If you stayed up to watch the entire Academy Awards broadcast last night you may be just as tired today as the winners are. Okay, maybe not, but if you live on the East Coast and watched the nearly four-hour long telecast then you likely didn’t get to sleep until after 1 a.m. (I happen to live in the Central time zone and was in bed by midnight.) Regardless, it was a long show and many are now saying it could have run even longer if it wasn’t for an ingenious use of modern technology.
Last night, the Academy unveiled a new “Thank-You Cam” for winners to use after they read, mumbled, or cried their way through their televised acceptance speeches. An Academy Awards show producer came up with the brilliant, high-tech idea, which proved extremely effective. Winners could ramble on as long as they wanted—after they exited the stage. All they had to do was keep their on-air comments short then exit stage right and stand in front of the Thank-You Cam, and their heartfelt sentiments would be relayed onto the Internet through the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ website. (If you want to log on, the videos will remain posted until next year’s show.)
According to the Academy, practically every winner took advantage of the offer, including best supporting actress winner Jennifer Hudson and best actor winner Forest Whitaker. He used his time in front of the Thank-You Cam to thank the voice coach who helped him master Idi Amin’s Ugandan accent in “The Last King of Scotland.”
And, remember foreign-language film winner Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who was cut off by the orchestra as he tried to thank his wife during the telecast? Log on to the site and you’ll see that he spent an entire minute on the Thank-You Cam telling her how much he appreciated her. Awww!
But, he wasn’t the only one using the new device to properly thank a supportive spouse. Helen Mirren, who walked away with the best actress trophy for her stellar performance in “The Queen,” also paid tribute to her spouse.
Speaking of Mirren, she spent much of today squashing rumors about a possible visit to Buckingham Palace to have tea with the real Queen Elizabeth II. I just saw Mirran on Oprah’s Academy Awards After-Party and she stated that it was highly unlikely the meeting would occur. (By the way it was the film’s director who had publicly suggested that he, Mirren and screenwriter Peter Morgan should visit the queen at the palace next month.)
Finally, in a previous blog I revealed that I would give up rubbing elbows with the likes of Forest Whitaker and Helen Mirran in exchange for a seat at the buffet table at the Governors Ball following the Academy Awards. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t wait to sink their teeth into chef Wolfgang Puck’s edible masterpieces. Legendary actor and director Clint Eastwood reportedly told a news reporter that he was glad the Academy ditched its traditional sit down dinner format for a new, savvy look. Gone were the usual rows of tables and chairs. Instead, the ballroom was filled with couches surrounded by–that’s right–dozens of buffet stations overflowing with Puck’s delicacies.
“I think it works,” Clint Eastwood said.
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