversee the show, with Gigliotti serving as producer and Weiss on hand as co-producer and director.
Earlier on Tuesday, The Hollywood Reporter reported that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had held talks with the comedian about hosting the February ceremony.
"I appreciate @TheAcademy for the opportunity," wrote Hart in his post, adding, "For years I have been asked if I would ever Host the Oscars and my answer was always the same...I said that it would be the opportunity of a lifetime for me as a comedian and that it will happen when it's suppose to."
The last two Oscar shows were hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and produced by Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd. But each year ratings declined, with a record-low 26.5 million viewers tuning in for last March’s broadcast, which adds to the pressure the new team will face in mounting the kudocast.
The Academy, which has promised that the show won’t run over three hours, has already announced one change — not all the awards in the 24 Oscar categories will be revealed live. Instead, six to eight categories will be announced before the audience at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood during commercial breaks, and edited excerpts from the acceptances will be aired later in the broadcast.
In August, the Academy’s board also recommended the creation of a new award, a so-called “popular” Oscar, that it said would recognize “outstanding achievement in popular film,” ensuring that some of the biggest box office successes of the year have a prominent place at the awards. But that idea met with so much resistance that the Academy shelved it a month later.
Hart previously hosted the MTV Movie Awards along with his Central Intelligence co-star Dwayne Johnson. He has publicly spoken about wanting to host the Oscars since at least 2015, when he told the morning show Live With Kelly and Michael (now Live With Kelly and Ryan) that he was actively campaigning to get the role. "That would be a major accomplishment. With what I've done and the progress I've made in my career, that's definitely the next major step, I feel, for a comedian," Hart said to the hosts at the time.
The Oscars will air live on Sunday, Feb. 24, on ABC.
They really wrote “Kevin Host”?
Editors are in such short supply these days.
Insert annual snarky “i haven’t watched the Oscars in decades” comment here.
Love that Kevin Hart. Can anybody post his scene in the 40 year old virgin?
I haven’t watched in twenty years. Nevertheless I predict it will be a disaster.
I don’t like him. Not my style of humor. Similar to Chris Rock.
I tried to watch one of his movies, and his character was such a condescending little fool, I kept hoping someone would punch him in the mouth. Apparently, that sells tickets these days.
His take on the Eddie Murphy style, I suppose.
Cool black guy explains life to naive, rich white boy.
Maybe there is more to his talent. I wouldn’t know.
He will get his chance to show how different he can be.
Break out the elevator shoes.
Yup they did. Funny that nobody caught it.
Wonder how many people know that there are actually about 3 days of ceremony with the first 2 being mostly technical and backstage awards with the final one being for all the “big” awards.
OK. I am officially out of it. Never heard of Kevin Host, or Kevin Hart.
Foul mouthed negro “comedian”. You have not missed anything.
Am I supposed to know who Kevin Hart is? Because I don’t.
And earlier todsy I officially confirmed I once again, will not be watching the Ostomy-scars.
I am confirming that as well.
I haven't watched since Brando declined his Oscar and sent out that Little Feather woman to speak in his place back in the '70s.
Psssst...rating would improve IF you told all those idiots to quit bashing conservatives and President Trump.
I just did and was about to post about it.
Those comments just aren't any good anymore.
I haven't read them in years.
He’s more like Chris Tucker than Chris Rock. Replace Chris Tucker with Kevin Hart in Rush Hour and you basically have the same movie, just with more short jokes.
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