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Oscars: The Hosts Who Succeeded... And Flopped

Even for the most seasoned performers in television and film, hosting the Oscars is a tough gig. There's a fine line between making the audience of Hollywood greats laugh with an edgy joke, and causing offence with a gag that goes too far.

The master of ceremonies also has to appeal to hundreds of millions of television viewers - and in the age of instantaneous feedback on Twitter, it seems that Neil Patrick Harris failed to live up to the expectations of audiences at home.

Whereas some hosts have won plaudits for their performance - and have returned to present the Academy Awards several times - others have been panned by fans and critics alike.

:: See the full list of winners

:: WELL RECEIVED: Ellen DeGeneres (2007 and 2014)

Her selfie during last year's Oscars smashed the record for the most retweeted photo, and even crashed Twitter for a time. With a strong comedic background, DeGeneres managed to capture the mood, telling nominees during one opening monologue: "This has got to be your favourite part of the night, because right now, it's a level playing field. You don't know who's going to win - unless you're British, and then you know you've got a pretty good shot."

:: POORLY RECEIVED: Seth MacFarlane (2013)

Although he attracted good ratings, the Family Guy creator split opinion with the critics. Some thought his jokes bordered on anti-Semitic, sexist and homophobic. In one gag, he referred to physical abuse involved in the relationship between Chris Brown and Rihanna. MacFarlane's supporters, including Russell Crowe and Piers Morgan, pointed out that he had built his reputation on having a juvenile sense of humour.

:: WELL RECEIVED: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin (2010)

The veteran actors kept things light-hearted during their appearance at the 82nd Academy Awards - delivering their jokes with excellent comic timing. Tapping into a long-running theme during the monologue, Martin said: "Meryl Streep holds the record for most nominations as an actress - or as I like to think of it, the most losses."

:: POORLY RECEIVED: Anne Hathaway and James Franco (2011)

Unfortunately, not all pairings to host the Oscars work well - and 2011 was a prime example of this. The duo were drafted in to help the programme appeal to a younger audience - but their awkwardness led to #oscarsfail trending on Twitter. Many critics believed Hathaway simply tried too hard to woo the audience, while others scorned Franco for being detached and seemingly uninterested in the event. During a more polished performance hosting the Golden Globes, Tina Fey said the actress had appeared "totally alone and abandoned" on stage.

:: WELL RECEIVED: Billy Crystal (nine-time Oscars host, most recently in 2012)

The comedian's first stab at hosting the Oscars was in 1990. He went on to present the Academy Awards for four consecutive years, and appeared a further five times. Regularly voted as an all-time favourite of the public, one highlight included when he opened the 1992 ceremony dressed as Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs. The film went on to win five of the seven awards it had been nominated for.

:: POORLY RECEIVED: David Letterman (1995)

He may be king of the late night talk shows in the US, but David Letterman's stint of hosting the Oscars fell incredibly wide of the mark. Twenty years on from his fateful performance, critics are still reeling at his long-winded joke comparing the similarities between the names of Oprah Winfrey and Uma Thurman. The audience was fairly unresponsive as he paced around the stage, going "Oprah… Uma… Oprah… Uma" - and the gags only got worse from there.

:: WELL RECEIVED: Whoopi Goldberg (1994, 1996, 1999, 2002)

Presenting the Academy Awards four times, Whoopi Goldberg was certainly one of the more creative hosts. Sure, she opened the ceremony as an African Queen in 1999 - and entered from the ceiling in 2002 - but her best quip came when she hosted the year after Letterman in 1996. Goldberg simply said: "So… did ya miss me?"

:: POORLY RECEIVED: Chris Rock (2005)

Chris Rock acknowledged he was a controversial choice to host the awards during his opening monologue, telling the audience: "Welcome to the 77th and last Academy Awards."

While making a joke about how filmmakers rush a movie's production when they can't get the cast they want, Rock took a swipe at Jude Law, saying: "If you want Tom Cruise and all you can get is Jude Law… wait! Why is he in every movie I've seen in the past four years?"

This prompted an angry response from Sean Penn, who went on to describe Law as a "fine young actor" when he took to the stage to present the Oscar for best actress.

:: MOST BIZARRE HOST: Donald Duck (1958)

Finally, arguably the weirdest presenter to grace the Oscars was Donald Duck, probably the only animated (and half-naked) host the Academy Awards will ever see.