Eddie Murphy to host 84th edition of Oscar Awards

 　　LOS ANGELES, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Eddie Murphy has been named to host the 84th Academy Awards ceremony to be held on Feb. 26, 2012, turning a widely-publicised gossip into reality.

　　According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the 50-year-old comedian-actor will play host to the event, to be aired on ABC, joining a starry¹ host of comedians² including Bob Burns, Bob Hope, Billy Crystalk David Letterman and Whoopi Goldberg.

　　"Eddie is a comedic genius, one of the greatest and most influential³ live performers ever," Brett Ratner, who produces the Academy Awards show with Don Mischer, said in a statement Tuesday.

　　"With his love of movies, history of crafting unforgettable characters and his iconic performances -- especially onstage -- I know he will bring an excitement, spontaneity and tremendous heart to the show Don and I want to produce in February," said Ratner.

　　The news on Eddie Murphy's new role at the Academy Awards event started to circulate over Labor⁴ day weekend, meaning that the Academy is returning to its original and comedic past in the wake of its unsuccessful attempt to win over the new generation of viewers by naming a pair of young hosts -- James Franco and Anne Hathaway -- at this year's presentation.

　　The new decision, however, is a bizarre one as Murphy, who earned a nomination⁵ for supporting actor Oscar in 2006's "Dreamgirls," has not appeared in any films since he was last seen in "Imagine That." The 2009 comedy-drama turned out to be a box office disaster, raking in only 16.1 million U.S. dollars in the United States and Canada.

　　As one of Murphy's latest productions, 2008's "Meet Dave" turned out to be another flop⁶, making only 11.9 million dollars. The actor earned a nod for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor on his work in the film.

1 starry   

adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的

参考例句：

• He looked at the starry heavens.他瞧着布满星星的天空。
• I like the starry winter sky.我喜欢这满天星斗的冬夜。

2 comedians   

n.喜剧演员，丑角( comedian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The voice was rich, lordly, Harvardish, like all the boring radio comedians'imitations. 声音浑厚、威严，俨然是哈佛出身的气派，就跟无线电里所有的滑稽演员叫人已经听腻的模仿完全一样。 来自辞典例句
• He distracted them by joking and imitating movie and radio comedians. 他用开玩笑的方法或者模仿电影及广播中的滑稽演员来对付他们。 来自辞典例句

3 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

6 flop   

n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下

参考例句：

• The fish gave a flop and landed back in the water.鱼扑通一声又跳回水里。
• The marketing campaign was a flop.The product didn't sell.市场宣传彻底失败，产品卖不出去。