Ellen DeGeneres
has agreed to host the 79th Academy Awards telecast,
producer Laura Ziskin announced Thursday. It will be
DeGeneres's first time as Oscar host as well as her
first appearance on an Academy Awards telecast.
"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."
"When Laura
Ziskin called, I was thrilled," said DeGeneres.
"There's two things I've always wanted to do in my life. One
is to host the Oscars. The second is to get a call
from Laura Ziskin. You can imagine that day's diary
entry."
DeGeneres has
twice hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards telecast and
cohosted the show in 1994.
"She just
sparkles," said Academy president Sid Ganis. "She is
such a pleasure to watch. Her wit cuts to the truth of
things, but in a wonderfully warm-spirited way. I
think she'll be a fantastic host for this show, and
we're extremely pleased that she's agreed to do it."
The 79th Annual
Academy Awards will be broadcast live from the Kodak
Theatre in Los Angeles by the ABC Television Network,
beginning at 5 p.m. Pacific, with a half-hour
arrivals segment. (The Advocate)
