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New rules at Oscars not all winners take the stage
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-08 11:04
The long walk down the Oscar aisle will be a lot shorter for some of this
year's Academy Awards winners - in fact, some will not make it to the
stage.
Oscars telecast producer Gil Cates told the annual luncheon of nominees on
Monday that he had major changes planned for the awards, including not inviting
the victors in some categories to the stage.
Instead, Cates said they will receive their awards from a presenter parked in
the audience. In other cases, all the nominees in a single category will be
invited up on stage and the winner then announced.
And, finally, some nominees will get their Oscars the old-fashioned way,
walking down the aisle to the stage after the envelope is opened and the name
announced.
Cates said the changes for the 77th annual Academy Awards, to be broadcast on
Feb. 27, were aimed both at saving time and making sure that every nominee is
seen by a worldwide television audience estimated in the hundred of
millions.
Many treasured Oscar moments have involved the trek to the stage, as when
Italy's Roberto Benigni was named best actor in 1998 for "Life is Beautiful" and
made an elaborate display of climbing over seats and people to get to the
stage.
Cates, who this year, as in years past, made an impassioned plea for Oscar
winners to keep their acceptance speeches short, said the main reason for the
change was to "get more of the nominees seen on television."
As in years past, the luncheon drew a Who's Who in Hollywood to the Beverly
Hilton Hotel.
A total of 115 nominees posed for a group photo that featured Leonardo
DiCaprio standing in the last row near Clint Eastwood, also up for best actor,
and Morgan Freeman, up for best supporting actor. In front of them, stood Jamie
Foxx nominated for best actor in "Ray" and that film's director, Taylor
Hackford.
In the front row in front of Australian actress Cate Blanchett was diminutive
British actress Imelda Staunton, up for a best actress nomination in "Vera
Drake," a role that is giving her international recognition for the first
time.
Asked how the nomination had changed her life, Staunton dead-panned, "I am
totally changed. I won't do any domestic duties at all."
And then when asked if the nomination had led to her being offered more
roles, the 49-year-old actress said, "I bloody well hope it does. I'd like to
think I am an actress in mid-career, not at the end of one."
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