Film fans will soon know who is on the list for Academy Awards
nominations, but whether any nominees will be on hand for the awards ceremony is
still uncertain because of the writers strike.
The list of Oscar nominees today is expected to include such stars as Cate
Blanchett, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis and Angelina Jolie.
That smattering of talent alone would ensure that a lot of people at home
would tune in to the Feb. 24 ceremony. But without the cooperation of the
striking Writers Guild of America, celebrities might honor the union's picket
lines and stay away from the Oscars, leaving the show's planners to either scrap
the telecast or come up with some new form of Oscar ceremony unlike anything
audiences have seen before.
The buzz around Hollywood is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
has a backup plan to put on the show without the blessing of writers and stars,
but they declined to disclose details.
Gil Cates, producer of the Oscar telecast, has vowed the show will come off
no matter what, hinting the program could be padded with clips from 80 years of
Oscar history if writers and stars do not cooperate.
Officially, the academy says it is moving ahead with the red carpet and
awards ceremony as usual.
"We are planning to have our show on Feb. 24 at the Kodak Theatre with an
audience of 3,300 people and a television audience significantly larger than
that," said academy spokeswoman Leslie Unger.
Next to the Super Bowl, the Oscars are the most-watched annual broadcast in
the United States. Last year, 40.2 million Americans tuned in to the Oscars.
