Globes, Oscars Feel the Wrath of the WGA

The looming question as to whether the writer's strike will effect awards show programming has been answered. It all began with a tiny snowflake that has slowly, slowly tumbled down the Hollywood Hills resulting in a giant snowball that threatens to push the Academy Awards back into the spring, and perhaps derail the Golden Globes all together.

Initially, the WGA denied a request from the Hollywood Foreign Press (Golden Globes) to use union writers for scripted portions of the show and the Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences was denied the ability to use previous awards show footage, reports Deadline Hollywood Daily.

Hollywood Today indicates that the Screen Actors Guild has been encouraging its members to boycott major awards shows like the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards. This includes targeting awards nominees themselves, which could mean that no big stars will grace the red carpet or be around to make acceptance speeches. The guild defends it stance by stating, "We will continue to do everything in our power to bring industry negotiations to a fair conclusion. In the meantime, we are grateful for the ongoing support of the Hollywood talent community."

In a later report, Hollywood Today put a number on the face of those actors that will not cross the picket line in support of their own work at the upcoming Golden Globes. That number is astonishing in it's solidarity; seventy actors refuse to participate in the show. Now seventy may not seem like a lot, but it represents every last nominated actor. Every single one. I think the Golden Globes are in trouble.

No WGA Waivers for Globes or Oscars (and Other News From Tonights Meeting) [Deadline Hollywood Daily]

Final: No Stars for Golden Globes as Striking Writers, Actors Say No Telecast and Globes: 70 Stars Say We Won't Go [Hollywood Today]

SAG Adds Stunts to its Nominee Roster

After recently viewing the bonus features on The Kingdom DVD, it was clear to me why SAG decided to recognize exceptional stunt work in film and television. The film is more CSI: Saudi Arabia than a commentary about the devastation of war.

Director, Peter Berg (adorable as Dexter Rutecki in Aspen Extreme), choreographs a heart-stopping car chase that propels the story forward just when you thought it was winding down. The talent of the stunt crew is evident when you learn that much of The Kingdom was filmed using hand held cameras. It really is a credit to the Screen Actors Guild to ask the actors that work with these stunt ensembles to select a movie or TV series that otherwise may not get recognized in an already established category. Good thinkin' SAG!

The Bourne Ultimatum, I Am Legend, 300 and The Pirates if the Caribbean: At World's End were nominated alongside The Kingdom in the categories of Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series. Heroes, 24, Lost, Rome and The Unit received nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.

The stunt winners will be presented with their awards on the red carpet just prior to the show on January 27, 2008 as part of a pre-show web cast on TNT.com and TBS.com.

Check for a full listing of the SAG Awards nominations on their website.

Globe Nominations Leave Oscar Race More Uncertain

After months of speculation, the announcement of the 65th annual Golden Globe nominations this morning has left one thing clear, Atonement, is a bonafide front runner and Oscar contender. The film, based on the novel by Ian McEwan, received seven nominations including Best Motion Picture - Drama and actress and actor nods for Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. The uncertainty presents itself when we examine what films were missed for Golden Globe recognition.

Into the Wild was completely overlooked in all categories except Best Original Score and Best Original Song. Whether this quashes any hope for Academy Award nomination or actually opens the film up for Oscar contention is yet to be seen. The same theory may also hold true for other overlooked movies such as Knocked Up and Waitress. Who needs a golden globe when you can have a golden man?

Another interesting snub comes in the form of Homer Simpson. As a longstanding television show (having stood the longest throughout prime time series history), The Simpsons have never been nominated for a Golden Globe in any television category, ever. Despite being entwined in superlative hell, The Simpsons Movie captured the hearts and minds of the Hollywood Foreign Press voters and snagged a nomination over weaker competition (read Alvin and the Chipmunks and Meet the Robinsons). Improvement is still needed in the realm of motion capture when what should be a visually stunning film like Beowolf fails to impress against more traditional animation. As for Shrek the Third, three times just wasn't a charm.

The 80th Annual Academy Award nominations will be revealed on January 22, 2008. Let's hold any unfounded speculation until that time.

Send Your Best Poetry To Writer's Digest

The Writer's Digest writing competitions run fast and furious nearly all year long, however, this one offers an opportunity for poets alone and it's the only one of its kind. Submit your poetry by the Dec. 20th deadline, and keep it under 32 lines. The entry fee is $10 and the first place prize is $500. First through tenth place will also be published in the August 2008 issue of Writer's Digest. For more info on how you can receive recognition for the poet within, visit their website!

Can Awards Success Equal Superstar Status?

Writer Stefania Marghitu, over at the Indiana Daily Student (idsnews.com) brings up a valid point. Do the big time awards shows and the accolades we bestow upon actors, directors and musicians really make a difference throughout the life of their career?

Marghitu takes the position that these awards don't matter, and in the grand scheme of things they probably don't.....much. But in the wide world of entertainment, they do mean a heck of a lot more than Marghitu lets on.

Take Lily Allen for instance. She has released one album, Alright, Still (2006 in the U.K. and 2007 in the U.S.). This album earned Allen a BRIT Awards nomination, was certified triple-platinum on the U.K. charts and gold in the U.S. These are significant achievements in the music industry and with no sophmoric release to date we can hardly name Allen a falling star. In fact, she was recently nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award in the Best Alternative Music category, which she may even stand a good chance of winning (up against Bjork, The White Stripes, The Shins and Arcade Fire).

Another alleged victim of the awards show "curse" as described by Marghitu is Cuba Gooding Jr. In 1997 he was nominated and won the Academy Award for his supporting actor role as Rod Tidwell in Jerry McGuire. Since that time, various movies in which he held roles have gone on to exceptional box office success (which translates to marketability), including Pearl Harbor (over $198 mil.), As Good As it Gets (over $148 mil.) and critically acclaimed American Gangster ($46.3 mil in the first three days).

Because I have a blog which is entirely based on awards and awards shows, I may be a little biased as to whether or not they play a part in launching an artist into the stratosphere. I'd like to think that people tend to take notice when a performer puts on a kick-ass show on the CMA's or the Grammy's. Or, we're more likely to see a film that Felicity Huffman stars in because she won an Emmy for a role she played on TV.

Awards, schmawards [idsnews.com]

2007 Awards Season to Remember

The awards show season is in full swing, but 2007 is nearly over. I look to you, loyal readers to help remind me of some of your favorite/controversial/awkward/laughable awards show moments of this past year.

Britney horrified at the MTV Music Awards. Sarah Silverman skewered Paris Hilton during the 2007 MTV Movie Awards. The Dixie Chicks won big at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards despite coming under fire for previous anti-Bush comments, and Isaiah Washington made a few questionable comments of his own backstage at the Golden Globes.

Let me know which juicy-juicy contusions you'd like to relive for the 2007 Self-Injurious Awards Season Moments.

Will Winehouse Make it to the Grammy's?

Or, as an alternate blog heading....Why on Earth Was Winehouse Nominated Even Once, Let Alone Many, Many Times.

My conclusion: the Recording Academy does not read or watch TMZ.

If they did, it would be clear that the prospect of Amy Winehouse winning any of the six 2008 Grammy's for which she is now nominated, will cause more gastro-intestinal malaise than actually watching her perform on the show. If she shows up that is (her rep told People.com that she "is determined to be ready and well for that performance"). The singer is in rough shape. She flubbed a recent performance at the MTV Europe Awards and she's reportedly in rehab after clearing her calendar for 2007.

There she is, trying to break-out her imprisoned boyfriend, Blake Fielder-Civil so they can attend the 50th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2008 together. Thanks, TMZ.

Other notable Grammy hopefuls include Kanye West with eight noms, Bruce Springsteen with four nominations, although not for album of the year!, and Carrie Underwood with two nominations.

American Idol or AMA's? You Decide.

I have to admit, I rather enjoyed the American Music Awards show last night. Maybe even a little bit more than the CMA's a couple of weeks ago. I guess I like my T-Pain mixed with a sprinklin' of Sugarland, not to mention the giant elephant in the room, which no one seemed to mention. Or acknowledge. Or recognize. Or thank in any way.

I'll mention it now. The AMA's are now known as the American Idol Music Awards. Heh.

It went something like this:

Within the first twenty minutes, AI alum took over the show. There was Kellie Pickler and Jordin Sparks dancin' all Soulja Boy with Jimmy Kimmel. Didn't Pickler look cute and all confused? Then Carrie Underwood won her first of three awards of the night including, Favorite Country Female Artist, Favorite Country Album and the fan favorite text-in and vote category sponsored by T-Mobile. Then Underwood presented the award for Favorite Breakthrough Artist to Daughtry headed by frontman, Chris Daughtry a former American Idol-er. Then Seacrest showed up sans frosted tips and yammered on about I can't remember.

Breathe.

Then Daughtry won two more awards and thanked the fans a million times. But not American Idol, which brought the fans in the first place. Then Fantasia was nominated for Favorite Female Soul/R&B but lost to Rihanna. In order to punctuate continued AI dominance, Daughtry performed an acoustic version of Home, with AMA awards as home decor.

Finally, the Dreamgirls soundtrack was nominated for Favorite Soundtrack and as you know, American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson is a dreamgirl. So there's that.

By the way, where was Zac Efron and were the Jonas Brothers' stage rush by two girls escorted off by security at the end of S.O.S. planned or did the teeny-boppers just want to stop the so-pitch-y-you-can't-sing singing?

Personally, I loved the performance of Kiss Kiss by Chris Brown, T-Pain and the reflective-tape dancers. The three man upside-down marionette ending was funky and fresh. Check out the video, although it doesn't do the performance justice with all the flash bulbs poppin' off. Word.

Chris Brown - Kiss Kiss live @ AMAs 2007
Uploaded by geronimos87

Watch the Eagles Tonight on CMA Awards

As if to fly directly in the face of my previous post in which I declared the same-old, same-old from the CMA Awards lineup and nominees, the Eagles will perform tonight (Nov. 7) for the first time ever. Ever. Ever, ever.

Except in 1993 when Don Henley flew solo, and performed the duet Walk Away Joe with Trisha Yearwood during the show. The hit single from Yearwood's first album was nominated as 1992 CMA's Vocal Event of the Year. In 1994, they won Album of the Year for the collaboration Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles with CMA heavy hitters including Alan Jackson and Brooks & Dunn. The performance tonight will likely showcase their current country music hit single How Long.

The Eagles have long been considered a significant influence on the flavor of country music, and their current success on the charts with "Long Road Out of Eden," proves they continue to have a strong following. Despite the lack of a studio release for nearly 30 years, the Eagles' album beat out "Blackout", the album from pop princess of questionable sanity, Britney Spears and took the top spot on the Billboard 200.

So, maybe I was wrong, or spoke to soon. Tonight just might remain Country Music's Biggest Night.

Eagles Fly Past Britney to Debut at No. 1 [Billboard.com]

The Eagles to Perform on CMA Awards [USA Today]

Eagles Ready for CMA Awards Debut [CMT.com]

Does Burton + Depp = Oscar for 'Sweeney Todd'?

When Tim Burton and Johnny Depp collaborate on a film, the result is often bizarre, ecclectic and surging with ghoulish delight. Together, the pair create one of the award-winningest super-threats of any actor/director team; theirs is a style that is incredibly well-suited. And the Oscar buzz has officially begun for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Now, I've seen the trailer for Sweeney Todd both online and in the theaters and it plays delightfully creepy on the big screen. The tension builds, and as Burton does so well, the color and saturation gets darker as the film progresses. Camera work becomes more erratic as the pace quickens and then ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (protracted high-pitched scream) Depp begins to sing. Okay. In the trailer he actually doesn't sound half bad. Maybe even fairly decent singing. But will this risk -- a singing Johnny Depp -- keep people away or attract them like voyeurs to a freak in a side-show.

Elevate Your Rockstar Standing With Grammy Brand

Lyrics to the song "Rockstar", by Nickelback address the universal dream of livin' large as a world famous musician and all the perks that go along with it. One way to indulge your success in this role as musical icon is to "dress your ass with the latest fashion/get a front door key to the playboy mansion", and you have to admit, the idea seems rather appealing.

Well, now the Recording Academy has made rockstar chic easier to achieve than ever, announcing Grammy Brand a new fashion line to be unveiled next week at a private party. Private, meaning you're not invited. And it doesn't help you obtain Hef's master key either. So much for easy.

The high-end designer clothing is unfortunately, only affordable if you've already reached rockstar status, and so hopes are dashed anew. Perhaps you can pool your personal life savings with that of your friends and purchase a pair of sunglasses. Sigh.

What good is it you ask? It seems, a "meaningful portion of every Grammy Brand sale" goes to MusicCares and the Grammy Foundation. Noble causes, both.

Recording Academy Unveils Grammy Brand [AP]

2007 Weblog Awards: Nominate the Best

Although a little slow out of the gate, the time is now to nominate the bloggiest of blogs in the blogosphere in any of the 49 categories, such as Best Blog, Best Online Community, and Best Music Blog. Nominations for the 2007 Weblog Awards are being taken until October 15, 2007 and any website that qualifies as a blog can be nominated. You can even nominate yourself, because one's own blog is always the best!

Several new categories have been added this year including Best Celebrity Blog, Best Pet Blog and Best Literature Blog. Rosie O'Donnell's blog, Bazzyboy the Australian Racehorse, and the Stay At Home Bookworm are early nominees in each of these categories respectively.

But the fun doesn't stop there. Once finalists are selected and voted on, winners will be presented with their awards at BlogWorld & New Media Expo held November 8-9 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Whooo, hoo!

Celebrity Smackdown: Bonaduce vs. Fairplay

Just when you thought it was safe to hug Danny Bonaduce, it wasn't. During last night's Reality Remix Really Awards, overzealous Bonaduce fan, Survivor's very own Jonny Fairplay, attempted the well-known "flying embrace" and was swatted face first to the ground, TMZ reports. Ouch.

What was unclear, however, was how Bonaduce could have felt threatened by an armful of Fairplay. As the pic below illustrates, Jonny Fairplay weighs a mere five lbs. soaking wet. The fear of being pooped on might have thrown Bonaduce over the edge, and removing Fairplay's bum from his person became an urgent priority.

While it may serve as a nominal distraction to continue this speculation of Bonaduce's motives, again, TMZ comes to the rescue and clarifies. Adrienne Curry started this whole mess by encouraging Bonaduce to get up on stage and inform Fairplay of his douche-bag status.

Curry, a reality tv whore monger herself (winner of America's Next Top Model) brags about the incident on her blog.

The 2nd Annual Reality Remix Really Awards show will air on October 13, 2007, but I bet heavy editing of the smackdown will deprive us all of this memorable 2007 awards show event.

UPDATE: Inside Edition has exclusive video of the onstage heave-ho, which aired on tonight's episode. I suspect it will be posted here, but at the time of this update, the video link was not yet active.

2007 CMAs Recycle 2006 Nominees/Performers

Additional performers were announced today for the 41st Annual Country Music Association Awards, and the line up is lookin' oh! sooo 2006. Not to mention, the nominees in every category are nearly identical. Some may have moved around a bit, but the artists' names remain the same. Once known as the "Biggest Night in Country Music", has seemingly adopted a new motto. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.

Even Little Big Town makes a repeat appearance in the Horizon Award category. Apparently there was a shortage of up-and-coming country music artists, so they needed to give the four-person vocal group another shot at being awarded for their up-and-coming-ness. Does that really make sense? No. It's wordy and long-winded, and doesn't make any kind of sense at all. What about Bucky Covington? I don't mean to go all American Idol on you, but his single, "A Different World", made it to the top of the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and was played endlessly on country music radio.

In the Entertainer of the Year category, George Strait replaced Brooks & Dunn, while every other nominee remained the same from last year. Call me crazy, but I feel as though I was entertained by more than just country music men this year. If the broadcast plans on staying on top of its game, and the ratings (it remains one of the most successful awards show programming, consistently winning its time-slot), then it had better have a few tricks up its sleeve.

'World Stupidity Awards' Defunct?

Fall may well be known as the season for stupidity. The ailing elderly create cardio-infarction by raking endless piles of leaves. Parents are expected to fork over astronomical amounts for school supplies and mediocre blue background Lifetouch photos with their children's hair combed within an inch of its life. And football mad-foolery begins in earnest.

Since 2003, however, autumn was also the season of The World Stupidity Awards or "Oscars of Idiocy" as they have been lovingly referred. To my dismay, nary a snark has been heard all summer about potential nominees or category changes. And I'm beginning to worry.

But the giant gaping hole of disinformation will soon be filled, as I have but one of my best sleuths on the case (me) and am awaiting a response to my requests from one of their "spokesmorons" (their word, not mine). Once I learn the fate of this most fabulous tradition of stupid-ness, I will share with you, beloved, dedicated reader. These things usually end well.

UPDATE 12/14/2007: I had almost given up hope of receiving a response to my request for more information re: the World Stupidity Awards, but low-and-behold my inbox did not disappoint this morning. Albert Nerenberg, spokesmoron, had the following to say about the whereabouts of the favorite "Oscars of Idiocy".

"Thank you for your concerned comments about the World Stupidity Awards. Although the awards have had some perilous days, they will be announced right before Christmas. Basically, the comedy festival which supported the awards, couldn't afford to stage them despite the fact they sell out every year, and told us to go and get a TV deal. That's what were working on now but it's slow progress. Needless to say, we'll be announcing an online version at Christmas and hope to have a televised version sometime in the future."

I will post more information as I receive it. And if you're some big-time TV exec who'd like to put the show on the air, and you're reading this, then have your people contact Albert's people and set this thing up. Or let's do lunch!

'Talladega Nights' beats out 'We Are Marshall' at ESPY Awards

With record fan voting to the tune of 12.5 million votes cast, the ESPY Awards captures the heart and soul of our professional sports obsession. To prove how intricately entwined pop culture is with sports today (on again/off again Carrie Underwood and Tony Romo notwithstanding), the nutty sports movie satire Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby won the ESPY for Best Sports Movie over We Are Marshall reports the Harold-Dispatch.com.

Marshall is based on the true story of triumph over tragedy as Marshall University's football team recovers from a plane crash that killed the majority of it's players. Also nominated in this category was Invincible and Pride, neither of which had an angel's shot in hell against Talladega.

Had Talladega Nights gone up against previous years' winners such as Friday Night Lights or Miracle would it have won? Come on now all you crazy online voters, you would have chosen Will Ferrell over Miracle?? Oh, lord help us all.

The ESPY Awards were held on June 10 and will air tonight on ESPN.

We Are Marshall misses out on ESPY [Harold-Dispatch.com]

Celebrities Line Up For 'MTV Movie Awards'

Things are heating up as MTV announces presenters and performers for the 2007 MTV Movie Awards to be held June 3. We've already been jolted to attention with revelation the dirty, dirty comedienne Sarah Silverman will host the live broadcast and hopefully produce loads of censor-worthy material to keep the bleeper patrol on their toes.

Following her stop at Ellis Island, newly immigrated Victoria Beckham will make an appearance, as well as former host and Golden Popcorn recipient, Lindsay Lohan. Unfortunately, Lohan remains a U.S. resident.

Robin Williams will be presenting an award, in what the press release has touted as some sort of joke-off with Silverman. Despite the creep factor generated ever since Williams' portrayal of an obsessed photo mart clerk stalking the all American family in the film One Hour Photo, his manic delivery and penchant for X-rated material may leave him the hands down winner of the evening.

As we wade through the list of celebrities on board to pimp their summer movie releases, including Shia LaBeouf (Transformers) and Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up), the relevance of the award show at hand seems nonexistent. The majority of the nominated films have long been out of the theater

On the other hand, with the mockucategory of "Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet", those of us movie buffs who invest hours of our time on awards show programming (guilty!) that dole out awards for movies the general public hasn't yet been privy to, sometimes I think the execs at MTV hit the nail on the head. Even if that nail is coffin bound.

2007 Student Academy Awards

The finalists for the 2007 Student Academy Awards were announced on May 14, with hopefuls vying for medals of the Gold, Silver or Bronze Olympic variety, as well as cash prizes and a week-long introduction to the industry.

While the winners have now been selected, voted on by Academy members, they have not been told which medal they have actually won. This will be revealed during the June 9 ceremony held at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Gold medalist and Honorary Foreign Film winners are granted a full-length screening of their film following the ceremony.

Besides allowing Academy voters the opportunity to practice on unsuspecting college and graduate level students, the Student Academy Awards have identified some of the most creative minds in filmmaking. The list of innovative and successful filmmakers include Spike Lee, Trey Parker and Robert Zemeckis. The Academy website reports that Student Academy Award winners have been nominated for an Oscar a remarkable 35 times, with a total of seven Oscar wins either as an individual or as part of a group nomination.

Aspiring collegiate filmmakers should make the Student Academy Awards a must-do on their contest/fellowship submission list.

Academy Announces 2007 Student Academy Award Winners [Academy press release]

MTV VMAs to Take Over Vegas

Despite the statistical probability of actually viewing a music video on MTV akin to that of a Sasquatch siting in the forests of North America, it has been announced that the MTV Music Video Awards will continue to perpetuate the widely held myth by holding it's annual ode to all things "music video" in Las Vegas. Oh, how I'd like to see the odds for catching a glimpse of Sasquatch vs. a music video on MTV. Me thinks, too close to call.

In an effort to lure an ostentatious list of previously uninterested celebs, Christina Norman, MTV President, announced plans for the VMA's "to take over every available nook and cranny of the infamous celebrity stomping ground, The Palms Casino Resort," according to an MTV press release.

It appears, owner of the trendy hot-spot, George Maloof was not informed of the intimate invasion, as he states, "the opportunity to showcase The Pearl Concert Theater as the venue for the awards show is extremely exciting." Someone needs to let him know what exactly will be happening to his nooks and crannies before its too late. I'm also happy to announce that I will be in Vegas well before this year's "nothing will be off limits" approach, and I feel cleaner for it.

For those of you who enjoy watching the re-broadcast of the VMA's seven times a day for months on end, you will be disappointed to know that with the change of venue comes a change in playback. For instance, there will be no more playback.

Per se.

The show is to air during a single live broadcast. The twist is that as MTV strives for more and more viewer interaction, they will somehow (likely some new fandangled technology) allow viewers to program remixed versions of the show. Excuse me...MTV...I'd like to order the Blake Lewis beat-boxed version of the VMA's, please.

We will soon find out what, if anything, Christina Norman knows about "rock 'n roll chaos". Her words, not mine.

2007 MTV Video Music Awards Sets Up Next Act in Las Vegas [PRNewswire]
MTV Has VMAs on Lockdown [TMZ]

Rosie O'Donnell, You're Fired!

Okay, maybe not fired, but the Trumpness of the headline was too good to pass up. It's been reported by the AP via Yahoo! News that O'Donnell and ABC were unable to meet in the middle during contract negotiations. But it's been rumored that Barbra Walters may have had enough of all the controversy and generally belligerent, un-ladylike behavior displayed by O'Donnell over the last year.

While Walters has denied that she has anything to do with her exit from The View, Rosie's scatalogical rant at the Women in Communications awards luncheon in the presence of impressionable young, teenage women awaiting recognition may have thrown Barbara over the edge. The fact that Walters considers herself an aboveboard, professional journalist lends an air of truth to the rumor. The fact that the rumor is being "trumpeted" by the duck-man himself, sucks its legitimacy below sea level.

Whether there is some truth to the claims or not, the real question is who is ano appropriate replacement as co-host and still be as big an audience draw for ABC?

Will Rosie's Vulgar Act at Teen Award Show Boot Her from 'View?' [NewsBusters]
Rosie O'Donnell leaving ABC's 'The View' [Yahoo! News]