Who Should Host the 89th Annual Academy Awards?
The 88th Annual Academy Awards show is done and in the books with Sports Betting Dime wondering who’s on board for the 2017 Oscars. This year, host Chris Rock returned for the second time, after hosting the 77th Annual Academy Awards show in 2005 about 11 years ago. There was a lot of controversy and hype surrounding the awards show this year because there was a tremendous outcry over the lack of diversity in the nominations for the major awards categories. However, in this case, controversy didn’t create cash. Or rather, the saying in this case would be, controversy didn’t create higher ratings. Fortune reports that the show hit an eight-year ratings low for the Oscars, drawing some of the lowest ratings for an Oscars broadcast since 2008. It’s time to guess who might host the show next year.
Some people are already looking at some popular and hot-button comedians who could maybe draw similar interest and controversy like Chris Rock, specifically the likes of Louis C.K. and Kevin Hart. Safe choices for host who would not really rock the boat would be the likes of Jimmy Fallon or Jimmy Kimmel. However, there is one obvious candidate that is not getting a lot of campaigning. That candidate is none other than Ricky Gervais. Ricky Gervais is simply the best choice to come in to host the 2017 show, and he would take the award ceremony by storm.
Ricky Gervais has become a fairly regular host of the Golden Globe Awards. He’s hosted the show from 2010 to 2012, and he hosted the show again in 2016. It’s high time Gervais graduates up to the Academy Awards. It’s a longtime coming for him, and he seems to be the perfect blend of comedy and controversy for his hosting act. Gervais has expressed on his own Twitter account that he thinks it’s a “bad idea.” He wrote, “Thanks for your tweets saying I should host the next Oscars, but I’d be fired 2 minutes into my monologue. It’s a bad idea.”
Maybe that’s exactly why Gervais does need to host the show. Gervais as a host is fearless, and he doesn’t mind ruffling the feathers of the Hollywood elite and taking them down a peg. If Gervais has yet to get fired by the Golden Globes, there is no reason the Academy Awards should fire him either. Some of the biggest names in Hollywood are all sitting front and center at the Golden Globes as well, and Gervais has no problem openly mocking them. For whatever reason, despite the times he’s even openly mocked the Golden Globes and some of the nominees, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association continues to use Gervais and bring him back. Why? Gervais’ just has a certain charisma and style that’s infinitely watchable. Sometimes these awards shows get a little too sanctimonious and overwrought, and Gervais has a great way of bringing all of Hollywood back down to earth. The biggest names in Hollywood are all still flawed human beings, and Gervais has no problem shining a spotlight on its flaws.
The Oscars could use a bit of that particular spotlight that Gervais brings to the table. It’s high time he has a chance at the Academy Awards. No matter what Gervais says on his Twitter account, if Seth MacFarlane can host the show and perform a musical number about Hollywood actresses who have gone topless, then Gervais can come up with a magical night for viewers around the world. Gervais should host the Oscars in 2017.