Billy Crystal is second to Bob Hope as the person who has hosted the Academy Awards the most number of times. Billy Crystal has done it nine times, and Bob Hope hosted the Academy Awards a record 19 times.

This job requires a difficult and rare set of skills: a host must entertain both the Hollywood big-shots in the auditorium and regular folks at home. The hosts have to think quickly on their feet, since there's no telling what will happen during a live TV broadcast. Crystal like Hope has been a very successful host of the Oscar awards. And, to a lesser extent, so have such hosts as Whoopi Goldberg, Johnny Carson, Steve Martin, Jerry Lewis, and Jon Stewart, all of whom have hosted the awards a multiple number of times.

To be a good Oscar emcee, it seems that the person must stand up and have an unforgettable introduction to the start of the Oscars. Also you don't have to be an actor to host. Hosts have included actors and actresses, film directors, musicians, and comedians. Once an animated Disney character was host. In 1958, Donald Duck co-hosted the Academy Awards alongside Bob Hope, David Niven, James Stewart, Jack Lemmon, and Rosalind Russell. Donald didn't appear on stage; he was only on film, but this marked the only time any animated character has hosted the Oscars. Each host (human or not) must have an imagination and use it if they are to be praised (extolled) by critics, fans, and others for doing a good, excellent, or outstanding job.

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