Sunday night will be the 80th anniversary of the little annual party known as the Academy Awards. The Academy is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences…quite a mouthful…which is why people refer to the show as “The Oscars.” So who is Oscar? Oscar is the name of the 13.5-inch, 8.5 pound statuette that is given to each awardee. According to the AMPAS website the statuette, “depicts a knight holding a crusader’s sword, standing on a reel of film with five spokes, signifying the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers and Technicians.” Approximately 6,000 Hollywood professionals make up the Academy and vote for the nominees.
This year’s host is Jon Stewart of The Daily Show fame. Incidentally, Stewart’s show won four Oscars in the Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series category since 1999.
The program is sure to have a little something for everyone…including a couple of consumer-generated spots for Dove. And yes, all of you wannabe judges get to vote for the winning spot via text or online.
Speaking of voting, how about trying to predict the winners? Just download and print this ballot. The only thing more fun that sitting on your couch filling out a ballot as you await the start of the show would be sitting in one of the seats in the Kodak theater in Hollywood, keeping it warm while one of the celebrities visits the “powder room.” A couple of hundred “seat-fillers” perform this very valuable function every year…to avoid the embarrassment of empty seats when the cameras shoot the audience. Ah, the vanity of Hollywood!
Looking back on this article reminded me of when I lived in California. My father’s in the military & while moving around we always try to do as much sightseeing as possible. At the time it didn’t seem like such a big deal, but now I remember that for my birthday that year (February 2008) my sister & I begged our parents to drive us down to Hollywood. While there, we were actually able to see them setting up for the Oscars a week in advance at the Hollywood & Highland Center. The Center, which could actually be compared to an outdoor mall, they were holding a type of “birthday party” for the Oscars. They had an exhibit full of past actors, films & productions that they were showcasing; they also had exhibits showing the current (at the time) nominees. I was even able to hold one of the13.5-inch, 8.5 pound statuettes. The Academy Awards is such a huge night in the one form of media that the United States powerhouses & I feel that it holds such a history that in itself is worth studying.
The Oscars is one or if not the biggest event TV show that has been out for years. Though most famous for its yearly awards, the Academy’s general goal is the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures. Within that, the Academy cultural, educational and technological cooperation among its members; it provides a forum for various branches of the industry; it represents the viewpoint of its members; and it encourages educational activities between the professional community and the public. With that said the host of the Jon Daily show was hosting the Oscars. To me this was huge due to the race that is going on in America and how he was on crossfire a while back getting grilled about the way he runs his show. Another big thing that’s going to happen during the Oscars is the commercials that will be played during and how you can text to vote. To me Mass Media is growing every year and its getting stronger. Having people vote during the show will be a way to get more views to watch the show.
The Academy Awards brings the who’s who of show business together to celebrate their success, and some people get awarded for standing out among their peers. The only problem I have with the Oscar’s is that they don’t nominate some of the movies and actors that I’m interested in. Not only should viewers have a say in who wins each award but also who the nominees’ should be. I feel the viewers should have a larger role in the award show because fan support is what makes this industry stay prosperous. Jon Stewart was a good choice for this years host because he is capable of holding the crowd’s attention between awards and performances because of how funny he is, also being a past winner he know what the show is all about.
I agree with Rachel that this time around they weren’t very interesting. I do believe that the wrighter strike had something to o with it. Nearly every other year the Oscars were fun to watch. Besides the Super Bowl it is one of the most watched tv program. Usually there are huge performances and halarious speeches from the winners but this time I wasn’t feeling it. The strike not only hurt the Oscars but put an end to many upcoming shows that were on the way here.
I watch the oscars every year and this year I noticed the oscars were extremely boring. I’ve come to find out I wasn’t the only one though. The tv audience this year was one of the worst in history. So why the dissertion? I believe the Oscars need to come up with something to spice things up. It seemed to me that they didn’t know what to put in there between awards so they used some very interesting but extremely boring fillers. The writer’s strike ended just in time for them too so I’m not sure if that played a large role in it or not but Hollywood needs to step up the game.