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Comedian Kevin Hart will host the 2019 Academy Awards ceremony.
- Hart says hosting Academy Awards one of his dream jobs
- He promised to rise to occasion and make 2019 ceremony special
- Last year's Oscars had lowest ratings in event's history; many changes made ahead of 2019 ceremony
"I am so happy to say that the day has finally come for me to host the Oscars," he said in an Instagram post.
"So are we," the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences — which organises the Oscars — responded on Twitter.
"Welcome to the family," it added.
The announcement came hours after trade publication The Hollywood Reporter posted a story calling the Oscars host position, "the least wanted job in Hollywood".
Hart clearly doesn't feel that way, writing in his post that it has been on his list of dream jobs for years.
"I am blown away," he posted.
"To be able to join the legendary list of hosts that have graced that stage is unbelievable."
The 39-year-old has become a bankable star with films such as Ride Along, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Night School.
Hart takes over hosting duties from Jimmy Kimmel, who presided over the past two ceremonies, including 2016's best picture award bungle that resulted in the wrong winner being announced.
Last year's ceremony was an all-time ratings low and the film academy has announced a series of changes for the February 24 ceremony.
Those include shortening the broadcast to three hours and also presenting certain categories during commercial breaks and broadcasting excerpts of those winners' speeches later in the show.
The Academy Awards are the film industry's highest honour.
The job of hosting the Oscars is one of the most prestigious but also the most difficult in show business as hosts have to navigate the expectations of the A-list audience in the theatre and millions tuning in on television, with a combination of topical and insider jokes.
Hart, who is African-African, is one of just a handful of black Oscar hosts over the past 90 years, including Chris Rock, Whoopi Goldberg and Sammy Davis Jr.
His selection comes at a time when the Academy is under pressure to increase the diversity of its membership and among the films and performers nominated for Oscars.
Nominations are due to be announced on January 22.
ABC/Wires
Topics: academy-awards-oscars, event, film, film-movies, arts-and-entertainment, united-states