Oscars: that was an awards show? — Page 3

Another Salon.com quote:

Strangest trend of the night: Jokes about being gay. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin have numerous "we're a couple" gags, Colin Farrell brags about spooning with Jeremy Renner, and Sandra Bullock refers to "my lover Meryl Streep." It's official: Pretending you're gay is the new pretending you're not gay.

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tune in next year for contestants from So You Think You Can Dance doing waltzes to rap!

Well, the dances performed last night were to orchestral arrangements without lyrics. Most conventional forms of ballroom dancing have broken tradition by being performed to pop/rock/R&B/country and other styles of music that contain a similar emotional core in the composition/lyrics. A waltz can be performed to almost any music that is in 3/4 time with a core romantic theme. If there is a rap with these qualities, then why not? And I think the reverse could be true of hip-hop dancing and the music to which it is choreographed. I don't see why hip-hop has to stay confined to a specific style of music if the choreography is of a lyrical form rooted in emotional expression.

Lewis and Clark couldn't find my interest in shows where people who play-act get awards for doing so.

Ah, it all becomes clear now...

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The dancing sucked. Period. That was just a mess.

And who knew the next Kanye West would be a red headed woman?

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The dancing was wonderful. Period. It was just a joy to watch.

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I liked the dancing too. And I thought it was much better than being forced to sit through performances of two Randy Newman songs.

I thought the dance for THE HURT LOCKER was fascinating, and even liked the one for UP (someone asked why it used 'robot' dance moves - I interpreted it as responding to the almost musicbox quality of the solo piano, and they were invoking the dancers that sometimes appear to twirl and pose with the music, a la Truly Scrumptious in CHITTY, CHITTY, BANG, BANG.)

I thought, overall, the show was fine. I thought - even though it ran over time - it seemed to move quickly. The intros before best actor and actress made me cringe, as did the opening with Neil Patrick Harris, but other than that, I thought the show was generally fine.

No, the 50's were a little stale. I would go back to the 80's, at least.

That's my point. I said "sensibility", not "style".

And, considering the big three are still Tap, Ballet and Jazz, until they add krunking to that list, it doesn't count.

Count towards what? Are you saying those are the only three forms of dance? And you do know that krunking is a subgenre, right? Those were the "big three" for the golden ages of Broadway and Hollywood for a while, but in the world of dance performance, the "big three" (not "only three") are usually ballet, jazz and modern, but there is so much more in the encompassing world of dance and choreography. Not sure what last night has to do with the "big three" or why the Oscars are expected to censor their use of dance forms to exclude anything that is current. Are all the stylistic subgenres of the "big three" acceptable or are there unspoken rules on that as well?

Hey Diva, welcome to the 50s! Whoah-oh-oh-oh-ohhhh!

Jane - I didn't direct the 50s comment to you. I knew what you meant. You felt the music and the choreography were contradictory. I didn't, but I love when contrasting forms are brought together. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Last night worked for me and I didn't find it spastic or distracting in the least. I just felt the movement and momentum of the dance was inspired by the music. I felt like I understood where the choreographer was coming from. The only part I found a bit distracting was when it got a little too literal in the Avatar sequence.

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Updated On: 3/8/10 at 02:05 PM

"like putting on some music at home and seeing your toddlers move around spastically simply because there's music on."

We do that at parties, but no toddlers are involved

Who wears sweats and hoodies to the Oscars?

Nobody that I saw. The dancers wore the costumes assigned to them for the piece. They looked better than some of those dresses in the audience.

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Updated On: 3/8/10 at 02:21 PM

I noticed that, too, SM2.

BTW: Did anyone notice that this year they went back to saying "And the winner is..." as opposed to "And the Oscar goes to..."?

I noticed that in the first award and thought maybe it was a flub. I was surprised they went back to the convention. I'm sure the PC police will put a stop to it again as well as come up with a new euphemism for "award" that removes all definition of prestige or distinction. "Nominees" will become "Potential Recipients".

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I noticed "The winner is...." too. But I think a few of them still said "The Oscar goes to...."

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