For many years now the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has been freaking out about the serious decline in ratings for their yearly Oscar show. This continuing slide has caused several changes in the show recently from additional nominees in the Best Picture Category to last year’s disastrous choice of James Franco and Anne Hathaway as co-hosts in an attempt to draw in younger viewers. Nothing has worked, however, and last year’s show was the lowest rated of all time.
At the same time, the Recording Academy’s Grammy Awards telecast has seen a huge bump in ratings each of the last two years. This despite the fact that the recording industry is in shambles and that many of the old record companies are being merged, dismantled or drastically downsized. Business made be bad for the record companies but interest in their Awards show is at an all time high. There are a number of reasons for the Grammys success. The biggest one might be that the Grammys, which was for many years the most out of touch of all the Awards shows, now listens closely to their fan base. For that reason they give the fans what they really want and provide a show that speaks to those fans.
With that in mind, here are five things the Oscars can take from the Grammys to make their show more fan friendly and more successful.
1.
Remove categories that fans have no interest in
There was a huge outcry this year from members of the Recording Academy when it became known that many of the old categories would be eliminated in an effort to make the Awards more relevant. The Academy didn’t listen because the fans were on the Academy’s side. Many other categories were given out in the afternoon before the televised portion of the show began so that the Grammy show itself only included the really big awards.
Currently AMPAS gives out most of the technical achievement awards on a night prior to the Oscars telecast. These are usually given out by a hot young actress to make the tech geeks feels better about the slight. (This year the technical awards were hosted by Milla Jovovich on February 11. Past hosts have included Rachel McAdams in 2009 and Scarlett Johansson in 2007.)
Still, there is a lot of fat in the televised portion of the Oscars. Both short categories should be eliminated post haste. Almost no one knows the filmmakers and because of arcane and confusing rules these categories provide by far the most political and undeserving picks out of all the award winners. The most egregious example was the year Dreamworks managed to wrangle an Oscar for their failed pilot Dear Diary. AMPAS changed the rules the following year but both categories should be cut from the telecast. There are other categories that could go as well but I would leave that up to the Academy.
2.
Add new categories that will interest your fan base
The Grammys have overall categories like “Best Record” and “Best Song” to salute the very best recordings each year. They also have categories for Best Country, Best Rap, Best Alternative and Best Rock. All of which were added over the years to meet popular demand.
Imagine if the Oscars did the same thing. You could still have the main Best Picture Category for overall quality, but you could also have a Best Comedy category. That way fans of Bridesmaids would still be there on Oscar night cheering on their film as it competes with the likes of Midnight in Paris and 50/50 for the Best Comedy Oscar. Imagine a Best Fantasy category next year when The Dark Knight Rises could have a showdown with The Avengers and The Hunger Games. Think that would add a few viewers to next year’s Oscar telecast?
You could take Best Live Action Short, Best Documentary Short and two or three other categories out of the telecast and add Best Family, Best Fantasy, Best Action and Best Indie/Specialty film categories. This year that would add places for films like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (might be a stretch), Beginners and Drive just to name a few.
Those titles would compete with films that were similar in style and if they were the best of the best they would compete at that level as well. An added bonus would be that some Academy members would be forced to view films they might not normally consider for recognition. Who knows, maybe they’d give a film like The Dark Knight a second look.
3.
Add performances that aren’t necessarily tied to this year’s films
This should be a no-brainer. While the Oscars will never be filled with performances the way the Grammys are because it isn’t a music show, they could have people perform songs connected to films that don’t qualify for the Oscars. Let’s face it, AMPAS has never shied away from having presenters on the show merely to plug their upcoming flick so why not have real performers play a song they placed in a big film. Why not have buzzed about duo The Civil Wars play the song they wrote for The Hunger Games with red hot Taylor Swift to juice ratings.
If Nicki Minaj can close the Grammy Awards with a brand new song why not have some hot act play a song from a film just for the heck of it with clips playing in the background. It’s show business. Give us some pizzazz.
4.
Stop letting stars go on and on with their speeches
Let’s face it. No one’s publicist allows them to say anything meaningful anymore anyway. Most acceptance “speeches” these days are simply a laundry list of people best taken care of with a gift basket at Christmas time. So just give em the hook. If Dave Grohl, who is currently one of the biggest rock stars in the world and sells out stadiums all over the globe can be played off the stage at the Grammys then certainly Kate Winslet can be given the boot. She can’t even open a film these days.
Some will say actors should be given more respect than musicians. I say poppycock. Grohl not only left the stage when the music came on, he came back and performed a second song shortly thereafter. To almost as many people as saw Carnage during it’s entire run.
5.
Bring in the fans!
In recent years the Grammys have added an additional stage for performers to play in front of the fans outside Staples Center. These performances do two things. They allow the show to move quicker since they are staged at a different venue. They also add a different energy to the proceedings that translates well on TV. It’s one thing to see Sir Paul wowed by a stunning performance by Adele and quite another to see regular fans rocking out to the Foo Fighters in a tent just off site.
Imagine how different it might be to see a bunch of regular fans getting geeked to see who wins Best Animated Film instead of the yawns we get now from the Academy. Plus if you added categories like Best Comedy and Best Fantasy with clips right before they handed out the awards it would rock like Comic-Con in August. Which is something the Oscars could use to boost their flagging ratings. Heck, run previews of upcoming films for them while you’re at it. Make it an event.
So there you have. My two cents and yet another article on how to fix the Oscars. Just take a cue from your sister show. Because they’re going up while you’re going down.
