Five lessons from the Oscars 2011 marketing blitz

As international television events go, it doesn't get much bigger than Hollywood's night of nights, the Academy Awards. In the US, the Oscars will be watched by an estimated 41 million views, making it the second most-watched television event of the year, behind the Super Bowl.
And like the Super Bowl, which in the last decade has become an annual marketing event on the level of Christmas, the Oscars are morphing into a major event on the advertising calendar.
According to the Los Angeles Times, broadcaster ABC will sell about $80 million worth of ads during the coverage, up from about $70 million last year.
Big advertisers set to use the ceremony as a platform to launch marketing drives include Hyundai, Best Buy and Living Social, the biggest competitor to group buying pioneer Groupon.
But it's not just big advertisers trying to cash in – some US SMEs are also using the Oscars to try and grab a bit of the hype.

The Oscars, On Twitter: Over 1.2 Million Tweets, 388K Users Tweeting

Twitter has changed the way we watch television. Say what you will about the 83rd Annual Oscars (and thus far the consensus is “meh”), you’ve probably already said it on Twitter.  Mass Relevance and TweetReach, a Twitter analytics service with commercial access to the Twitter API, have teamed up to make a data map of yesterday’s mass conversation.

The Awards For Best Oscar-Related Tweets Go To…

If we learned one thing from the Oscar telecast Sunday night it might be that a bad, boring awards show can make for some entertaining Twitter content (and that an emerging medium can thrive on the rotting carcass of a dying one). If you checked your Twitter feed at any point during the broadcast (and for some time after), you were likely inundated with reports, many of them more insightful or humorous than the show itself.

The reviews for the Oscar telecast were predictable, with the show being called bloated, indulgent, old-fashioned and awkward. The consensus though also seems to be that many people wouldn’t have it any other way. Should you have wished, you could have followed all the action on Twitter alone, but of course you’d miss out on all the Gay Super Bowl fun (see Best Hashtag).

Tina Brown, 'Morning Joe' Team Roast Oscars (VIDEO)

Add the "Morning Joe" team and Tina Brown to the list of vicious reviews of Sunday night's Oscars. The entire panel on Monday's show had nothing but contempt for the show--Joe Scarborough called it a "disgrace"--but Brown led the pack, ripping into co-host Anne Hathaway with glee.
Brown said the show was the "very worst" she'd ever seen. And she said Hathaway was "just this drip, as far as I can see. I could not take her simpering...her self-confidence was so misplaced."
Later, Brown laid into Hathaway again, calling her "utterly devoid of any real humor."
The crew also attempted to figure out just what was going on with James Franco. Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist and Brown seemed sure that something untoward was going on with him. Brown speculated that a "backstage bong had completely incapacitated his head."
WATCH:

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Source: huffingtonpost.com

Oscars Audience Drops 9.8%

A smaller audience watched the Oscars ceremony on Sunday night, reversing two years of growth for the one of television's biggest events.
About 37.6 million people watched the Academy Awards, according to early Nielsen Co. data provided by broadcaster ABC. There were few surprises through the evening, and favored best-picture nominee— "The King's Speech" —picked up the top honor.
The tally was down 9.8% from the 41.7 million who watched a year ago, and ranks as the fifth-least watched ceremony since at least 1974, according to Nielsen.

The Oscars 'Twilight' Surprise? AUTO-TUNE!

Even though the "Twilight" and "Harry Potter" movies aren't exactly Oscar bait, and even though the casts thereof were notably not in attendance at tonight's 83rd Annual Academy Awards, fans of the wizard-and-vampire genres still had a good reason to tune in for the broadcast: a highly anticipated, majorly hyped musical moment about halfway through the show. GAH, the excitement! What could it be?!
Well, tune in we did—sticking it out through seven acts of chatter, back-patting and James Franco in a magenta dress to see it. And while Robert Pattinson didn't show up (sorry girls, we know you're disappointed), what did happen was something even more extraordinary.
And by "extraordinary," we mean "T-Pain would have LOVED this."

The 6 weirdest gender moments of the 2011 Oscars

Anne Hathaway and James Franco (Photo: Associated Press)

Last night's 2011 Academy Awards telecast was terrible as ever, a grinding, three-and-a-quarter hour display of awkward film industry promotion. Best Supporting Actress award winner Melissa Leo said it best: "It's about selling motion pictures! And respecting the work!" The annual exercise of polite clapping, at least, offered a few crumbles of gender weirdness with which to fill my blogging quotas. The five weirdest gender moments in the Oscar telecast, below:

Oscars 2011: 10 ways to improve the ceremony

 

"Woop": Oscars presenter Anne Hathaway Photograph: Chris Carlson/AP

The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things, of tears and faked smiles and dead Hollywood montages, and actresses who think they can sing.
Listen up, Academy awards: I have been watching you for a long time. Longer than best supporting actress nominee Hailee Steinfeld has been alive, so I know whereof I speak when I say this year's event was not just bad – it was boring. And that's worse.
But I really do love you, Oscars, and I want to ensure your survival. So here, in the style of a presenter who is not Anne Hathaway, I would like to present the 10 Commandments of what must and must not be allowed to happen next year.

The 5 Most Talked About Earrings at the Oscars

The 83rd Academy Awards were held last night and we couldn’t be more excited to tune in to see all the glamorous fashion and jewelry. One piece of jewelry that we think shined the most were earrings. The Ice.com team discussed our favorite earrings this morning and some that we wish the starlets would have reconsidered.

Emeralds: Reese Witherspoon and Annette Bening both wore dark gowns with vibrant green emerald earrings. Reese’s Neil Lane emeralds were highlighted nicely with her high ponytail. Both Reese and Annette’s drop earrings closely resembled Angelina Jolie’s famous emeralds she wore to the Oscars in 2009.

The Works Bids You All A Joyous Oscar-Laden Farewell

This is the final Works. For this special occasion, Tom Ziller has returned to the fold, however briefly. Also, fun with Oscars.

First, Eric Freeman...

David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin: The Works has always been a partnership between two strong personalities. For the past few months, Shoals and I have worked in something approaching harmony -- we both approach the NBA in the same borderline-intellectual way (in part because I ripped him off). The first incarnation of the column, though, matched seeming opposites in Shoals and Tom Ziller. If Shoals is the hip professor, then Ziller is the savant who knows so much about the sport that he's above a position in the academy. David Fincher occupies a similar role -- he's a technical master with a sneaky emotional pull -- but he initially seemed to be an odd fit for the talkative style of Aaron Sorkin. No matter: while "The Social Network" didn't come away with the top prize at the Oscars, the two teamed up for a fine film that become the most talked-about movie of the year. Ziller and Shoals had worked together before and will work together again, but this partnership was perhaps their most effective ever.

Consider: The 9 Best Faces Melissa Leo Made in Her Oscar Speech

Whether you felt the Kirk Douglas-Melissa Leo tango of wobbles was excusable or excruciating, it’s clear that Ms. Leo experienced a great many emotions during her time at the podium. Some of them were silly. Join us for a gallery of the foulmouthed honoree’s facial gymnastics.

Click here to launch the slideshow.

Source: movieline.com

Best Oscar makeup: Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett never disappoints on the makeup front and for the biggest awards do of the year she upped the ante.
The recently single actress bravely opted for an experimental look and the red carpet risk was worth taking. Orange makeup isn’t a path you’d automatically go down when you know all eyes will be on you but after seeing this perhaps next time you will.
SEE MORE OSCARS HAIR AND BEAUTY
The ambassador for Dolce&Gabbana The Make Up showcased burnt orange eyeshadow, which was applied deep into the socket of her eye, along her lower lashes and up towards the brow bone. Along the upper lash line was a subtle sweep of black eyeliner and jet-black mascara finished off the funky look.

Winners and Nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards

Actor in a Leading Role

• Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
• Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
• Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
• Colin Firth in “The King's Speech”
• James Franco in “127 Hours”

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
• John Hawkes in “Winter's Bone”
• Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
• Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
• Geoffrey Rush in “The King's Speech”

Politics at the Oscars -- Union Support

ABC News' Chris Marderosian reports:

At the Academy Awards tonight, best cinematography winner Wally Pfister made a point during his acceptance speech of thanking his union crew on “Inception.”

Backstage he went further, expressing shock at Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal, which would limit union’s collective bargaining powers. Opponents of the plan have been protesting at the state capitol for 21 days.

'Social Network' disappoints at Oscars

(Credit: Columbia Pictures)

Its fortunes didn't fare quite so well as the company it was based on: "The Social Network," a controversial recounting of the origins of Facebook, did not win the Oscar for Best Picture at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards tonight. As many had been expecting, the award went instead to historical drama "The King's Speech."

"The Social Network" also failed to win Best Director (that also went to "The King's Speech"), Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Actor, where Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg fell in favor of "King's Speech" lead actor Colin Firth. In the Best Actor category, Eisenberg had not been expected to win (in addition to Firth, he was up against the likes of Jeff Bridges and Javier Bardem), but director David Fincher had had a good shot at Best Director and the film was widely considered the front-runner for Best Picture until buzz about "The King's Speech" started to escalate.

Oscars 2011: Red carpet and awards show LIVE COVERAGE

The glitz! The glamour! The what-in-the-heck-is-she-wearing?!
The Academy Awards have finally arrived, and James Franco and Anne Hathaway are taking over this year's hosting duties. Follow along as the Daily News' gossip and entertainment team delivers you comprehensive coverage of the night's best and worst fashion, award show winners and losers, and the moments everyone will be taking about tomorrow.

Participate in the chat and join in on the fun, starting at 6 p.m. EST.

Oscar Gold: List of winners in the 83rd Academy Awards

Following is a list of winners at the 83rd annual Academy Awards taking place in Hollywood on Sunday (Monday morning in Manila)

• Best Picture: The King's Speech
• Best Actor: Colin Firth ("The King's Speech")
• Best Actress: Natalie Portman ("Black Swan)
• Best director - "The King's Speech" (Tom Hooper)
• Supporting actress - Melissa Leo ("The Fighter")
• Supporting actor - Christian Bale ("The Fighter")
• Adapted screenplay - "The Social Network" (Aaron Sorkin)
• Original screenplay - "The King's Speech" (David Seidler)
• Foreign language film - "In a Better World" (Denmark)
• Animated feature - "Toy Story 3"
• Original song - "We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3" (Randy Newman)
• Original score - "The Social Network" (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross)
• Film editing - "The Social Network" (Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter)
• Cinematography - "Inception" (Wally Pfister)
• Sound Mixing - "Inception (Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo, Ed Novick)
• Sound editing - "Inception" (Richard King)
• Visual effects - "Inception" (Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, Peter Bebb)
• Art direction - "Alice in Wonderland" (Robert Stromberg, Karen O'Hara)
• Costume design - "Alice in Wonderland" (Colleen Atwood)
• Makeup - "The Wolfman" (Rick Baker, Dave Elsey)
• Documentary feature - "Inside Job"
• Documentary short subject - "Strangers No More"
• Live action short film - "God of Love"
• Animated short film - "The Lost Thing"

Source: abs-cbnNEWS.com

Oscar Awards Live Streaming 27.2.2011

Oscar Awards 2011 is tonight on sunday 27.2.2011. The Oscars 83st Academy Awards will be live streaming tonight on Sunday 27th February at 8/5 p Local Time in Hollywood. Watch and follow live who will win the Oscar.
Oscar Live: Oscar Live
Livestream – Oscar Red Carpet Show: Livestream – Oscar Red Carpet Show
Twitter Oscars: Twitter Oscars
Twitter Oscars: Twitter Oscars
YouTube Oscars: YouTube Oscars
Oscar® hosts preparing 2011:




Source: tvnewsradio.com

2011 Oscars Live Blog (VIDEO)

Hey everybody, it's Oscar time! Otherwise known as the most wonderful night of the year, when even those of us who aren't foot fetishists become transfixed by something called ShoeCam, and everyone claps for a montage of dead people!
Who will be the first to face Giuliana Rancic's red carpet clavicle of destruction? Who will decide to wear unfortunately placed flower appliques? Will James Franco and Anne Hathaway -- the first non-comedians to host the show since Paul Hogan (1986, and yes, that really happened) -- bring some much-needed life back into the proceedings, or will we be forced to cut off our own arms to free ourselves from the crushing ennui? So many questions! So few original noses!

What ‘The Social Network’ Won (Thus Far) #Oscars

Source Image: techcrunch.com

We’re more than halfway through the Oscars and Aaron Sorkin’s epic Facebook creation myth The Social Network has already picked up Best Film Editing, Best Original Score and Best Adapted Screenplay. The Social Network, which picked up four awards including Best Picture at the Golden Globes, is definitely the Twitter and tech crowd favorite tonight at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards, and indeed it looks like we have something to to root for despite David Fincher losing to The King’s Speech’s Tom Hooper for Best Director.

A R Rahman loses Oscars for original score, song

Los Angeles: Indian music maestro A R Rahman lost out in both the categories he was nominated to in the 83rd Annual Academy Awards - Best Original Score and Original Song for the film '127 Hours'.

The 'Best Original Score' award went to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for 'The Social Network' and the 'Best Original Song' went to Randy Newman for 'We Belong Together'(Toy Story 3).

Source:  ibnlive.in.com

2011 NFL Combine Results: Stephen Paea Wins the Bench Press

Source: bleacherreport.com Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Stephen Paea Proves He Is A Workout Warrior, Is That Good For His Draft Ranking?
Many are the stories of the workout warrior who "wins" the Combine before failing to produce in the NFL.
Stephen Paea pressed 225 lbs. 49 times at the Combine, setting a new record for the event. He beat out Leif Larson, Mitch Petrus and Mike Kudla, who all were tied at the top with 45 reps.
Paea may have won the bench press, but lifting weights is absolutely no indication of how well a person will do on the football field. It proves Paea is big and strong, and that is about it.
According to Paea's bio, he didn't start playing football until he was 16 years old, playing rugby in the nation of Tonga prior to attending high school in the United States.