list dream come true." Shortly after his selection, several reports were released indicating that DeGeneres and other comedians such as 2005 ceremony host Chris Rock and actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus declined the offer to host the program, and Harris was a last-minute choice as emcee. Nevertheless, both Meron and Zadan denied such allegations and insisted that Harris was their only choice saying, "After every Oscar show there is always a discussion as to who will host the next one. Many names are discussed and sometimes even floated without there being any formal offers. At times, these casual discussions take on a life of their own, and some are eager to break a story without knowing the facts. Neil Patrick Harris received the Academy’s formal offer." Several other people were also involved with the production of the ceremony. Stephen Oremus served as musical director and conductor for the event. Derek McLane returned to design a new set and stage design for the show. During the ceremony, actor Channing Tatum introduced a group called "Team Oscar", which consisted of six young film students from colleges across the country selected by AMPAS whose role was to deliver Oscar statuettes to the presenters during the gala. Oscar-winning husband-and-wife songwriters Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez composed Harris's opening number entitled "Moving Pictures". Musicians Questlove and Mark Mothersbaugh and actor Will Arnett made cameos during the performance of Best Original Song nominee "Everything Is Awesome". Box office performance of nominated films For the first time since 2007, none of the Best Picture nominees had grossed $100 million before the nominations were announced (compared with three from the previous year). The combined gross of the eight Best Picture nominees at the American and Canadian box offices was $205 million, with an average of $25.6 million per film. None of the eight Best Picture nominees was among the top 50 release in box office during nominations. When the nominations were announced on January 15, 2015, The Grand Budapest Hotel was the highest-grossing film among the Best Picture nominees with $59.1 million in domestic box office receipts. The Imitation Game was the second-highest-grossing film with $42.7 million; this was followed by Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) ($26.6 million), The Theory of Everything ($26.2 million), Boyhood ($24.3 million), Selma ($16.5 million), Whiplash ($6.2 million), and finally American Sniper ($3.3 million). Of the top 50 grossing movies of the year,