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The award for most polarising Oscars host could very well go to Seth MacFarlane, judging by his performance when announcing the Academy Awards nominations for 2013.
In the 10 minutes it took him to reveal the nominees during an early-morning telecast, the Family Guy creator cracked a joke about Hitler, quipped about actresses being attracted to movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and insulted his co-presenter Emma Stone.
When it was revealed that Amour, a film about a dying woman, was among the foreign language film nominees, MacFarlane said: "I read Amour was co-produced in Austria and Germany, right? The last time Austria got together and co-produced something it was Hitler, but this is much better."
"Much better, so much better," chimed in Stone.
There were audible groans, and some laughs, when MacFarlane announced the nominees in the supporting actress category by saying: "Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein."
At the beginning of the broadcast at 5.40am (Los Angeles time) on Thursday , he introduced Stone as “the star of the new film Gangster Squad”, before questioning: “I'm not sure you're the star. That seems more like an ensemble piece, right?”
A moment later, he said of Stone: “Some say she's better than Meryl Streep,” before stopping to ask: “Who says that?"
After reading the Best Director candidates, he cracked: “These are five people who are the very best at sitting in a chair and watching other people make a movie.”
And of the nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay, he said: “These are adapted screenplays, so that means that the writers basically copied stuff from Microsoft Word and pasted it into Final Draft.”
MacFarlane's irreverent and risque humour suggests that the potential for inappropriate comedy at an awards show could shift from the Golden Globes to the Oscars this year. Ricky Gervais's Golden Globes hosting efforts for three years running split critics, with the British comedian branded simultaneously "toothless" and "hysterical".
And the potential for more of the same at the traditionally staid Oscars ceremony had some people, including British CNN host Piers Morgan, excited.
"On a positive note, already clear that @SethMacFarlane is going to be a wonderfully inappropriate, snarky and hilarious host," Morgan tweeted.
Ken Tucker at Entertainment Weekly wrote that MacFarlane was "smug, condescending" but added "I can't wait for him to host the show itself — it may be one for the ages."
MacFarlane was the first Oscar host to announce the nominees since Charlton Heston did the honours in 1972.
MacFarlane himself was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song category for Everybody Needs a Best Friend from his film Ted.
"That's kind of cool, I got nominated. I get to go to the Oscars now," he said.
Oscar nominations
Best motion picture of the year
* "Amour" Nominees to be determined
* "Argo" Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
* "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
* "Django Unchained" Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
* "Les Misérables" Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
* "Life of Pi" Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
* "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
* "Silver Linings Playbook" Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
* "Zero Dark Thirty" Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers
Performance by an actor in a leading role
* Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook"
* Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"
* Hugh Jackman in "Les Misérables"
* Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
* Denzel Washington in "Flight"
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
* Alan Arkin in "Argo"
* Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook"
* Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master"
* Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln"
* Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained"
Performance by an actress in a leading role
* Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"
* Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"
* Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
* Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
* Naomi Watts in "The Impossible"
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
* Amy Adams in "The Master"
* Sally Field in "Lincoln"
* Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables"
* Helen Hunt in "The Sessions"
* Jacki Weaver in "Silver Linings Playbook"
Best animated feature film of the year
* "Brave" Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
* "Frankenweenie" Tim Burton
* "ParaNorman" Sam Fell and Chris Butler
* "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" Peter Lord
* "Wreck-It Ralph" Rich Moore
Achievement in cinematography
* "Anna Karenina" Seamus McGarvey
* "Django Unchained" Robert Richardson
* "Life of Pi" Claudio Miranda
* "Lincoln" Janusz Kaminski
* "Skyfall" Roger Deakins
Achievement in costume design
* "Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran
* "Les Misérables" Paco Delgado
* "Lincoln" Joanna Johnston
* "Mirror Mirror" Eiko Ishioka
* "Snow White and the Huntsman" Colleen Atwood
Achievement in directing
* "Amour" Michael Haneke
* "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Benh Zeitlin
* "Life of Pi" Ang Lee
* "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg
* "Silver Linings Playbook" David O. Russell
Best documentary feature
* "5 Broken Cameras"
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
* "The Gatekeepers"
Nominees to be determined
* "How to Survive a Plague"
Nominees to be determined
* "The Invisible War"
Nominees to be determined
* "Searching for Sugar Man"
Nominees to be determined
Best documentary short subject
* "Inocente"
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
* "Kings Point"
Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
* "Mondays at Racine"
Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
* "Open Heart"
Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
* "Redemption"
Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
Achievement in film editing
* "Argo" William Goldenberg
* "Life of Pi" Tim Squyres
* "Lincoln" Michael Kahn
* "Silver Linings Playbook" Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
* "Zero Dark Thirty" Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg
Best foreign language film of the year
* "Amour" Austria
* "Kon-Tiki" Norway
* "No" Chile
* "A Royal Affair" Denmark
* "War Witch" Canada
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
* "Hitchcock"
Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
* "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
* "Les Misérables"
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
* "Anna Karenina" Dario Marianelli
* "Argo" Alexandre Desplat
* "Life of Pi" Mychael Danna
* "Lincoln" John Williams
* "Skyfall" Thomas Newman
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
* "Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
* "Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"
Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
* "Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
* "Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
* "Suddenly" from "Les Misérables"
Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
Achievement in production design
* "Anna Karenina"
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
* "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
* "Les Misérables"
Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
* "Life of Pi"
Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
* "Lincoln"
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
Best animated short film
* "Adam and Dog" Minkyu Lee
* "Fresh Guacamole" PES
* "Head over Heels" Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
* "Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"" David Silverman
* "Paperman" John Kahrs
Best live action short film
* "Asad" Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
* "Buzkashi Boys" Sam French and Ariel Nasr
* "Curfew" Shawn Christensen
* "Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)" Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
* "Henry" Yan England
Achievement in sound editing
* "Argo" Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
* "Django Unchained" Wylie Stateman
* "Life of Pi" Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
* "Skyfall" Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
* "Zero Dark Thirty" Paul N.J. Ottosson
Achievement in sound mixing
* "Argo"
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
* "Les Misérables"
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
* "Life of Pi"
Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
* "Lincoln"
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
* "Skyfall"
Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson
Achievement in visual effects
* "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
* "Life of Pi"
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
* "Marvel's The Avengers"
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
* "Prometheus"
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
* "Snow White and the Huntsman"
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson
Adapted screenplay
* "Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio
* "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
* "Life of Pi" Screenplay by David Magee
* "Lincoln" Screenplay by Tony Kushner
* "Silver Linings Playbook" Screenplay by David O. Russell
Original screenplay
* "Amour" Written by Michael Haneke
* "Django Unchained" Written by Quentin Tarantino
* "Flight" Written by John Gatins
* "Moonrise Kingdom" Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
* "Zero Dark Thirty" Written by Mark Boal
