After a few dud years for hosting duties at the Oscars, the Academy Awards have enlisted a fail proof host, and that’s none other than Ellen DeGeneres.
In order to celebrate a better Oscars ceremony , DeGeneres decided to release a song and dance trailer complete with suit and tie. It’s a typical showy song that you might see during the opening of the Oscars, but it doesn’t hurt to bring out the funny before the Oscars.
DeGeneres’ head start is one welcomed after the last few years proved to be down right boring (Billy Crystal) or offensive (Seth MacFarlane). The video featuring the Oscars host is titled “The Walker” and it’s shot like a regular HD music video. Obviously this goes above and beyond the cheesy Academy Awards promo.
“Here We Go” seems to be such a successful production that the Oscars also launched a behind the scenes featurette featuring writer and director of the Oscars spot, Paul Feig ( The Heat , Freaks and Geeks .) Think that’s all the Oscars has in store? Not even close as they released another clip about the technical aspects of how the one minute trailer was put together.
When Ellen’s name was initially announced to be host of the Academy Awards this year not everyone was impressed. While some said it was a safe choice and one they have seen before, others just weren’t impressed. Comments on Deadline reflect that the trailer still didn’t impress some people, with one anonymous commenter having said:
“Ellen– you need to stick with comedy to be successful at the Oscars. No music-dance-choreographed numbers or it will be awful (this is supposed to be about the movies). The best hosts are the ones who treat the telecast as a giant stand-up show, while remaining original. Billy Crystal in the 90s and early 00s, how he made the show his own. Whoopi Goldberg and her costume changes and theatrics.”
Other commenters called the trailer embarrassing and desperate. We think this shows great potential for the March 2 awards ceremony. Plus, DeGeneres has hosted the ceremony previously, and while that’s not always a clear indicator, if there’s one thing DeGeneres is great at doing it’s getting laughs where it counts.