Oscar Vs. Grammy

Award season is primarily comprised of two main shows: the Oscars and the Grammys.

Now that both shows have passed it is now acceptable to compare the two.

Fortunately viewership for both shows increased since last year’s production.

2012 Oscar viewership vs. Grammy

The Oscar had a slight raise in ratings this year with 39.3 million people compared to last years 37.9 million people. The Grammys  had a more drastic increase in viewers. It went from 26.6 million viewers to 39.9 million.

This is the first year since the Neilson ratings began its current rating system in 1992 that the Grammys surpassed the Oscars in viewership.

The Grammys also destroyed the Oscars with the 18-49 adult demographic. They had a 14.1 rating to the Oscars 11.7.

Many people speculate Whitney Houston’s sudden death made people tune in.

The Grammys feature more performances that cater to a younger audience, which could explain the difference between the two show’s ratings.

In my opinion I think the Grammys were better. They had a different vibe and allowed for more topics to talk about the next day. The Oscars were long and dragged on and on. I did appreciate Billy Crystal and his attempts to add humor to the show, but I was barely paying attention.

Oscar Recapped

hey guys so the Oscars were held a little over a week ago and since the dust has settled I think it’s time for me to give me thoughts in this very informal quick post.

      Overall I thought the show was pretty decent. It wasn’t the greatest award show ever but it did have it’s moments. Billy Crystal was hilarious as host, as we all knew he would be. He sang, danced, and even had a smooch with George Clooney. He kept the mood light and fun.

    
     I found the show to drag on a bit. It’s hard sitting there for two-plus hours watching the same thing. They should find a way to cut down the awards. I doubt anyone cares about best cinamatography or sound mixing. Everyone only cares for the big 5, best actor/actress, best supporting actor/actress and best picture.
That being said I did think they tried hard to make the show entertaining. Billy Crystal did his best to crack jokes and they even had the Bridesmaids cast doing a bit. I applaud their effort, it really was funny, but they couldn’t keep my attention for the whole show.


     When it comes to the Big 5 there wasn’t any surprises. I think everyone was well deserving. I adored Octavia Spencer in The Help and after 17 nominations Meryl Streep deserved her third Oscar. I never saw The Artist but any movie that is silent in this day and age deserves an award.
When it comes to the fashion my favorite had to be Viola Davis, Penelope Cruz, Emma Stone, and Kristin Wiig.

  

Penelope Cruz stuns in Armani Prive like a modern day Cinderella.

        
    Other highlights from the night include Sasha Baren Cohen as the Dictator dropping Kim Jong ‘s “ashes” on Ryan Secreast, a performance by Cirque du Soliel, and Angelina Jolie’s right leg having it’s own Twitter account
                                          

 Like I said before the show was good, not amazing but better than last year’s. It’s clear that the producers are trying to make the show more entertaining and I appreciate their effor.

for a full list of winners click here
what are your thoughts on the show?

Harry Potter fails to enchant Oscar voters

Over the past decade Harry Potter has captured the hearts of a generation. Spanning numerous books, movies, and merchandise it has become one of the most successful franchises in the world. Aside from enchanting children and making millions of dollars, the last instalment in the series was unsuccessful at mesmerizing the Oscar voters.
                                                                  

Many people believe Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 was snubbed at the February 26, broadcast of the 2012 Oscars.  The movie was nominated for best art direction, makeup, and visual effects but lost all three.  
            Diehard Harry Potter fan Christine O’Neal, 21, expressed her reaction to the film not being nominated for a more significant Oscar.
“My immediate thoughts about Harry Potter not being nominated was that it’s so sad that a series of movies that have made this much of an impact on the world could be simply disregarded when it came to some of the major award categories,”
            The eight films in the series were nominated 12 times but have not won a single Oscar.

                                               

            Harry Potter star Evanna Lynch took to her Twitter to express her frustration tweeting “Agggghhhh this is infuriating… bloody muggles #oscarfail.”
            Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is the third highest-grossing film of all time behind Titanic and Avatar. However sometimes box office revenue doesn’t translate to Oscar success.  
            “I think Harry Potter deserves an Oscar because of the sheer amount of talent that is in the cast,” O’Neal said.
            O’Neal feels that a main reason the series was snubbed was because of the content and demographic of the films.
            “I think that if they had been in any other franchise for this long, portraying such strong characters that they would have been nominated a while ago, but because it’s Harry Potter and it’s a ‘kids movie’ and has so much of a cult following that people don’t take it so seriously,” she said.
            Harry Potter himself Daniel Radcliffe agrees with O’Neal saying in an interview that there is some “snobbery” in the Academy.  
            “I do think that the talent deserves Oscar recognition, but I do think that the impact on our culture merits some recognition as well,” O’Neal said.
            Although the series did not receive an Oscar or an achievement award it did get recognition from host Billy Crystal, who acknowledged the financial impact of the films.

Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Daniel Radcliffe at the premiere of the eighth and last Harry Potter film.

The British Invasion

   The United Kingdom has always influenced Canada and North America. From royal weddings and movies to boy bands and fashion trends, there’s no denying Canadians have a fascination with the U.K. This fascination has even transcended over to award shows.
   The United Kingdom’s most well known award show is the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), which were held of February 12, 2012.  The BAFTAs honour the best in film from any nationality as long as it played in British theatres.
   This year awards went to The Artist for best film, Jean Dujardin for leading actor, and Meryl Streep for leading actress.


    
    Since the award show is so widely known it begs the question should the BAFTAs air in Canada?
   “I don’t know. I think it depends on whether or not they have an audience here. And considering we are a part of the Commonwealth they might have an audience here,” Flora Devarajah said.

The cast and crew of the Artist show off their awards

   Another factor to consider is which network would air them.
   “If the CBC would to air it, it would get a lot of ratings because it’s kind of a big deal,” Devarajah continued.
   Many consider the BAFTAs to be the British equivalent to the Oscars, which may add to Canadian networks’ reluctance to air them here.
  “Well I guess there isn’t any point because it’s pretty much the same thing except the BAFTAS acknowledge British film particular,” Devarajah said.   
  Not only do the BAFTAs praise British films but they also have a separate award show for British television.



   “There would be more of a reason [to air the BAFTAs] if more British television was aired in Canada.”
    Many people are fans of British television, but resort to watching it online since Canadian networks don’t usually air them.
    Another thought to consider is that the BRIT awards, which can be described as the British version of the MTV Video Music Awards, was aired in Canada on Much Music. The award show celebrates both British recording artists as well as international ones.

Singer Adele performed her hit "Rolling in the Deep" as well as took home two awards

   Since the BRITs were aired in Canada it is obvious that Canada does have an interest in British award shows.
   In a society that is highly fascinated with British culture is it only a matter of time before British award shows make its way across the pond?

The Nominations are in

Hello Sinners it's been a while. And what better way to return to your life than with news of the Oscars. The Oscar nominations were announced this morning giving everyone a lot to chat about. "Hugo" leads with 11 nominations including best picture, while "The Artist" trails closely behind with 10. Other best picture nominations include "The Help" "Moneyball" and Golden Globe winner "The Descendants". To see a full list of the nominations click here

Jennifer Lawrence and Tom Sheral announce this year's nominations

Many people are furious with the Oscar snubs

Washington Post

The Huffinton Post

Entertainment Weekly

The Carpet Bagger

The L.A. Times

People are already making their predictions

Indie Wire

MTV

Time Out

The Contenders

Nomination Criticism

The Carpet Bagger

A look back at Oscar history

Choose your Oscar predictions

Brad Pitt's reaction

Changes to the show

A look to the past

So there you have it. Everything you need surrounding the nominations. As always leave your feedback. What do you think of the nominees? Who was snubbed? will you watch the show?