The latest and the hottest topic for discussion is the Oscar Night, the 81st Annual Academy Awards, which is being held on 22nd February 2009. Oscar Awards are the most prestigious awards of Hollywood. Before I begin with the details of the 81st award ceremony I would like to acquaint you all with a brief history about the awards.
Oscars or the Academy Awards were not a publicized event before, as they are now. The first Oscar Award was held out of public eye on May 16th 1929 during the Academy banquet at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel's blossom Room. It was quite a long ceremony full of long speeches, thought the Academy President Douglas Fairbanks made quick work of handing out the statuettes. The recipients of the awards were announced three months earlier, so there was only a little bit of suspense left during the ceremony. But this changed the very next year and the Academy decided to keep the results secret until the ceremony. But they gave a list in advance to the newspapers for publication at 11 p.m. on the night of the Awards.
This policy could continue only until 1940 when the newspaper group Los Angeles Times broke this deal and published the list of winners in its evening edition itself, which was readily available to guests arriving for the ceremony. As a result of this the Academy to adopt the sealed-envelope system from 1941, which is followed till today. In 1929 during the first award ceremony, 15 awards were given for cinematic Achievements in 1927-28. The winner of the first Best Actor Award was German tragedian Emil Jannings. Emil Jannings had to return to Europe before the ceremony so, the Academy granted his request to receive the trophy early, making his statuette the very first Academy Award presented ever.
By the second Academy Awards Ceremony the enthusiasm of the awards for so much that a Los Angeles Radio Station gave a live one-hour broadcast of the event. The ceremony has been broadcast ever since. The ceremonies continued to be held at banquets at the Ambassador and Biltmore hotels, until in 1942, the increased attendance forced the academy to organize the event at a bigger place. The 16th Oscar Awards was held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and after this the event has always been held at a theater.
In 1953 these awards were telecast on the television and millions of people throughout United States and Canada watched the proceedings. Broadcasting in color began in 1966 and enabled people to view such an event in its true color. Now these awards are broadcast on a very large scale and is available to more than 200 million people around the world.
The above was a brief history about the Oscar Awards. To know about the Nominations at the 81st Annual Academy Oscar Awards, which are going to take place on 22nd February 2009 Click Here!
The U.S Presidential Inauguration celebration began on January 17, 2009 with a train ride beginning from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Many of the official events were held in Washington, D.C. from January 18 to 21, 2009. These events included the We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial, a day of service on the federal observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, a "Kids' Inaugural: We Are the Future" concert event at the Verizon Center, the inaugural ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, an inaugural luncheon at National Statuary Hall, a parade along Pennsylvania Avenue, a series of inaugural balls at the Washington Convention Center and other locations, a private White House gala and an inaugural prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral.
Among the large number of people who were present at this historic event, there were many Hollywood Celebrities too. Among those present at this event were Sean Combs, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Steven Spielberg, Kate Capshaw, Oprah Winfrey, Stedman Graham, John Cusack, Dustin Hoffman, Magic Johnson, Boxing promoter Don King, Muhammad Ali, Miley Cyrus and her father, Billy Ray, Young Jeezy, Jay-Z, Herbie Hancock, David Arquette, Ben Affleck, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Tobey Maguire, David Archuletta, Jennifer Lopez, Jamie Foxx, Bow Wow, "The Wrestler's" Marisa Tomei, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Mary J. Blige, Actress Rosario Dawson, Bono and the Edge, Pro golfer Tiger Woods, Usher, Queen Latifah, Actor/comedian George Lopez, Singer Sheryl Crow, Actor Forrest Whittaker, Actress Ashley Judd, George Lucas, Actor Samuel Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Jon Bon Jovi, soul singer Bettye LaVette, Actor Tom Hanks, Folk singer Pete Seeger, the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am look on, Singer John Legend, Country star Garth Brooks, Singer John Mellencamp, Josh Groban, Heather Headley, Singer James Taylor and Actor Jack Black.