This Article is From Feb 23, 2022

Oscars 2022: 8 Awards Won't Be Presented Live And Twitter Is Furious

The Oscars will also give out a prize to a "fan favourite" film

Oscars 2022: 8 Awards Won't Be Presented Live And Twitter Is Furious

A still from the film 'Power Of The Dog'. (Image courtesy: youtube)

Highlights

  • 8 awards will be presented off-air and edited into the telecast
  • The decision has been savaged on social media
  • The Oscars will be held on March 27

The Oscars are struggling for equilibrium after a ratings hit in the last few years. Eight awards will not be presented live at the ceremony next month - and a new populist prize will be given out based on fan votes. Variety reports that of the 23 categories of the 94th Academy Awards, the Oscars for these will be presented off-air and edited into the telecast - Documentary Short, Film Editing, Hair and Makeup, Original Score, Production Design, Animated Short, Live Action Short and Sound. This shortening of the ceremony has been savaged on social media, compounded by the introduction of the Oscars Fan Favourite and Oscars Cheer Moment - prizes that will be awarded on the basis of fan votes via tweets or on a special site.

On Twitter, the criticism has snowballed:

Oscars viewership has been in freefall over the last few years; last year's show was watched by a little over 10 million viewers, reports news agency AFP - 56 per cent down from the already record low numbers of the 2020 edition of Hollywood's biggest awards. In 2018, a proposal to include a 'popular film' category to honour mainstream blockbusters was shelved after backlash; this year's 'fan favourite' will not be a formal category and will allow fans to vote for films like Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Bond film No Time To Die and other money spinners which received no love when the Oscar nominations were announced earlier this month.

The Academy Awards this year will be held on March 27 and will return to the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the traditional home of the Oscars. Last year, the pandemic-hit award show was held at a train station. The Power Of The Dog, directed by Jane Campion and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, leads nominations with 12.

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