Eddie Murphy to host 84th Annual Academy Awards

Eddie Murphy will host the Oscars next year. After the James Franco débâcle last time, I'm open to this idea.

But Eddie has not done any major hosting before. And he has not done any stand-up comedy in a long time. This could be a major disaster... I'm watching!!!

From THR:

It's official: Eddie Murphy will host the 84th annual Academy Awards, which ABC will broadcast live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Feb. 26.

Brett Ratner and Don Mischer, who are producing the annual awards show, presented their choice on Tuesday to officials at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, who signed off on Murphy hosting.

It will be the first time that Murphy, who shot to fame in the 1980s, first on Saturday Night Live, and then in movies like 48 Hrs. and Beverly Hills Cop, has hosted the show. He has appeared as a presenter on several broadcasts, most recently in 2009 when he presented the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Jerry Lewis. He also received an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor for his performance in the 2006 musical Dreamgirls.