Finally! The Oscars tapped Neil Patrick Harris to host the Academy Awards, according to Variety.
Harris will host the event for the first time, although he did open the show for hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin in 2010. He hosted the 2013 Emmys Awards and has hosted the Tony Awards four times.
"I'm in. Nice," Harris said in a video he posted minutes after the news broke. He then circled "Host the Oscars" on his "NPH's Bucket List," which included "jump out of a plane," "perform with Muppets," "juggle flaming torches," "have children" and "get married."
— Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) October 15, 2014
The Oscars gig puts Harris one awards ceremony shy of achieving an EGOT in hosting (he only needs the Grammys). Ellen DeGeneres only needs to host the Tony Awards to complete the circuit. No other person has ever hosted all four big awards shows, but the Grammys might prove Harris' greatest challenge since the awards show sometimes goes without a host.
DeGeneres hosted her first Oscars this past March and attracted the awards show's biggest audience in 14 years with 45.5 million total viewers. The talk show host declined a repeat appearance for next year due to the demanding nature of the job, according to Variety.
Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will produce the Oscars ceremony for a third consecutive year. The 87th Academy Awards will air on Feb. 22 on ABC.
