The Oscars / Hosting the Oscars!

[jo]

A lot comment ( both ways) on Hugh Grant's response to the influencer/interviewer at the recent Oscars.

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

If the gods had been fair --

He should have already gotten two Oscars at this point!


For LES MISERABLES & LOGAN!

[njr]

He needs to play a real-life person. It seems like a lot of the best actor Oscars go to those who do this (like how Daniel Day-Lewis beat Hugh when he portrayed Lincoln!) That was DDL’s THIRD Oscar win too! 😡
Hugh was robbed - his performance in Les Miserables should have won!

Nancy

[jo]

One of the writers for the Oscars Opening Number -2009 - shares his experience.

Excerpts --

One of your first big successes after moving from New York to L.A. was winning an Emmy for writing for the 2009 Oscars, the one Hugh Jackman hosted.

When I got the Emmy, I was living in a really tiny apartment in Los Angeles. It didn’t feel safe to put it out in the open, because people could see it. So I put it in my kitchen — which was basically my living room — in a closet, and as a bit, I would put crackers in the globe. (Laughs) Then I found out that that rusts the Emmy, so I have all these rust marks all over my Emmy. But now it’s in my office.

I’m so curious what the process is for coming up with jokes for the Oscars.

We basically wrote Hugh Jackman’s opening number — that was what we were hired for. I also wrote a bunch of (other) jokes, but they had a full team writing that stuff, so (the producers) were like, “You guys deal with (the opening number),” which was great, because it was me, Dan Harmon, Rob Schrab, and we got to go bananas. That opening, it’s pretty out there and pretty fun



It was a great opening because it was so lo-fi and charming.

The whole idea, all of us came in with the same (thought): “All right, it’s the recession. How do you do a musical opening number during the recession?” And then we all watched all the DVDs, and none of us watched The Reader, so there’s a song in that opening number that’s like, “I have to watch The Reader,” which was very fun. (laughs)

It was basically the three of us in a room. Dan Harmon is a genius. Rob Schrab is a genius, too, and he’s so creative, and he built all those things (for the opening). It almost felt like we were doing a school play. But, also, we were writing in the Mandarin Oriental — I’ve never been to a fancier hotel in my life, so it was such a weird thing to us being little comedy nerds. (Laughs) This is before Community came out, so those guys hadn’t really blown up like they have now. It was great.



When Jackman actually did the opening number, where were you?

We were at the show — we were in a room in the back. We had a tiny little TV, and the three of us were huddling around it. It was so exciting to see people laugh at our stuff — at the end, he got a standing ovation, and we were going crazy. It was 2009 — it was 14 years ago. I invited my best friend — he came in from New York — and because I was backstage, he sat by himself at the Oscars. He was like, “I just passed Meryl Streep!” I was like, “That’s amazing!” It was a very surreal, crazy moment, especially because I’d been in L.A. for a very little time.


Did you think that opening was going to kill?

I thought it was pretty funny.



But that’s a really tough room.

Oh, impossible room. We knew that there’s a chance that it could bomb, but you watched (Jackman), and he’s so good and he commits so hard and he’s so charismatic that you’re like, “He’s going to crush it.” And then it’s a matter of if people are on board from the beginning or they’re not — and they were immediately on board. I’m so impressed how comfortable he is in front of all the most important people in Hollywood. That was a really fun day.

[jo]

The video of Hugh rehearsing for the 2009 Oscars referred to by Lawrence Mark has been withdrawn.

But here are stills of Hugh in rehearsal --






He was wearing the PUMA tee-shirt, IIRC.

[jo]

Hugh receiving the standing ovation!

[jo]

[jo]

Found this good and complete copy of "The Musical Is Back" from the 2009 Oscars.

[jo]

Aug 30, 2023 7:38:52 GMT -5 jo said:

[jo]

kylelayseggs🎄
@wetwalrus31
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6h
whats the biggest oscar robbery of all time?




JoAB
@joab46466753
Hugh Jackman not winning for LesMiserables - a film with a major dramatic arc & required utmost skills in portraying (sung-through)! He was likewise ignored for Oscar nods in Logan & Prisoners, both outstanding portrayals! What have the voters at the
@theacademy against him?
9:51 AM · Nov 7, 2023
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Replying to @joab46466753 @wetwalrus31 and @theacademy





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JoAB
@joab46466753
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This could have been Hugh Jackman's Oscar moment! Valjean's Soliloquy!
youtube.com/watch?v=JP31L6AhB3M

[jo]

0:01 / 1:23
j bob oppenheimer
@boboppxnheimer
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18m
so much sincerity, so much creativity, such a wonderful display of appreciation and love for movies 🫶🏼 we’re never ever getting anything like this

0:01 / 1:09
JoAB
@joab46466753
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5m
Hugh Jackman had everything going for him: the charismatic personality/the live performing skills (Bway/concert tour)/the range in movies from action to drama to musicals to dark comedy/ the self-deprecating sense of humor...plus once People.com sexiest man alive 🤩
From people.com



JoAB
@joab46466753
HughJackman hosted the Tonys 3 times before hosting the Oscars.Interestingly, while rehearsing for theOscars,LarryMark (Oscars 2009 producer) suggested doing a Barnum musical.Took a long time to develop an original musical, but GreatestShowman further proved HJ's talent & appeal.

[jo]

Steamboat Hams
@tonygoldmark
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5m
Replying to
@tonygoldmark

The BEST Oscar hosts are the ones who combine a genuinely winning showmanship, great comic chops, and a sincere appreciation for the event.

Best Oscar host ever? Hugh Jackman. And for reasons I will never understand, he only hosted once.

youtube.com

Hugh Jackman's Opening Number: 81st Oscars (2009)
Hugh Jackman's opening number saluting Oscar-nominated films at the 81st Academy Awards. Featuring Anne Hathaway.Subscribe for more

[jo]

A very recent comment --

@justafoodie3575
5 days ago
That’s true commitment to the craft right there lads and lassies! A phenomenal talent is Hugh J and his simplicity and friendly demeanour am absolutely sure reaches out and touches even the coldest of critics. Love him as an actor and thankful for the joy he has brought to us on screen! I tip my hat Mr. Jackman, the standing ovation is very well deserved !

[jo]

Short clips on the rehearsal for The Musical Is Back number from the 2009 Oscars.

[njr]

Remember MANY years ago when Beyoncé was just starting out and Hugh & Deb went to see her? (Maybe she was still in Destiny’s Child) Deb said that Beyoncé could be Hugh’s “hall pass.” 😂

Nancy

[jo]

What a tribute to Hugh Jackman and the 2009 Oscars Opening Number!

"He’s done a lot of interesting work, but this 81st Academy Awards opening number may be his greatest work as a performer in show business."

From Collider.com.

Hugh Jackman’s Low-Budget Oscars Musical Opening Is One of the Award’s Best Moments
BY
LISA LAMAN
PUBLISHED 2 HOURS AGO
In 2009, Hugh Jackman set the gold standard for Oscar opening numbers with his ode to the preceding years' movies.

Hugh Jackman hosting the 81st Academy AwardsImage via Oscars
THE BIG PICTURE
Hugh Jackman's opening at the 81st Oscars stood out with its unique concept and passion for movies.
Jackman's musical number was witty, reflecting the economic realities of the time, and had visually creative gags.
Jackman's performance showcased the qualities that make a great Oscar host, like razzle-dazzle, wit, and love for cinema.
The opening segment of the Academy Awards is often tough to crack, but some years, it feels like the people behind this show aren’t even trying. This is particularly true in the modern world (read: 21st-century Oscar ceremonies), where the Academy Awards often seem negatively daunted by the legacy of this show. Fond memories of Billy Crystal running through movies in the 1990s or the terror of accidentally creating a modern successor to the cursed opening to the 1989 Academy Awards inform every step of creating a new Oscars opening. This means that the people behind this program produce opening sequences that just seem either too derivative of the past, too quick to leap into weird mean-spirited meta-commentary, or lacking in ambition (going big is totally what killed the 1989 Oscars after all). The musical numbers from host Seth MacFarlane that kicked off the 85th Academy Awards epitomize the mean-spirited tendencies of 21st-century Oscar shows, while the 83rd Academy Awards saw hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco strolling through famous 2010 movies like they were the second coming of Billy Crystal.

In an effort to live up to the show's past, the Oscars tend to deliver weird opening segments that are desperate to please viewers. Even more restrained stabs at reimagining how the Oscars can begin end up going nowhere interesting. Just look at the 93rd Academy Awards, which began with a lengthy shot of Regina King just walking through Union Station and to the program's stage. Where’s the pizzazz and imagination in all of these sequences? What material is being served up right away to the viewer that’ll keep them glued to the screen for the three-hour spectacle that is to come? Thankfully, there was one Oscar ceremony that knew how to kick things off perfectly. Hugh Jackman's hysterical opening musical number from the 81st Academy Awards in February 2009 was a thing to behold...and a masterwork of how to begin an Oscars' ceremony just right!


What Was Hugh Jackman’s Oscar Opening Segment?

Given that Hugh Jackman is famous for his exploits in the world of live musical theater, it’s no surprise that he’d kick off his gig as a live entertainer at the Academy Awards with a song-and-dance routine. In an inspired move, though, the song that kicked off the 81st Academy Awards was informed by real-world tragedies happening outside the Kodak Theatre. The 2008 economic recession had hit America devastatingly hard in the months directly preceding this show. Jobs had been lost. Budgets were tighter than ever. Unemployment was skyrocketing. Done poorly, the 81st Academy Awards making jokes related to this economic crisis could’ve been tone-deaf and staggeringly miscalculated.


Shockingly, though, Jackman didn’t crumble under the pressure. Instead, he was at the center of an inspired musical number that saw him putting together cardboard props and raggedy sets under a “tight budget” inspired by the recession. The result was a set-piece that wasn’t ignorant of the hardships of reality but also didn’t trivialize them. Plus, the concept of a “low-budget” Oscars opening ceremony led to ingenious visual gags (like a series of crude dolls used to represent Benjamin Button at various stages of his life) that were unlike anything else in the history of the Oscars. This wasn’t a musical ditty that felt like it was retreading past ground, this was something fresh that could only have existed circa. January 2009.

The writing of the musical number was also incredibly solid, a trick accomplished by the murderer’s row of outstanding writers assembled for this piece (including Ben Schwartz and Dan Harmon!) Many award-show musical numbers are cute, but have lyrics that rarely rise above that level. Jackman’s song was actually hilarious, particularly the verse where he talks about how “I haven’t seen The Reader,” an inspired way to get around talking about such a dark movie in a bubbly musical number. Actual wit abounded in this tune on so many fronts and made it something you could hum and titter at in equal measures.


And the Oscar goes to… chaos!
Best of all, it was a musical number that reflected a passion for the movies nominated that year. The cardboard props were meant to reflect the economic realities of early 2009, but they also reflected a ramshackle endearing love for cinema reminiscent of the “Sweded” movies in Be King Rewind or the “series finale” at the center of Brigsby Bear. When you don’t have infinite studio resources at your disposal, passion can carry a low-budget endeavor. That kind of passion came through at the opening of the 81st Academy Awards, which suggested that a love for movies would endure no matter what economic restrictions were in place. Having Jackman finish off the number by belting out passionate long notes about how he is, in many ways, all of these Oscar-nominated movies (aren’t we all?) was a great capper to the song that conveyed so much enthusiasm for the films this program was recognizing. Compare that to the detached Jo Koy or Ricky Gervais monologues that kicked off modern Golden Globes ceremonies, for instance, and it becomes clear which of these entertainers knows how to star in an award show.


Hugh Jackman’s 81st Academy Awards Opener Was Truly a Golden Moment
Hugh Jackman's musical number at the 81st Academy AwardsImage via Oscars

Subsequent Oscar ceremonies have inundated audiences with snark, and endless homages to past Oscar hosts. These negative qualities have often been so unpleasant to watch that they make one yearn for the Academy Awards to ditch hosts altogether! Hugh Jackman’s work kicking off the 81st Academy Awards, though, showed off how good an Oscar host can be. These figures can come into this award show and get the ball rolling with lots of razzle-dazzle, wit, and infectious love for movies that reminds us all why we tune into this ceremony year after year. The track record of post-2009 Oscar hosts suggests those qualities may be sparse in modern entertainers, but at least we all got to feel them once more when Jackman belted out his opening number.


Since this 2009 Oscars stint, Jackman’s gone on to play Wolverine a further six times (a seventh is on the way with Deadpool & Wolverine), headlined movies like Bad Education, and starred in various stage and movie musicals. He’s done a lot of interesting work, but this 81st Academy Awards opening number may be his greatest work as a performer in show business. Not only did Jackman have the chops and great writers to execute a winning opening musical number, but that year’s bevy of Oscar-nominated films provided ample material for great visual gags. It was the perfect confluence of events that resulted in an Oscar opening number like no other…and one we’re unlikely to see replicated in effectiveness anytime soon.

The 96th Academy Awards air March 10 on ABC, and will be available to stream online.

What a well-written and perceptive writeup of the 2009 Oscars Opening Number -- it has now become legend!

And this sums up the professional accomplishment of Hugh Jackman as an actor & entertainer! People sometimes forget that his being an excellent actor also contributed to the excellent quality of the delivery. And most of all, who has the best showing of the joy of performing among all of them - from Hollywood to Broadway!

The irony is that while Broadway has recognized this wonderful performer, the Oscar itself has not rewarded Hugh Jackman with that elusive gold statuette!


Jo

[jo]

x.com/JoAB46466753/status/1764794713507537083?s=20

Collider
@collider
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2h
Hugh Jackman’s Low-Budget Musical Opening Is One of the Best Oscar Moments



From collider.com



JoAB
@joab46466753

What a well-written & perceptive writeup of this Opening Number now become legend!
Hugh Jackman gave the best showing of the joy of performing among all hosts-from H'wood to B'way!
Irony that while Bway/Emmy/Grammy have recognized this performer, H'wood still has to give HJ his Oscar!

[jo]

JoAB
@joab46466753
What a well-written&perceptive writeup of thisOpening Number now become legend!
HughJackman gave the best showing of the joy of performing among all hosts-from H'wood to B'way!
Irony that while Bway/Emmy/Grammy have recognized this performer,H'wood still has to giveHJ hisOscar!
7:27 AM · Mar 5, 2024
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JoAB
@joab46466753
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1m
His greatest film work is either Les Miserables or Logan!
Les Miserables, a sung-through musical with a strong dramatic arc, required the best acting chops complemented by singing ... while Logan elevated the superhero genre to unexpected status!

[jo]

And to think that this was not planned very well in advance. I think it was Spielberg who called Hugh ( he was on a press tour, with Deb accompanying him) and asked him to host the 2009 Oscars. I think this might have been before they relocated to NYC in Nov-Dec 2008. From the reports on how the musical skit was developed, it was Palermo who found the comedy writers and arranged for them to be billeted at Mandarin Oriental. Hugh would go there to check if there is already written material and would immediately rehearse them. Some of the props ( like the Batman one) was done by one of the writers. It was kind of impromptu. There was even hesitance whether the finale line of " I'm Wolverinnnnnne" should be included. Someone insisted it is GOLD and should stay. He was prophetic, especially now that HJ is returning to his career-defining role.

They never expected the standing ovation!

Or the EMMY award for the writers.

Had the EMMY award for Hosting Special Events not been discontinued that year -- Hugh would have won it hands down!


But look at how his performance continues to "haunt" him to this day


Jo

[jo]

[jo]

ali 🦋
@licelipa
Oscar's day but no one is doing it the way Hugh Jackman did in 2009

#HughJackman #Oscars2024