Problems are continuing to pile up for this year’s Oscars ceremony, the showpiece TV event of the awards season. Having already lost its preferred host in Kevin Hart, and been roundly criticised for its attempt to halt falling ratings by introducing (then abandoning) a best popular film category, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is alienating key supporters while attempting to navigate tricky waters.
Under pressure from the host network ABC, which pays around $75m (£58m) per year to screen the event, the Academy is attempting to incorporate more ratings-friendly features to its notoriously sprawling show, which recorded its lowest-ever viewing figure of 26 million in 2018. The broadcast is now to be kept to three hours of running time, with the handout of less popular categories’ awards confined to commercial breaks (though as yet it’s unclear which ones will be relegated).
The organisers have also been forced to backtrack on plans to drop three of the five Oscar-nominated songs from the broadcast, reportedly at the insistence of Lady Gaga, whose duet with Bradley Cooper, Shallow, was one of the two planned to be retained.
Plans have also been outlined for a “hostless” Oscars, with a string of stars including Daniel Craig, Constance Wu and Charlize Theron pencilled in to give awards. However, that appears to have meant a break with the Oscar tradition of the previous year’s winners presenting the acting awards.
Alison Janney, winner of the best supporting actress Oscar in 2018 for I, Tonya, said “it breaks my heart” in a now-deleted post on social media after reports that she and her fellow winners had been ditched.
Meanwhile, Cooper has revealed that he was “embarrassed” after not being nominated for the best director Oscar. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey for the Oprah from Times Square special, Cooper said: “I was embarrassed because I felt I hadn’t done my job.” A Star Is Born is Cooper’s directorial debut, and has been nominated for eight Oscars, including a best actor nod for Cooper, best actress for Gaga, and best adapted screenplay.
