Why was Whoopi Goldberg chosen as the first woman to host the Academy Awards?

When I watched the Oscar disaster this year I couldn’t help thinking that Anne Hathaway did a pretty good job but James Franco was a disaster. So I wondered whether the Academy ever simply went with a female host. It turns out they did with Whoopi Goldberg in 1994 and a few times after that. I’ve seen Whoopi Goldberg on “The View” and it’s hard for me to picture her as an Oscar host. Why did they pick her?