On Thursday, Nikki Finke was blogging that Academy Award officials were going to pick a host who was "way outside the box" for the 81st annual show on Feb. 22.

Today's news that it's actor Hugh Jackman doesn't dazzle me. That's "way outside the box?" Well, maybe if he hosts in his Wolverine costume from the "X-Men" series.

In recent years, hosts Billy Crystal and Steve Martin have been confident, suave, sophisticated and -- most importantly -- funny. And then there have been others, like Jon Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg and Chris Rock. Were they funny? Not so much. Remember David Letterman ("Uma" ... "Oprah")? He was a disaster.

Back to Jackman. Well, gee, People magazine recently declared him the "sexiest man alive." And, he is a handsome charmer, who's hosted the Tony Awards. He's also a song-and-dance-man, if they decide to go that route. Plus, he's probably not going to be nominated for "Australia," so what better way to get into the event?

Barring a possible strike by the Screen Actors Guild, we'll see if Jackman is more like Crystal or Letterman.