Singing, dancing actor Hugh Jackman to host new-look Oscars

Source: Agencies  |   2008-12-13  |     ONLINE EDITION

He sings, dances, acts on stage and screen, and he's the "Sexiest Man Alive." Hugh Jackman does everything but standup comedy -- and that's why the first-time Oscars host fulfills the academy's promise to shake up the show in a way that's as tough to predict as the winners.

The Australian actor was announced yesterday as the host of the 81st Academy Awards, a marked departure from the academy's standard of big-name comedians. Jon Stewart, who hosted in 2008 and 2006, and Ellen DeGeneres, the 2007 host, were the latest in a line of funny emcees since 1990. Billy Crystal did it eight times, Whoopi Goldberg took on four, Steve Martin did it twice and David Letterman and Chris Rock each had a shot.

As the parade of A-list comedians continued, ratings were in steady decline. But with new producers, a new director, new set designer and even a new music director, the academy has been hinting for months at an all-new look and feel for this year's Oscars telecast on February 22.

Having Jackman host certainly fits with that theme.

Producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon called him "a consummate entertainer and an internationally renowned movie star."

"He also has style, elegance and a sense of occasion," Mark and Condon said in a joint statement. "Hugh is the ideal choice to host a celebration of the year's movies -- and to have fun doing it."

Indeed, Jackman can be a mutant superhero (Wolverine from the "X-Men" movie franchise), a flirtatious singing barker (Billy Bigelow in Rodgers & Hammerstein's musical "Carousel"), a determined magician ("The Prestige") and a dancing penguin ("Happy Feet").

The 40-year-old actor plays a roughhewn cattle driver opposite Nicole Kidman's English aristocrat in the new Baz Luhrmann romantic adventure "Australia." Jackman was abroad promoting the film yesterday when his Oscar role was announced.