Tomorrow night is the big night and I can feel the excitement building…at least within myself. The Academy Awards is like my Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Championship, and World Cup all rolled into one. Coverage at my house starts at noon and never ends less than 12 hours later.
(This image, by Alan Light, is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.)
Because I am excited, my next few blogs will be about the Academy Awards. There have been events at the Oscars that will be remembered forever. Here are a few:
Trey Parker and Matt Stones’ “Dress”
If you were watching the 1999 Oscars, you may remember that Parker and Stone didn’t exactly come to the event in black tie. The creators of “South Park” decided to mock the whole red carpet thing when they showed up wearing dresses, including Jennifer Lopez’s ridiculously revealing belly button dress.
Strange Openings
The opening of the ceremony seems to be either hit or miss and at the 1969 ceremony, it was definitely a miss. Who performed the opening number “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?” The odd combination of Ingrid Bergman, Sidney Poitier, Paula Kelly, and the UCLA Marching Band performed it.
Not to be outdone, the 1987 ceremony was hosted by Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, and Crocodile Dundee (Paul Hogan). The opening musical number was “Fugue for Tinhorns” from Guys and Dolls. That is fine, but – get this – it was performed by Telly Savalas, Pat Morita, and Dom DeLuise! Strange trio indeed!
Cuba’s Acceptance Speech
When Cuba Gooding, Jr. won Best Supporting Actor in 1997, he was very happy, to say the least. He jumped, he shouted, he proclaimed his love for many people (including Tom Cruise), he punched the air, he gave a “hallelujah!” – he also got a standing ovation from the crowd.
Strange Outfits
When it comes to weird fashion at the Oscars, where do we begin? There was, of course, Bjork’s infamous swan dress. There was the terrible saloon girl dress that otherwise beautiful Geena Davis wore one year. Then, there was Diane Keaton’s odd 2004 Charlie Chaplin looking ensemble. There was the year that Lauren Hutton wore (gasp) pants! And of course, no weird fashion commentary would be proper without mentioning Barbra Steisand’s near nude 1968 pantsuit.