Sandra Oh, Andy Samberg named as Golden Globe hosts

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Canadian actress Sandra Oh and U.S. comedian Andy Samberg will co-host the 2019 Golden Globe Awards in January, organizers said on Wednesday.

The two celebrities will be first-time hosts for the Golden Globes, which honor both television and film. Nominations for the awards will be announced on Thursday and the televised ceremony on NBC will take place in Beverly Hills, California, on Jan. 6.

The Golden Globes, chosen by members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are the first major ceremony in Hollywood’s awards season culminating with the Oscars on Feb. 24.

Oh is best known for her former role in the long-running television hospital drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” and is now starring in BBC America’s acclaimed murder-mystery “Killing Eve.”

Samberg is a former “Saturday Night Live,” cast member and a previous Golden Globe winner for television comedy series “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”

The duo won praise for their chemistry when they were presenting at the Emmy Awards for television in September.

Oh and Samberg will “bring wit, charm and style to a room filled with the very best of film and television,” Paul Telegdy and George Cheeks, co-chairmen of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement.

Samberg and Oh, who earlier this year became the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated for a lead drama actress Emmy, were announced as hosts a day after African-American comedian Kevin Hart was named as a first-time host of the 2019 Academy Awards ceremony.

Showbusiness awards organizers have been under pressure in recent years to diversify hosts and nominees to include more women and people of color.

The Golden Globes are handed out at an informal gala dinner where the champagne flows and celebrities roast each other with inside barbs, and make topical and political jokes.

Late-night talk show host Seth Meyers hosted the last Golden Globes while previous hosts have included British comedian Ricky Gervais as well as comedy actresses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.