Presenters of the awards forBest Original Score andBest Original Song and introducers of the special song and dance number performing the Best Original Song nominees
Due to the declining viewership of the recent Academy Awards ceremonies, AMPAS had contracted an entirely new production team in an attempt to revive interest surrounding both the awards and festivities. In September 2008, the Academy selected producersBill Condon andLaurence Mark to co-produce the telecast.[23] Nearly three months later, actorHugh Jackman, who had previously emceed three consecutiveTony Awards ceremonies between2003 and2005, was chosen as host of the 2009 gala.[24] Jackman expressed his anticipation of the awards in the few days preceding, and had commented that he was thrilled with preparations for the ceremony.[25][26]
Notable changes were introduced in the production of the telecast. In an attempt to build suspense and curiosity leading up to the awards, Condon and Mark announced that they would not reveal any of the presenters or performers who would participate in the Oscarcast.[27] Another unique feature of the ceremony was that the orchestra performed onstage instead of being relegated to apit.[28] In a break from previous presentations, five previous Oscar-winning performers presented each of the acting categories as opposed to only one or two.[29] In addition, the Academy announced that for the first time since Oscar began broadcasting on television, film studios would be able to televise advertisements promoting their upcoming films.[30] Furthermore, a montage of upcoming 2009 films was shown over the ceremony's closing credits.[31]
Peter Gabriel, who was originally scheduled to perform hisnominated song "Down to Earth" fromWALL-E during the live broadcast, declined to perform after learning that he would be allowed to sing only 65 seconds of the song during the ceremony's Best Original Song nominee performances.[37] Gabriel still attended the ceremony but singerJohn Legend, backed by theSoweto Gospel Choir, performed the song in place of Gabriel.[38]
Continuing a trend in recent years, the field of major nominees favored independent, low-budget films over blockbusters.[39][40] However, one of the nominees for Best Picture had grossed over $100 million before the nominations were announced (compared with none from the previous year).[41] The combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees when the Oscars were announced was $188 million with an average gross of $37.7 million per film.[42]
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $104.4 million in domestic box office receipts.[41] The film was followed bySlumdog Millionaire ($44.7 million),Milk ($20.7 million),Frost/Nixon ($8.8 million), and finallyThe Reader ($8.3 million).[42] Among the rest of the top 50 releases of 2008 in U.S. box office before the nominations, 33 nominations went to nine films on the list. OnlyThe Dark Knight (1st),WALL-E (5th),Kung Fu Panda (6th),Bolt (19th),Tropic Thunder (20th), andThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button (21st) were nominated for directing, acting, screenwriting, Best Picture or Animated Feature.[43] The other top-50 box office hits that earned nominations wereIron Man (2nd),Wanted (16th), andHellboy II: The Golden Army (41st).[43]
Shortly after the voting polls were closed for the awards, a purported list of winners was posted online. The list, which bore a purported signature from Academy presidentSid Ganis, stated thatMickey Rourke won for Best Actor,Kate Winslet won for Best Actress,Amy Adams won for Best Supporting Actress,Heath Ledger won for Best Supporting Actor, andSlumdog Millionaire won for Best Picture.[44] AMPAS spokeswoman Leslie Unger later revealed that the list was "a complete fraud", and thatPricewaterhouseCoopers had just begun to count the ballots.[45]
The show received a mixed reception from media publications. Some media outlets received the broadcast more positively. Television critic Robert Bianco ofUSA Today gave Jackman an average review but extolled producers Condon and Mark saying that the broadcast felt "faster and more intimate without sacrificing Hollywood glamour."[46]Vanity Fair columnist Julian Sancton gave high marks for Jackman's hosting performance stating "After several years of glamour-deflating wisecracks from blasé hosts likeJon Stewart,Ellen DeGeneres, andSteve Martin, the new producers hired an M.C. who was willing to break a sweat."[47] Film criticRoger Ebert lauded Jackman's performance noting that he "would be a charmer as host, and he was." Of the show itself, Ebert added, "It was the best Oscar show I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty."[48]
Other media outlets were more critical of the show.Los Angeles Times columnist Mary McNamara thought Jackman's performance "obliterated all memory" ofDavid Letterman's hosting the ceremony in 1995, which was widely panned.[49]Time television criticJames Poniewozik wrote that Jackman was "charming and game and I bet he absolutely killed in the room. But he didn't really project beyond the room, nor did he much seem to be trying to." He also noted that while there were some entertaining moments, "the broadcast overall had problems of pacing."[50] Maureen Ryan of theChicago Tribune remarked, "The whole thing was driven by a manic desire to bring some old-school glamor to the proceedings." She added that the long introductions praising the acting nominees slowed down the proceedings.[51]
The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 36.94 million people over its length, which was a 13% increase from the record lows of theprevious year's ceremony.[52][53] An estimated, 68.48 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards. The show also drew higherNielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony, with 20.88% of households watching over a 32.44 share.[54] In addition, the program scored a 12.43 rating over a 30.61 share among the 18–49 demographic, which was a 13 percent increase.[54]
A^ :Following talks with his family in Australia, the Academy determined that Ledger's daughter, Matilda Rose Ledger, would own the award. However, due to Matilda's age, she did not gain full ownership of the statuette until her eighteenth birthday in 2023.[60] Until that time, her mother, actressMichelle Williams, owned the statuette in trust for Matilda;[61] it was held at theWestern Australian Museum.[62] Ledger's family attended the ceremony and his parents and sister accepted the award on stage on his behalf.[17]
^Gray, Timothy M.; Cynthia Littleton (October 8, 2008)."Film ads to run during Oscar telecast".Variety. Penske Media Corporation.Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. RetrievedFebruary 22, 2009.
-60523_(cropped).jpg)
_revised.jpg)
