In an interesting and unexpected move, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science has announced that Hugh Jackman has been given the hosting duties of the 81st Academy Awards on February 22, 2009.

This move comes after years of comedian-dominated telecasts which, while most were entertaining enough and only some bore, showed consistently falling numbers in the ratings — ultimately leading to this move. The hope here being that this is a celebration of movies and it should feature a movie star as its host.

As most people know, Hugh Jackman isn’t just a leading man in Hollywood, he’s also done many stage performances and just loves to sing and dance. And while Oscar executive producer Bill Condon says, “I wouldn’t assume the show will be more musical,” one thing is for sure, Jackman knows how to put on a show, so this should be interesting to see no matter how they approach it.

While I have always enjoyed laughing during the Oscars and am a little reluctant to this idea, it’s also easy to see that this could actually work out really well. With Jackman’s presence and his ability to own a crowd, along with a really well-written show, don’t be shocked to see things work out nicely.

[Source: Variety]