The 2011 Oscars will be hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway. This is a surprising turn, as last year they were hosted by Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. Previous hosts in recent history include Hugh Jackman, Jon Stewart, and Billy Crystal.
Billy Crystal hosted the Oscars for several years at a time. Now, the Oscars seem to be hosted by dramatically different kinds of hosts every year. Some might call this an indication of the Oscars ceremony having an identity crisis. The inclusion of Hugh Jackman tried to make the Oscar ceremony a more musical endeavor. Considering the fact that he was not invited to host again, this experiment was a failure. Then last year's inclusion of Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin as co-hosts tried a different formula with familiar roots: a comedic act from two people instead of one person to keep the action moving. Clearly, to some extent this was a success because they're repeating the two-host formula again.
This year's choice of co-hosts is hugely different for two reasons, marking a major change for the Oscars in an important way. The first major significance of having James Franco and Anne Hathaway as hosts is their age. These are young actors, appealing to a demographic far younger than the demographic that would enjoy Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin as hosts. This is likely a push to make the Oscars relevant to younger audiences.
The most common demographic of television viewers is people from age eighteen to forty, and making the hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway is a large step in securing that demographic in a way that the Oscars have not appealed to for quite some time. In the new age where young people spread word of mouth about popular items through twitter and facebook, among other popular sites like reddit and digg, securing this demographic of viewers can cause a trickle effect of snowball marketing that can spread to other demographics, leading to high ratings. In terms of boosting ratings, this is a very intelligent move.
The second reason these choices of host are a significant change is even more interesting. James Franco and Anne Hathaway are both likely to be contenders for Oscar nominations. James Franco's performance in "127 Hours" is being raved about by critics, many of whom believe that not only will he get a nomination but a win as well. Anne Hathaway, while not being quite as well received as James Franco, is still generating a lot of buzz with her performance in "Love & Other Drugs" and very well could garner an Oscar nomination for it. This would work wonders for hyping the whole event, as it really rests on discussion from critics and the general public on one question: who do they think is going to win? The inclusion of some of the nominees in major categories as the hosts would certainly help to drive that discussion and build more buzz about handing out the coveted award. Of course crystal awards are also given out by private companies who would like to generate their industry buzz of their own.
While there is no guarantee that James Franco and Anne Hathaway will be the most entertaining hosts (considering the fact that they are not singers, dancers, or comedians), their inclusion in the Oscar ceremony will certainly get people talking, and that's exactly what is needed right now to keep the Oscars important and get people to watch the ceremony again.
The author of this article is 10 year veteran in the crystal awards and recognition gifts industry.
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