HIGHLIGHTS OF THE 84TH ACADEMY AWARDS
NUMBER 1 – ELLEN DEGENERES HOSTING THE OSCARS FOR A 2ND TIME
Ellen Degeneres hilarious opening
monologue
Everyone has been looking forward
to America’s daytime chat show hostess and comedienne Ellen Degeneres hosting
the Academy Awards again. She is quick with the wit, there is no toilet humour,
and has no fear, A-Listers be aware. Ellen also has class, unlike Seth
McFarlane, we will not be hearing any toilet humour from his side kick “Ted”…nor
will there be a song and dance number called “We saw your boobs”….the female
celebrities can breathe a sigh of relief!
Who can forget when Ellen asked
Steven Spielberg to take a photo of her and Clint Eastwood for Myspace and gave
Martin Scorsese a script for a follow up to Goodfellas and Big Momma’s House
called “Good Mamas”.
My favourite joke was about how
nominees get their nominations, as America did not vote for Jennifer Hudson on
American Idol and America voted for Al Gore in the presidential elections, both
LOST but won their respective Oscars on the night!
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| Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Joey Luft, Lorna Luft |
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| Judy Garland receiving her juvenile Oscar for Wizard of Oz |
NUMBER 2 – THE TRIBUTE TO THE WIZARD OF OZ
The Academy has confirmed that
Judy Garland’s children, the legendary Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft, and Joey Luft
will pay tribute to their mum the epic that is the Wizard of Oz. I secretly
hope that the last surviving Wizard of Oz Munchkin Jerry Maren, will make an
appearance as a member of the Lollipop Guild. We are already humming the songs
before the Oscars begin. We had also hoped Judy Garland’s best friend from the
Golden Age of MGM, Mickey Rooney would host the tribute, but there has been no
mention from Oscars HQ. It has been confirmed that movie star and blonde
Bombshell Kim Novak will introduce the the tribute. Kim Novak became friends
with Judy Garland and her then husband Sid Luft when they use to party and
gamble with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack in L.A and Las Vegas.
NUMBER 3 – THE RETURN OF THE DIVINE MISS BETTE
MIDLER
Songstress and actress Bette Midler has not been to the
Oscars for many years, she was last seen on the Oscar stage presenting with the
her co-stars from The First Wives Club in 1997. Old timers and the new
generation will be re-introduced to the sumptuous vocal acrobatics of Miss
Midler, who is known to bring magic to the stage.
Bette Midler at the 1997 Oscars
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| Shirley Temple receiving her Juvenile Oscar 1935 |
NUMBER 4 – IN MEMORIUM
Get the tissues ready in 2013 and
early 2014, we lost some amazing actors and executives. The most memorable
being, America’s little sweetheart Shirley Temple, who was the most famous
child star of all time. At the age of 5, Shirley Temple single handedly saved Fox
studios from bankruptcy. She later landed some good adult film roles but never
quite made the transition into grown up movies. She moved to Television where
she landed a storybook series. She retired from show business in 1950 and then
pursued a successful career in public service as an Ambassador and head of
protocol. The little girl that the world fell in love with will be sorely
missed….we hope she is resting in peace on the Good Ship Lollipop with “Uncle
Billy”, the legendary Billy Bojangles Robinson.
Some other memorable stars that passed
away in the past season are movie stars Peter O’toole, Joan Fontaine, Paul
Walker, Philip Seymor Hoffman, Corey Monteith, James Gandolfini, Richard Griffiths, Eleonor
Parker, Esther Williams, James Avery, Deanna Durbin, Richard Briers, Jean
Stapleton, Sid Caesar
, Harold Ramis, Juanita Moore, Maximilian
Schell , Alicia Rhett
NUMBER 5 – MANDELA TRIBUTE
Since Gandhi, there has never
been a statesman and humanitarian that has been so globally respected, admired
and written about. So it is a fitting tribute that the Academy Awards have
chosen to remember the global statesman. Bono and U2 have been selected to
perform at the Oscars as a tribute to the memory of Nelson Mandela.
NUMBER 5 – STEVE MCQUEEN AND 12 YEARS A SLAVE
The best Oscar moments are always
when history is made, like when Kathryn
Bigelow became the first woman director to win an Oscar and was
given the Oscar by non less than Barbra Streisand! Tonite Oscar attendees might
witness history in the making if Steve McQueen of Black British descent becomes
the first black director to win an Oscar for 12 years a Slave. He has so far
lost every time to Director Alfonso
Cuarón (Gravity). However he has taken most of the “Best Film” and “
Best Producer” accolades during the award season. The predictions say that is
so far a two man race for “best director” it could be Steve McQueen or Alfonso
Cuarón, either of which will be a British win!
NUMBER 6 – AFRICAN NOMINATIONS AT THE OSCARS
We do love firsts. If either
Lupita Nyong’o (Kenya) or Barkhad Abdi (Somalia) they will be become the first
Africans to win an Oscar! Steve McQueen has called Lupita Nyong’o his muse and
poured his admiration for how she carried the scenes. On the red carpet, Lupita
has already made waves as a fashion icon. The likes of USA Vogue editor Anna
Wintour and Victoria Beckham have been on the phone. She has already made the
covers of various international magazines and possibly the envy of every
supermodel alive. Lupita has a second movie out, “Non-Stop” starring Liam
Neeson which grossed $10 million on its opening day, and was ranked #1. Barkhad
Abdi has a BAFTA in the bag, although he lost most of the accolades to Jared
Leto (The Dallas Buyer’s Club). Barkhadi is a novice having never studied
acting, he was a limo driver and went to the casting call for Captain Phillips
when they advertised for Somali citizens to play pirates. Good luck to both of
them.
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Pharrell performing "Happy" at the BRIT awards
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NUMBER 7 – THE PERFORMANCES
This year we have a treat as
Oscars HQ have chosen 6 exquisite performances to cater to all tastes! We
cannot wait for broadway legend and powerhouse Idina Menzel (Wicked, Glee) to
perform “Let it Go” and Pharell’s feel good tune of the year “Happy”. I hope
the Oscars have a 5 second delay as the rocktastic Pink will be in the house,
we are hoping she will create some kind of controversy. Anything else would be
boring from rocker Pink! Remember her half naked acrobatic act at the Grammy
Awards?
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