Cape Town - The Academy Awards will once again go forward without a host next month.
Karey Burke, ABC Entertainment president, confirmed the news during a presentation at the Television Critics Association press tour, CNN reported.
Burke said the decision to repeat the host-free format comes after last year’s ceremony, which saw the awards show go host-free for the first time since 1989, showed boosted ratings.
The 2019 Oscars ceremony was riddled with uncertainty prior to the announcement that it would continue without a host.
Comedian Kevin Hart was initially announced as host at the time, but after old, homophobic tweets were discovered and a disastrous apology followed, Hart decided to step down from the role, The Guardian reported.
The host-free ceremony saw ratings improve by 12% to more than 29 million viewers – up from an all-time low the year before.
“[The show will have] huge entertainment values, big musical numbers, comedy and star power,” an ABC spokesperson speaking to AFP says.
Burke also noted that the nominees will carry the show.
“We expect that we’re going to have a very commercial set of nominations and a lot of incredible elements have come together that makes us think we’re going to have a very entertaining show again,” Burke said, according to Entertainment Tonight.
The Academy Awards ceremony is set to take place on 9 February.
Source: CNN, AFP, Entertainment Tonight, The Guardian