The Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations has nabbed royalty to host its 18th annual Cultural Rhythms show.

Queen Latifah, the ground-breaking female rap-artist and actress who is nominated this year for an Academy Award, was selected as the Foundation’s “Cultural Artist of the Year.”

Queen Latifah will host the ethnic showcase, which will be followed by food festivities, this Saturday.

Unlike last year’s lesser known honoree, actor Blair Underwood, Queen Latifah is a return to the big-name host for the show, which in the past has chosen Jackie Chan, Will Smith, Halle Berry and Matt Damon ’92 as hosts.

S. Allen Counter, director of the Foundation, said he was thrilled with the decision to tap Queen Latifah for Saturday’s show.

“We’re delighted; we’re honored; our students are excited about it; the faculty and deans are also excited about it,” he said.

Counter explained that humanitarian acts and artistic achievement are the two main criteria used by the Foundation to select its artist of the year.

“Queen Latifah has done an incredible job of giving out scholarships to students,” Counter said.

He said that roughly 15 students who work for the Foundation nominate several artists for the honor, and then vote on a pool of about 3-4 finalists.

According to Counter, actress Selma Hayek was among others in the running to be this year’s guest of honor.

But according to one student who works for the Foundation, the vote for Queen Latifah was unanimous.

Student interns from the Foundation said yesterday they were very excited about the catch.

“I was very happy,” said Claudia I. Garcia ’05. “She was my first choice.”

“She’s a great representation of culture and an all around wonderful person,” said another intern, Saritha Komatireddy ’05. “We try to find someone who really loves race and race relations, and Queen Latifah is that person.”

Queen Latifah is lauded by those in the music world as one of the first and most influential females in the rap industry. The Grammy-winner has also been a hit on the screen—big and small.

She starred in the popular television sitcom, Living Single, and most recently in movies such as Brown Sugar and Chicago, for which she is an Oscar nominee.

Aside from the arts, the Queen is also active in numerous charities, including the Lancelot H. Owens Scholarship Fund, named after her late brother and dedicated to providing children with educational and leadership opportunities.

And her stage name, “Latifah,” means “sensitivity” in the Arabic language.

Queen Latifah’s role model status excited some students who plan on attending the show Saturday.

“She’s very cool,” said Uzma Hasan, a student at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. “She doesn’t just represent the Afro-American culture, but actual issues as well. She’s up there as a woman, and it’s nice to see she’s not all about her [entertainment] career.”

Adebola S. Owolewa ’05, a member of the Harvard African Students’ Association, also said she was impressed with the Foundation’s pick.

“I think [Queen Latifah] is a great person to look at,” Owolewa said. “She’s done her own thing from music to TV to movies, reinventing her career. She’s redefined what it means to be an artist.”

The Cultural Ryhthms show is designed to promote diversity at Harvard, Counter said yesterday.

“It brings communities at Harvard together in a very special way,” he said. “Harvard is a much more diverse place than when Cultural Rhythms started.”

In addition to the appearance of the honored guest, the 1,000 students expected to attend Cultural Rhythms can look forward to a wide array of performances from over 30 student organizations, including a Chinese yo-yo group, the Kuumba choir and presentations by other ethnic groups.

Queen Latifah will host the first show in Sanders Theater on Feb. 22 from 3-5 p.m. The food festival will follow in the Science Center from 5-7 p.m. and the second show, to be emceed by students, will be from 7:30-9:30 p.m.