NEIL PATRICK HARRIS TO HOST 2009 TONY AWARDS

According to Playbill, Neil Patrick Harris has been tapped as the host of the 2009 Tony Awards. He was host of the 2008 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards and the 2008 World Magic Awards. It was perhaps a measure of the industry's assessment of his emcee-ing abilities that "Saturday Night Live" asked him to be the host of one of its 2009 shows.

If the words "World Magic Awards" stopped you cold in the previous paragraph, they shouldn't have. Harris is an adept amateur magician and has etched out a reputation for himself on the talk show circuit as a man willing to perform a few tricks for the audience. However, Harris said he doesn't plan to pull any quarters out of any ears during the June 7 Tony broadcast (CBS-TV 8-11 PM, ET).

"I don't see the role of the host as being a performer," he said. "I might feel differently if the nature of the show wasn't so much about performance. But the Tonys are all about showcasing these shows on Broadway that are playing every night. For the host to be performing, too, seems to me a bit counterintuitive."