And the winner is . . . Jon Stewart.
The outspoken host of Comedy Central’s New York-based satirical nightly newscast, “The Daily Show,” has been tapped to host the Academy Awards March 5 for the first time.
The announcement yesterday from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which sponsors the annual Oscars, ended weeks of suspense over who would host the 78th annual awards show.
“As a performer, I’m truly honored to be hosting the show,” Stewart said. “Although, as an avid watcher of the Oscars, I can’t help but be a little disappointed with the choice.”
The announcement came just eight weeks before the event, suggesting Stewart was hired only after a number of other candidates were approached.
In previous years, Oscar hosts have been announced months before the live telecast.
Among the comedy stars who reportedly passed this time around were Billy Crystal and Chris Rock, who was host for last year’s show. Also considered were Steve Martin and Conan O’Brien, according to published reports.
Academy Awards executive producer Gil Cates would not confirm that he held talks with other candidates.
He said the delay in hiring was due to his own busy schedule, which included directing a play in Los Angeles this past fall.
Previous hosts include Crystal, Rock, Martin, Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman, Johnny Carson and Bob Hope.
Stewart, 43, who was born in New York and raised in Lawrenceville, N.J., hosted the Grammys in 2001 and 2002.
Cates said, “The reason we hired him is, we need someone who can do a terrific show, which is someone who hopefully has a stand-up comedy background so they can deal with the unexpected [and] roll with the punches.”