[Column] Fine line for award shows!

This weeks column is about hosting jobs at Award Ceremonys. Actually it´s not only about Ricky Gervais performance and the jokes he told at the Golden Globes it is more a general view at the topic.

It´s clear to me that Ricky Gervais offended a lot of people actually with his comments he made at the Golden Globes - his second time hosting this event. Although I really like Ricky Gervais I can understand some of the criticsm he got right after the show. Some of the stuff he brought in was dated and he really seemed mean-spirited in some of his lines. I mean some stuff was actually pretty funny like his comments about the Tourist and the Steve Carell stuff and I am always a fan of overwhelmingly announcing one presenter than just drop the name  of the second presenter, worked with Alex Baldwin and Steve Martin in the Opening of the 2010 Academy Awards and it sure worked with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen here!
Other commets were definitly dated, I mean make fun of the relationship between Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher is not really last days news and Robert Downey Jr. spend some time in Jail and in Rehab...not really exciting news as well. I have no problem with guys picking on those comments.
For the Charlie Sheen stuff, I think it was funny but it seemed forced. To start the show with that was certainly not the best way, last year he could brag about himself to start the show, that was something he couldn´t do twice, but the start of the show got the appeal that Gervais was just fishing for a topic and he found the hooker-drug-alcohol lifestyle of Sheen.
So Gervais performance was actually not as good as his second one, but the media and the Globes are overreacting, he said he wants to give it to them and thats what he did. You could have stopped him, but it looks like they knew that this would draw attention to the ceremony so they havent stopped Gervais.

Unfortunatly this case of Ricky Gervais will now set a more conservative run in the hostings of events. I guess every major award show will now look for either actors and actress that they can controll or comedians that are soft. I still can feel something good happening with soft comedians like it worked pretty good with NPH hosting the Emmys couple of years ago, he was funny but in a not insulting way which is also enjoyable from time-to-time. Steve Martin and Alex Baldwin had their moments but they haven´t crossed the line. Hugh Jackman was just cool and his opening was funny. I hope that James Franco and Anne Hathaway will at least try to be funny, coz nothing is more horrible than a award show with bad hosts. They need to carry the whole show, presenters can be downers or enlight the show, actors and actresses, directors, writers or whoever gets awards, they can be pretty annoying and just reading a bunch of names or they can put a little spark in they show, but the host NEEDS to be funny and good. I think that Hathaway and Franco can do it, I still think a comedian or two comedians would have been better for the jobs - or a funny actor or actress (haven´t seen so many hilarious stuff from either Hathaway or Franco).

I guess time will tell if Franco and Hathaway can get it done. And if they do I am thrilled to see which presenter the Globes will get next year, go the conservative way or go on a collision course once again for the sake of the ratings. Nothing would suck as much for them as a bad host and an uninspired show because they got new audience tuning in from the Gervais-hype...use it!