Things are moving fast in the world of the Oscars. Only a couple of weeks ago Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic were hired to produce the show, last week it emerged that Hugh Jackman had been asked to return as host but had turned it down, and only yesterday it was revealed that Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr had also been given the oportunity to take on hosting duties, but had decided they didn’t want to to do.
However now the official announcement has come through, and the people who will be leading us through the merry dance that is the Oscars are Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. Although many had expected the producers to go younger with the hosts as part of the Academy’s drive to give the cermony a fresh face after several years of declining audiences, the duo both have cross generational appeal, which may make them a fairly shrewd choice.
It’s the first time the Oscars has had multiple hosts since 1987, but. of course, this isn’t Martin’s first stint as an Oscar host, as he hosted the ceremony by himself in 2001 and 2003. He apparently came up on the Oscar radar again a few weeks ago, after winning rave reviews as the host of Elle’s Women in Hollywood event. It’s the first time hosting for Baldwin, although anyone who’s seen him on 30 Rock knows he’s probably got what it takes. Martin and Baldwin do seem like a pair who can spark off each other, so it’ll definitely be interesting to see how they do at the March 7th ceremony – at least it should be funny.
The real question is whether producers Shankman and Mechanic can build a show around the pair that feels fresh and doesn’t seem like the Oscars are slipping back into old, tedious patterns, following the more fun ceremony we got this year.