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25 best award show hosts

By Reed Gaudens

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - JANUARY 13: In this handout photo provided by NBCUniversal, L to R Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel International Ballroom on January 13, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - JANUARY 13: In this handout photo provided by NBCUniversal, L to R Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel International Ballroom on January 13, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images) /
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HOLLYWOOD, CA – MARCH 02: HANDOUT – EDITORIAL USE ONLY – In this handout photo provided by Ellen DeGeneres, host Ellen DeGeneres poses for a selfie taken by Bradley Cooper with (clockwise from L-R) Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Channing Tatum, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong’o, Angelina Jolie, Peter Nyong’o Jr. and Bradley Cooper during the 86th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo credit Ellen DeGeneres/Twitter via Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CA – MARCH 02: HANDOUT – EDITORIAL USE ONLY – In this handout photo provided by Ellen DeGeneres, host Ellen DeGeneres poses for a selfie taken by Bradley Cooper with (clockwise from L-R) Jared Leto, Jennifer Lawrence, Channing Tatum, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong’o, Angelina Jolie, Peter Nyong’o Jr. and Bradley Cooper during the 86th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre on March 2, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo credit Ellen DeGeneres/Twitter via Getty Images) /

2. Ellen DeGeneres

Show: 46th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1994), 38th Annual Grammy Awards (1996), 39th Annual Grammy Awards (1997), 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2001), 57th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2005), 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007), 86th Annual Academy Awards (2014)

Memorable Moments: Ellen DeGeneres is no stranger to hosting. She’s hosted at least seven award shows, her eponymous talk show since 2003, and now hosts Ellen’s Game of Games on NBC. In 2014, she hosted what might be one of the most iconic Academy Award ceremonies on record. First of all, she ordered pizza for the room full of famous face and dialed back the opening monologue to spare the audience from enduring a musical number or painful roasting. But the moment that got the world talking came when she gathered a group of celebrities to take the selfie that redefined selfies. When a photo has the power to take over the world, you know you’ve done something right.

Public Reception: Over the years, DeGeneres has surely turned in an award show hosting position that received either a shrug or a pass. But she gave it her all in 2014, and it elevated the Oscars to the headline-grabbing festival of stars that it should be. Ellen, a multi-Emmy and People’s Choice winner, is beloved by everyone, even as she’s naturally critiqued as a public figure. It’s no surprise that she’s one of the most highly regarded award show hosts of all time.

Why They’re One of the Best: As a talk show host, she knows how to lure guests out of their comfort zone and put on a show that’s entertaining for the folks at home and the crowd in attendance. As a standup comedian, she knows how to work a room. As an award show host, she knows how to combine those sensibilities up into an indelible mixture. What Ellen accomplished at the 2014 Oscars is something that hosts could only hope and dream to achieve. But she nailed it, and we have the Bradley Cooper-snapped selfie to show for it.

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