TV star Ellen DeGeneres has been named the host of the 79th Annual Academy Awards, to be held Feb. 27, 2007 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

The announcement was made today.

“When [telecast producer] Laura Ziskin called, I was thrilled,” DeGeneres said in a statement. “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.”

Ziskin, meanwhile, seemed to be more than happy to make the call.

“Ellen DeGeneres was born to host the Academy Awards,” Ziskin said. “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 hosts the Emmy award-winning talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

This year’s Oscars were hosted by the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart.






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