Oscars 2015: Can host Neil Patrick Harris win over the audience tonight?
It’s seen as something of a poisoned chalice, with previous hosts leaving the Hollywood crowd cold
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Your support makes all the difference.Tonight Neil Patrick Harris will attempt to win over the cream of Hollywood as he hosts this year’s Oscars ceremony.
It’s a tough gig by anyone’s standards and previous hosts have floundered and left the Hollywood crowd cold. Who can forget James Franco’s detached style in 2011 that made him seem more like one of his stoned characters from The Pineapple Express or Your Highness? (He denied he was stoned later.)
Then there was Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane’s disastrous turn on the podium two years ago, where he insulted many views with jokes about women and Jewish people. Needless to say it didn't go well.
Even legendary talkshow host David Letterman failed to win any plaudits. His late-night humour didn’t work for the crowd in 1995 and has gone down as one of the worst in the 80-plus years of Oscar history. Ouch.
Hosting the Oscars is seen as something of a poisoned chalice and it may well be even harder for Harris this year after Ellen DeGeneres’ fun and fab performance last year.
From ordering in pizza to that incredible selfie, it’s going to be pretty hard to top DeGeneres but Harris will give it a fair crack.
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