A month ago, user SGarv04 commented on a YouTube Oscar promo featuring Seth MacFarlane that, "He's either going to screw up badly or going to say jokes that are a little too over the edge. Calling it right now."
And call it he did. People who watched the Oscars are either pissed off or thrilled about Seth MacFarlane's performance.
Good. That's exactly what should happen.
Hosting the Oscars is a big deal and there are millions of people watching, and afterward, critiquing everything about it.
"The speeches were too long."
"The dresses were too short."
"The host was offensive."
People involved know this is going to happen. Because of this, it would be a great opportunity to play it safe -- keep the speeches short, wear something conservative, don't tell any jokes...
But playing it safe isn't how you get on the Oscars.
If you want to go big, you have to take chances. And why not do it for the biggest audience possible? You may never get that kind of opportunity again.
Too many artists (musicians, actors, etc) want to know things are safe before jumping in. Like kids, they dip their toes in the water to see that it's not too warm or too cold. They don't want any waves.
Things are never safe though. Plus, "no waves" is boring. You can't surf on still waters.
And for a performer, if you do something cool with nobody watching, it might as well have never happened.
It's never safe. Once you embrace that, it's much easier to take chances with your art and create something that affects people. In the end, that's all that really matters.