Last year’s winning actors – including Frances McDormand and Gary Oldman – apparently haven’t been contacted to present at the awards yet, as the Academy hunts for new ways to spark higher ratings.
The Academy keeps uprooting tradition in order to find ways to boost ratings for this year’s Oscars ceremony. Among the many changes it’s reportedly making this year is the decision to switch up how best-actor trophies are presented. For the last several years, acting categories have been presented by the performer who won in that category the last year. But according to Deadline, the Academy has yet to reach out to last year’s winners Gary Oldman, Frances McDormand, Sam Rockwell (nominated this time for Vice), and Allison Janney. Why? Because the organization is reportedly looking for bigger stars to present these categories, as a way to potentially juice ratings.
Representatives for the Academy have not yet responded to Vanity Fair’s request for comment about this report. As Deadline suggests, the Academy might opt to tap folks like, say, Oprah Winfrey or Tom Hanks to present the categories as a way to kick the show’s Q score up a few points. It’s not enough to just be the Oscars anymore; with ratings dwindling year by year, the Academy is desperate to spice up the ceremony.
Unfortunately for the telecast, many of its attempts to shake things up have been met with backlash. First, there was the announcement (and quick withdrawal) of the best-popular-film Oscar category. Then, there was the Oscar host debacle, with Kevin Hart stepping down after initially refusing to apologize for old homophobic jokes (he later apologized on Twitter, only after announcing that he would not host the show after all). The Academy has since shifted gears by leaning into being hostless, and is now focusing on getting interesting batches of stars together to present the various categories.
Not having a host should save the show some precious airtime, another Academy concern. When the best-popular-film category was initially announced, the Academy also revealed that this year’s show would run a tight three hours, a goal it would achieve by rewarding certain categories (such as, reportedly, best cinematography) during commercial breaks. Though it was overshadowed by the best-popular-film scrum at first, that decision has also been criticized as demoralizing and devaluing to the winners who will no longer have their moments included in the broader telecast. “As a member of @TheAcademy I’m offended by the proposed changes to the telecast,” filmmaker and Academy member Gina Prince-Bythewood tweeted. “Filmmaking is a collection of crafts and The Academy is the only awards show that honors and amplifies all. As it should be.”
It’s unclear if the Academy will switch gears now that the film world is reacting negatively to these proposed changes. However, it has already reneged on one major planned shift. Previously, the Academy announced that only two best-original-song nominees would be performed at the ceremony: just Lady Gaga (‘Shallow’) and Kendrick Lamar and SZA (‘All the Stars’) would appear on the telecast, leaving out three fellow nominees from the films RBG, Mary Poppins Returns, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. The decision was criticized on social media, including by Mary Poppins Returns star Lin-Manuel Miranda who called the choice “truly disappointing” in a tweet.
“Hostless AND music-less?” he added. “To quote Kendrick: Damn.”
The Academy has since backtracked, announcing this week that all five nominated songs will be performed after all (albeit in a truncated form). It was reported by Deadline that team Gaga actually had to get involved for this rewind to happen, with the star telling the Academy that she wouldn’t perform period if all five songs weren’t recognized by the telecast. Looks like Gaga really was right all along: there can be a hundred Oscar planners in a room, and 99 of them don’t believe in you—but all you need is one.
– Courtesy: Vanity Fair
