It’s Not About You Good Oscar hosts keep
their egos in check. When you think about what hosting the Academy
Awards really entails, there isn’t that much to it. After all, once they
deliver their opening monologue, most Oscar hosts disappear from the stage, reemerging
every 15 minutes or so to introduce a presenter, read another joke off the teleprompter,
and basically keep things moving. Doesn’t matter if it’s Billy Crystal,
David Letterman or Ellen DeGeneres.
Still, some Oscar hosts fare better than others. Crystal is considered the standard
bearer, while Letterman fell flat on his face. We asked Professor Robert Thompson,
director of Syracuse University’s Center of Popular Television, to weigh
in on what makes a good host, what makes a bad one, and how first-time Oscar emcee
DeGeneres will do. The 79th Academy Awards airs Feb. 25, beginning at 5pm on ABC.
TW: What’s the trick to hosting the Oscars?
RT: I think you have to be “good enough,”
but not “too good.”
TW: In other words, do the job without taking attention
away from the event itself.
RT: Exactly. You’re not there to distract.
You have to remember that you are, in fact, a traffic cop. You’ve got to
be amusing, you’ve got to be funny, you’ve got to have a couple of
good moments, whether it’s your opening monologue or you’re taking
part in the production numbers, but in the end, you have to remember it’s
not “The Academy Awards, Starring You.” It’s the Academy Awards,
which happen to be hosted by you. So you also need a certain degree of humility.
I think when Chris Rock hosted the show [in 2005], he showed a good deal of savvy
in reining himself in. Whereas when Letterman hosted [in 1995], he was trying
to do the Letterman show, and it didn’t work because (1) a good chunk of
that audience just didn’t get him, and (2) the audience within that pavilion
didn’t want a show that was about him. They wanted a show that was about
them.
TW: But if that’s the key, why didn’t
Dave work out? Isn’t he the king of self-deprecation?
RT: Letterman can be self-deprecating with the best
of us, but his self-deprecation is always with a sense of superiority. And that’s
not what [the academy] wants to see.
TW: Well, if “good, yet humble” is the
formula, then Ellen should do very well.
RT: She ought to. She’s funny, without being
threatening. She’s versatile, she can do her goofy dances, she can be in
the production numbers if it’s asked of her, and she’s really, really
good at telling a joke. Not only that, she has experience hosting major awards
shows – she hosted the Emmys, for example, at a very difficult time, when
they were twice delayed because of 9/11.
The other thing about hosting the Oscars is that you have a presentation that’s
very structured. Between all of the reading of the names, and giving out the awards,
and the production numbers, and the speeches, the amount of time you’ve
got to play with within that structure doesn’t leave you much space. Not
many people can work a good comic act in a straitjacket. I think Ellen DeGeneres
is one of them.
Global Ambitions Shopping the world in
one place: Fremont.
Shopping malls have been named after woods, hills,
fairs, and rows. Why not name one after the planet itself?
That’s the strategy behind The Globe, a shopping center in Fremont that
will occupy a 31.5-acre lot and eventually span 469,000 square feet. Plans include
room for high-end shops, restaurants, an international grocery, a conference room,
a banquet hall, a social hall, office space, and a 15,000-square-foot movie theater.
Why “The Globe”? Developers say because the center will feature businesses
with a multicultural theme. To support this, the mall will be grouped into three
“villages”: the Chinese Village, the Japanese/Korean Village, and
the European/International Village.
Los Angeles-based architecture, engineering, and planning firm RTKL, known for
its high-concept commercial, healthcare, and public projects, has been hired as
the designer. Fred Kim, director of development for Imperial Investment and Development,
The Globe’s owner, calls the design concept a “message of fusion and
harmony, just as it is a message of diversity.”
Kim adds, “We want to be able to represent each individual culture in their
true essence, and at the same time be able to express that, despite the diversity.
There should be a fluid kind of harmony across the cultures,” he says.
A central outdoor area, which Kim calls “The Heart,” represents that
fluidity. It will include reflection ponds, fountains, and lush greenery. A 360-degree
stage will anchor the area, and Kim envisions its regular use in outdoor performances,
including speeches, poetry readings, dance performances, and cultural performances.
“We want it to be an active area that’s bustling with energy and life,”
says Kim. “We want to have movement; hence the running water. We’ve
taken considerable effort to design the area so there’s no dead space, so
there’s multifunctional elements that not only function as sculptural elements,
but also as seating.”
Phase one is expected to open in June. Until then, you’ll have to “shop
the globe” like you usually do: on the internet.
The Downtown Doors Project Getting a handle on youth
art.
Utility doors – entrances to restaurant kitchens, warehouses, and parking
garages – look pretty boring and can attract graffiti. So San Jose’s
Downtown Foundation has decided to turn them into mini galleries for works of
art. The Downtown Doors project lets high school students from both the San Jose
Unified High School District and the East Side Union High School District compete
for display space on these blank canvases. The winning artwork is digitized, expanded,
and transferred onto vinyl adhesive decals that can be applied to the doors, simultaneously
sprucing up Downtown and allowing students to shape the look of their city in
a positive way.
“So much attention is given to negative issues like youth graffiti, and
not enough credit goes to the majority of young adults that are a much more positive
force in the city,” says Jane Przybysz, executive director of the Museum
of Quilts and Textiles and a member of the project’s judging panel. “It’s
a real source of pride for these kids to have their art displayed for everyone
to enjoy.”
The project also gives kids a “doorway” (ha) into the art world, letting
them see firsthand how art is selected and displayed, how clients’ demands
are factored into the art, and how to tailor a project to fit specific settings
and surroundings. Winning work can be included in student college portfolios,
and the program holds an annual reception where students get to meet members of
the city council. The Downtown Federation also awards the students with a cash
stipend, and last year various art stores donated gift certificates for all the
winners.
The committee is accepting 2007 applicants, and the work will be judged and displayed
by late April. Art can currently be seen throughout downtown streets on Paseo
de San Antonia Plaza’s Repertory Theatre and at the Fairmont Hotel. *This Article appeared in Volume 7, Issue 02 of The
Wave Magazine.
