Ellen DeGeneres has been set to host the 79th Academy Awards telecast, producer Laura Ziskin announced. It will be DeGeneres’ first time as Oscar® host, as well as her first appearance on an Academy Awards telecast.I’m so happy Ellen is doing it this year. Hosting the Academy Awards is a tough gig, but I know she’ll pull it off and be hilarious. Big names like David Letterman, (remember the embarrassingly unfunny “Uma, meet Oprah” bit?) Chris Rock and Whoopi Goldberg have tried to host this show and failed miserably, in my opinion. I’m predicting an “A” grade for Ellen tomorrow night!
“Ellen DeGeneres was born to host the Academy Awards,” said Ziskin. “There is no more challenging hosting job in show business. It requires someone who can keep the show alive and fresh and moving, as well as someone who is a flat-out great entertainer. Ellen completely fits the bill. I can already tell she is going to set the bar very high for herself and therefore for all of us involved in putting on the show. Now all we need is a lot of great movies.”
DeGeneres is the host of the syndicated talk show “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which this year won its third Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show and earned DeGeneres her second Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host.
Launched in September 2003, the show won four Daytime Emmys in its freshman year, including Outstanding Talk Show, after garnering a record twelve nominations. In its second season, the show won five Daytime Emmys, and this year earned a total of six Emmy Awards.
