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Oscars: Host Seth MacFarlane Gets Mixed Reviews

Oscars: Host Seth MacFarlane Gets Mixed Reviews

In a night that some have hailed as predictable in terms of award winners, the selection of Seth McFarlane as host added some surprises.

The actor, singer and comedian, brought in by the night's organisers to attract younger audiences and boost ratings, caught the attention of the audience with a musical tribute to female frontal nudity in the movies.

Launching the 85th Academy Awards, he started off joking that best picture front-runner and eventual winner, Argo, about a real-life clandestine CIA operation to rescue American hostages from Iran, was "so top secret that the film's director is unknown to the Academy".

This was a not-so-subtle dig at members of the Academy for failing to nominate Ben Affleck as best director for the critically acclaimed film.

"They know they screwed up," MacFarlane added, as the camera panned to a shot of Affleck, looking somewhat uncomfortable in his seat. "Ben, it's not your fault."

MacFarlane then went on to describe another best film candidate, Django Unchained, as the slavery-era "story of a man fighting to get back his woman who has been subjected to unthinkable violence - or as Chris Brown and Rihanna call it, a date movie".

The punch line reference to the physical abuse involved in the relationship between the two R&B singers - Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting Rihanna in 2009 - drew an audible groan from the star-studded Los Angeles audience.

"Oh, no, that's what we were afraid he would do," MacFarlane said dead-panned.

The new Oscars host made his mark as creator of the animated TV series, Family Guy, a show known for its satire and off beam humour.

At one point MacFarlane launched into a song-and-dance number, showcasing his vocals to a tune called We Saw Your Boobs, in which he listed various A-list Hollywood actresses who have bared their breasts in films over the years.

Reviews of MacFarlane's performance were mixed.

The Washington Post called it "a fairly middle-of-the-road job as host," while USA Today said it appeared to be an "audition for his own variety show."

Twitter reaction to MacFarlane was also varied, but Piers Morgan and Russell Crowe defended the comedian.

Morgan tweeted: "Amused by Twitter indignation to @SethMacFarlane cracking bad taste jokes. He created Family Guy, not Glee."

Crowe went on "Congratulations @SethMacFarlane , you did great mate, handled it all with grace, #topjob"

In addition to hosting, MacFarlane was a best-song nominee himself this year for writing the lyrics to the song Everybody Needs a Best Friend from his R-rated (restricted for children under 17) comedy hit film Ted, about a pot-smoking, foul-mouthed teddy bear.

The award went to Skyfall, the title song from the latest Bond film, performed at the Oscars by British vocalist Adele.