Wicked star Cynthia Erivo hosted the Tony Awards on June 8 and brought the house down. Erivo sang an original song, did bits about George Clooney in Good Night, and Good Luck, made fun of Jonathan Groff’s spit-singing, and belted a Dreamgirls parody. She was, undoubtedly, the best Tonys host since Neil Patrick Harris departed from the job more than a decade ago, leaving an all-timer of an opening number, “Bigger,” in his wake. And it was, notably, Erivo’s second time nailing an awards show this year after opening the 2025 Academy Awards alongside Ariana Grande with a medley of “I Want” songs from various versions of The Wizard of Oz, including “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Home,” and “Defying Gravity.” The co-stars stunned the audience before handing the mic to the actual host, Conan O’Brien, who was very funny. O’Brien made sense as a host because he had his own late night show for 28 years — but what if, knowing what we know, Erivo and Grande could work in tandem … and host the Academy Awards.

Post-Tonys success, Erivo has established herself as a very capable host. On the much-talked-about Wicked press tour, she seemed like a pretty serious performer, but now we’ve seen her distinct hosting persona as an earnest and vocal cheerleader for the nominees. At the Tony Awards, Erivo opened the ceremony with a completely original number that shouted out shows from throughout the season without skewering them, opting for lines like “It could be Odenkirk or ‘Watch Cole work,’ at Oh, Mary!’s cabaret.” When the camera panned over to the individuals mentioned, like Sarah Snook or Cole Escola, they seemed utterly delighted at the lyrics, though they didn’t good-heartedly laugh like celebs did at, say, comedian Nikki Glaser’s recent Golden Globes gig. To close out the show, Erivo sang a parody of “And I Am Telling You” from Dreamgirls, belting “This night was so gay / So so so gay / Oh, Mary! That’s Broadway.” There was a fire and a passion in her eyes as she sang “This was the To-o-o-o-nyssssss” with all her might. She took it so seriously it became fun — a necessary skill for any host tasked with moving along a three-hour-long slog like the Oscars.

Erivo was perfect for the theater-kid earnestness of the Tonys, but Grande’s addition will provide the comedic bite that Hollywood craves. This past year, on October 12, 2024, Grande gave a masterclass performance hosting Saturday Night Live with many of her sketches — “Domingo: Bridesmaid Speech,” “Castrati,” and “Charades With Mom” — ranking among the best of the season because Grande slotted right in with the weekly castmembers. In “Charades,” she committed to taunting Bowen Yang about his little “pecker,” a bit Grande brought to the writers’ room herself. In the months since, SNL cast members like Mikey Day have praised Grande’s work too, telling Howard Stern she could have been a full-time cast member. As Oscars co-host, Grande’s role would be to follow in the footsteps of awards hosts like Jimmy Kimmel, Tiny Fey, and Amy Poehler before her.

Of course, this won’t happen in 2026 because O’Brien is already set to return, and Wicked: For Good will presumably be in the Oscars conversation again. But by 2027, it will be the 99th Academy Awards, and society will have gone a full year without Wicked promo. The penultimate show would be a solid test run for having them back to host the all-important 100th. Doesn’t it sound wonderful?

Related

• The Highs, Lows, and Whoas of the 2025 Tony Awards
• The 2025 Tony Winners
• Cynthia Erivo Held Space With Oprah at the Tonys

 Erivo was a masterful master of ceremonies at the Tony Awards, and now she’s ready for a bigger job with Grande at her side.