Word: oscared
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...Oscar show needs fixing - everyone agrees on that. Ratings for the Motion Picture Academy's annual rite of self-congratulation have fallen more than 40% in the past decade, from 1998, when Titanic was named Best Picture, to 2008, when No Country for Old Men won. What for ages was the year's most watched entertainment program is now just another awards show...
...Like freelance economists poking the American fiscal corpse with the long sticks of their opinions, critics of the Oscar show have floated all manner of remedies. Nattering nabobs like yours truly have urged Academy members to consider nominating good films that are also popular films, on the theory that people will tune in to see prizes handed out to movies they've watched and have a rooting interest in. (See TIME's Oscar predictions...
...documentary shorts), thus allowing the evening to be a showcase of star actors, possibly with longer clips from their films. That's what the Grammy show has become: an all-star concert, with only 10 of the record industry's 110 awards presented on the prime-time show. Or Oscar could go the full American Idol route, with the nominated thespians in an "act-off" of big movie scenes, and the viewing audience, not the Academy's senior citizens, choosing the winner...
...that's what you get on Oscar night: five names, one winner, four losers; then it's move on, dot, yawn. What if we learned, as the tally was shown on a big board behind the person reading out the nominations for Best Actor, what the names of the top two contenders were - and that they were just one vote apart? That actually happened in 1932, and the Oscar was given to both Fredric March and Wallace Beery. But we know that only because the Academy later changed the rule: to declare a tie, the tallies had to be exactly...
...Foundation has given the Artist of the Year Award, which recognizes humanitarian efforts and achievements in the arts. Aykroyd is well-known for his performances in comedies such as “Ghostbusters” and “The Blues Brothers,” and has been an Oscar and Grammy Nominee. According to Cultural Rhythms Co-Director Nworah B. Ayogu ’10, Aykroyd was selected for the award for both his popular and charitable work. “The Artist of the Year is not only chosen for their contributions to the arts, but for their...