Oscar® Performers and TV Show Revamp

James Franco

Anne Hathaway

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the nominated songs will be performed again this year. Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer, the producers of the 83rd Academy Awards® have announced some of the things to expect during Sunday's broadcast.

For instance, did anyone notice they were not performed last year? I did, and I did not like the omission.

Randy Newman will perform his "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3. Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, who sang the duet "I See the Light" on the Tangled soundtrack, will re-team with composer Alan Menken. Gwyneth Paltrow will sing "Coming Home," which she sang in Country Strong. The English singer known as Dido, who was nominated with Rollo Armstrong and A.R. Rahman for the song, "If I Rise" from 127 Hours, is not available. Florence Welch from Florence + the Machine will perform with Rahman.

Co-hosts Anne Hathaway, 28, and James Franco, 32,  will make double history at the broadcast. Not only are they two of the youngest hosts at the Oscars, there has never been a male/female duo carry the hosting duties together for the entire broadcast.

There will be no more presenter testimonials to the actors and actresses, and no more movie montages. Good riddance to both.

They are getting a bit cutie. For instance, some of the mothers and Franco's grandmother will tweet on their Twitter accounts during the show. Also, the producers have chosen an elementary school chorus, mostly 10-year-old students from P.S. 22 on Staten Island, N.Y., to sing "Over the Rainbow." Why? I have no earthly idea. We shall see.

The stage set will not be set. It will be projected, capable of constantly changing. This is very new. It should be interesting, but will it prove distracting?

Also, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ President Tom Sherak and Anne Sweeney, President of the Disney/ABC Television Group, announced yesterday that the ABC Television Network’s contract to carry the annual Academy Awards presentations has been extended for six more years, through 2020.

The 83rd Academy Awards, which will air live on Sunday, February 27, will be the 36th consecutive ceremony to air on ABC. Check local listings.

Oscar® Show Participants Announced

The 80th Academy Awards® telecast is definitely a "go" for Sunday, 24 February, with the customary glitz and glam. Everyone at the Academy continued to prepare, knowing that everything had to be ready today, Valentine's Day, if the curtain was to go up as scheduled. Hats-off to them all, because today they were ready to officially "greenlight" the Oscar® Gala.

Producer Gil Cates and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis announced the presenters and performers who will participate in the Oscar telecast at a press conference held at the Academy’s headquarters.

Cates and Ganis announced the presenters scheduled to date, including all four of last year’s winners in the acting categories, Alan Arkin, Jennifer Hudson, Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker, as well as: Amy Adams, Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett, Josh Brolin, Steve Carell, George Clooney, Penelope Cruz, Miley Cyrus, Patrick Dempsey, Cameron Diaz, Colin Farrell, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Garner, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway, Katherine Heigl, Jonah Hill, Dwayne Johnson, Nicole Kidman, James McAvoy, Queen Latifah, Seth Rogen, Martin Scorsese, Hilary Swank, John Travolta, Denzel Washington and Renee Zellweger.

They also announced the performers of the nominated songs, three of them from ENCHANTED, and all of them with music by Alan Menken and lyric by Stephen Schwartz. The three songs are: "Happy Working Song," sung by Amy Adams; “That’s How You Know,” sung by Kristin Chenoweth and Marlon Saunders; and “So Close,” to be performed by Jon McLaughlin.

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova will perform their nominated song, “Falling Slowly,” from the motion picture ONCE. From AUGUST RUSH, Jamia Simone Nash will sing "Raise it Up" with the IMPACT Repertory Theatre of Harlem, headed by Jamal Joseph, who shares the song’s music and lyric credit with Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas.

Second-time Oscar show host Jon Stewart is bringing several writers to work on the telecast. Also, scheduled to return to the Oscar telecast team will be writers Hal Kanter, Buz Kohan, Jon Macks and Bruce Vilanch.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2007 will be presented at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Nicholson, Streep to present at Oscars®

Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, each holding the record for most Academy Award® nominations by actors in their respective categories, will join Oscar® winner Philip Seymour Hoffman as presenters on the 79th Academy Awards, telecast producer Laura Ziskin announced today. Also announced as presenters: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey, Jr., Greg Kinnear, Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Ken Watanabe, Naomi Watts, Gael Garcia Bernal, Emily Blunt, Catherine Deneuve, former Vice President Al Gore, James McAvoy, and Jerry Seinfeld.

Previously listed in the post of 22 February:
Ben Affleck, Jessica Biel, Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Abigail Breslin, Steve Carell, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst, Will Ferrell, Jodie Foster, Eva Green, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Tobey Maguire, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Rachel Weisz, Kate Winslet, and Reese Witherspoon.

Once PricewaterhouseCoopers has tabulated the votes, the winners’ names will be placed in sealed, foil-lined envelopes. Only two people at PWC will know the results before the envelopes are opened onstage Oscar Night®, Sunday, 25 February, lead partners Brad Oltmanns and Rick Rosas. 5,830 final ballots were mailed to voting members of the Academy on Wednesday, 31 January.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented this Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®. The Oscars® will be televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST).

The evening begins with a half-hour arrivals segment, "The Road to the Oscars®," before the start of the presentation ceremony at 5 p.m., PST. Film historian, television host, and Hollywood Reporter columnist Robert Osborne will once again serve as the Academy's red carpet celebrity greeter. Vogue editor-at-large André Leon Talley will be the voice of fashion, and Allyson Waterman will interview the various celebrities.

Presenters at 79th Academy Awards®

UPDATE - 22 February - Academy Award®-winning actress Jodie Foster is slated to be an Oscar presenter, and has been added to the following.

So far, the following presenters have been announced for Sunday's gala: Ben Affleck, Jessica Biel, Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Abigail Breslin, Steve Carell, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Kirsten Dunst, Will Ferrell, Jodie Foster, Eva Green, Tom Hanks, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Tobey Maguire, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith, Rachel Weisz, Kate Winslet, and Reese Witherspoon.

See previous posts for more details about the telecast.