Oscars 2015: Neil Patrick Harris’s best and worst moments

HE’S the host with the most, having blitzed the Tony and Emmy Award ceremonies ... but Neil Patrick Harris’s first Oscars gig may also be his last.

THERE is a lot to love about Neil Patrick Harris.

He’s the former child star of the small screen who successfully managed the transition not only to the movies but also to Broadway. He’s the song and dance man who can act, host a gig and perform magic tricks. He’s straddles that line between geeky and cool, a balancing act epitomised by the memoir he released last year, which took the form of a Choose Your Own Adventure book.

Harris came into his first Academy Awards hosting gig with high expectations, having knocked his previous awards ceremony hosting jobs out of the park. So much so that he even won an Emmy for presenting the Tonys.

But how did he go hosting the Oscars? Let’s recap.

Off to a different sort of start ... the opening number. Picture: Kevin Winter

The opening number

Comedian hosts will usually begin their Oscars presentation with an extended monologue, usually riffing on the year in movies and finding the most exquisite ways to embarrass the big name stars. NPH stuck to his strength — a song and dance number. It was a bit Tonys-ish for some, but the clever edits inserting him in various Hollywood classics was cute, and reminded everyone that movies are awesome.

Awks ... NPH interviews Steve Carell. Picture: John Shearer

The audience interaction

Ellen DeGeneres set the bar high in 2014 with the selfie that broke the internet. NPH was never going to eclipse that moment, and he didn’t. Indeed, his interactions with the audience mainly fell flat, and the “joke” of him pretending that Steve Carell was another hired sit-in missed the mark.

Sharp ... some of NPH’s lines were zingers. Picture: Kevin Winter

Some of the jokes were awesome

“Tonight we honour Hollywood’s best and whitest.” “Edward Snowden couldn’t be here for some treason”. “Welcome to the dependent spirit awards”. There were some nice moments, arguably under-appreciated by the crowd. And everything about the John Travolta / Idina Menzel interaction was brilliant — culminating in the line that Travolta would return next year, to do an onstage apology to Menzel for excessive face-touching.

Hocus pocus ... NPH opens his locked briefcase onstage. Picture: Kevin Winter

The magic trick

He set the terms for the joke early, but the Oscar predictions schtick took too much setting-up, with far too many unfunny check-ins with Octavia Spencer. The predictions themselves were a pretty good laugh, but the “magic” (how did he manage to get such an uncannily accurate account of the night’s proceedings?) didn’t really translate to TV.

He wore blue velvet. NPH in another outfit change. Picture: Kevin Winter

Looking sharp

A grey tux for the red carpet; classic black for the opening number and then adventures in burgundy and blue velvet. GQ’s calling, NPH.

Putting it out there ... NPH took things back to basics this year. Picture: Kevin Winter

The moment

So there was no celebrity selfie, but he created “the moment” by standing on stage in his underwear. It was a homage to Birdman, beautifully undercut with a line about the nobility of the acting profession. Also, who knew that Doogie Howser would grow up to look so fit?

Originally published as Oscars 2015: Neil Patrick Harris’s best and worst moments