Oscar's burning questions
Feb 26, 2008, 11:50 AM | by Gary Susman
Categories: Oscars 2008, Rumor Control
Still a lot of mysteries left over from Sunday's Oscar night, many of them raised in questions from EW.com readers. We've found a few preliminary answers for you; fuller explanations may be coming later. Watch for an article in this week's issue of EW that should put as many of these burning questions as possible to rest. Meanwhile, here's what folks wanted to know more about:
• Why were Brad Renfro (pictured) and two-time Oscar nominee Roy Scheider left out of the "In Memoriam" montage?
• What on earth did Gary Busey think he was doing when he accosted Ryan Seacrest and Jennifer Garner on the red carpet?
• Why was there no footage of Whoopi Goldberg's four hosting gigs in the montage of memorable Oscar show moments?
• Why was Best Song winner Markéta Irglová invited back to give her acceptance speech when winners of awards from smaller films or smaller categories are routinely cut off by the orchestra and rushed off the stage, never to be heard from again?
• What was behind the strange scheduling of the presentation of the awards — no acting awards at all in the first half hour, Best Actress about halfway through the show, kid-friendly presenter Miley Cyrus held 'til after bedtime? Was sexism behind the early presentation of Best Actress, with Best Actor being held towards the end with the other top categories?
Answers, as best as we can figure, after the jump.
Scheider died after the Jan. 31 cutoff date noted at the beginning of the montage; let's hope they remember him next year. Leaving out Renfro was an editorial decision made by the Academy, according to spokeswoman, Leslie Unger. "We just can't include everybody," Unger told the Associated Press. Still, why leave out a star of some major movies, like The Client and Apt Pupil? Was it because he died of a drug overdose? "I can't speak to what other people are going to think," said Unger. So, not much of an explanation there. Sorry, Renfro fans, but if it's any consolation, the montage also omitted Vampira, Andy Sidaris, Joey Bishop, and Yes, Giorgio! star Luciano Pavarotti.
The morning after his red-carpet run-in with Seacrest and Garner, Busey called into Seacrest's radio show to explain himself. You can read a transcript of his remarks here and listen to them here... There, does that make it clearer? Nah, didn't think so.
Why no Whoopi? Who knows, but Goldberg and her cohosts on The View were certainly miffed about the snub. At least they included footage of her Best Supporting Actress win for Ghost.
Irglová's reprieve was the result of a mistake by the orchestra, according to Oscar show producer Gil Cates. "She was accidentally played off. No one wanted to play her off," Cates told AP. "I asked her to come back. I asked Jon [Stewart] to please bring her back. It was a very emotional moment." Indeed it was. Still doesn't explain why other winners haven't received similar consideration.
As for the baffling placement throughout the show of the awards presentations, there's been no official explanation. It's understandable that they'd stagger the acting awards to keep people watching for three and a half hours, but the Supporting Actor or Actress award is usually the first one given, apparently to lull viewers into a false sense of urgency, as if other can't-miss awards will follow shortly. Also, it's unusual to present one of the leading-role awards so early; that's usually considered one of the major awards presented at the tail end of the show. Maybe they staggered that one as well to keep viewer interest from flagging, but wouldn't it have made more sense to present Best Actor early, since there was no suspense in that race, and leave 'til the end the nail-biter race between Julie Christie, Ellen Page, and eventual winner Marion Cotillard? I can only chalk it up to the short window that Cates and his team had to prepare the show this year, thanks to the writers' strike. Judging by the backstage report by EW.com's Adam Vary, the show was much more disorganized than usual this year.
Still have questions about the Oscar show? Let us know, below, and we'll see what we can find out for you.
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