I might actually watch part of the show this year
Oscar's risks don't end at Chris Rock
In addition to this year's in-your-face host, key changes are expected in the set, format and how some of the Academy Awards are presented.
By Mary McNamara, Times Staff Writer
As if Chris Rock were not enough, this year's Oscar ceremony is shaping up to be hip-hop loose and in-your-face. Or at least as hip-hop loose and in-your-face as a show that revolves around a bunch of film types in evening dress getting awards and making speeches can be.
Ever since the announcement that Rock would host the 77th Academy Awards, the buzz has been as much about how the high-intensity, often blasphemous comic will fit into a traditional ceremony as it has in predicting the winners.
To which producer Gil Cates replies: Who said it would be a traditional Oscar ceremony?
As Cates hinted at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' nominees luncheon Monday, this year's show will be as different in structure from past shows as Rock's style is from previous hosts.
In a separate interview, Cates elaborated further. To accommodate Rock's hip-hop-direct brand of comedy, Cates is breaking open the show. Not only will some awards be announced with the nominees present on stage, others will be presented to winners still seated in the audience. Cates said his goal is to get all nominees on television.
"The concept this year is to minimize the line between people on stage and in the audience," said Cates.
Rock will also be "recognizing" certain members of the audience, Cates said, in the style of "The Ed Sullivan Show."
"Chris is an up-front, right-at-you kind of guy," said Cates, producing his 12th Oscar telecast, "so we needed to format the show to accommodate that."
