He can sing, he can dance, he can act and he can host. He is People magazine’s sexiest man alive and he does not do stand up comedy. This makes Hugh Jackman the perfect contender for the host of the Academy Awards ceremony.

The 40-year-old “Australia” star was announced on Friday as the host of the 81^st annual Oscars, which will take place on February 22 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.

Producers of the Academy Awards explained that they expected Hugh Jackman to bring some frenetically sought brilliance to the highly anticipated event.

Although he is far from being the nutty comedic type that has dominated the Academy Awards ceremony during the past couple of decades, when big names like Billy Crystal, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg, Jon Stewart and Ellen DeGeneres served as hosts of the event, Hugh Jackman represents the perfect change for producers.

Laurence Mark, a co-producer of the Academy Awards telecast, and Bill Condon said that they intended to move toward movie industry rather than fall back on television figures.

The Australian actor is best known for impersonating Wolverine in the popular “X-Men” franchise, as well as for his critically acclaimed roles in “Kate & Leopold” and the Christopher Nolan-directed “The Prestige,” in which he played alongside Christian Bale.

In addition, Hugh Jackman has hosting experience, as he emceed both the 2004 and the 2005 Tony Awards ceremony. He was even offered an Emmy Award for his first attempt of hosting the Tonys.

He was awarded with a Tony for his part in the musical “The Boy of Oz.”

Academy Awards nominations will be made public in January, while the February 22 ceremony will be broadcast by the ABC network.