Hugh Jackman talks Academy Awards here, admitting he’s a little biased towards Heath Ledger in this year’s race (though frankly, who isn’t?), and dropping more hints about the more intimate atmosphere promised at this year’s Academy Awards:
Obviously I’m not a standup comedian and generally there’s been comedians who are actors as well (who) have been doing it for the last however many years. So there’s not the same pressure. I don’t think people expect me to come out and do seven minutes of bang-bang-bang jokes. … They really just encourage me to do what I feel I do best. It’s a night to have a feeling of celebration, of community.
The look of the theater is very different. It’s more like the nightclub of your dreams. It’s very intimate. … It’s got to be a lot closer. It’s been a little austere in the past. You know, there’s that stage, the host being up above the stalls, looking down at everybody. … But this is a lot more intimate. It’s still spectacular, being in the Kodak Theatre. But it’s a real difference in the way things are laid out.
It sounds like a lovely set-up for the guests. I just hope they’ve given enough thought to how it plays on TV — what feels “clubby” to people in the room could feel remote to those watching at home. I do trust Bill Condon and Laurence Mark, of all people, to retain a sense of glamour and spectacle. And I still believe Jackman has the star magnetism to bring it home. But the sheer amount of changes proposed this year gives me the feeling this is either going to be a roaring success or a crashing failure. Fingers crossed.
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13 responses to “‘The nightclub of your dreams’”
Why am I having flashbacks of when the Emmys put the stage in the middle and the audience all around. That was a nightmare.
The nightclub of my dreams has primo booze, so unless I see a bottle of cognac for every seat, I’ll be very disappointed.
Do you know what I think their plans are this year?
The presenters will throw the Oscar statues at the winners while they are still seated. Violence always drives up ratings.
“The Night Club of My Dreams”
The Best Supporting Actress nominees parade the stage naked. Jack will fall over drunk and naked front row.
“The presenters will throw the Oscar statues at the winners…” — Ha ha, you made me snort cereal out of my nose. If only.
The In Memoriam segment in particular will be just lovely in the “Nightclub of Your Dreams” lol.
every nightclub i’ve ever been to has muscular men dancing with their shirts off. i hope hugh is still wolverine pumped…
PJ, it can be set to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” in a sign of bad taste.
It is a GAY club, after all.
I hope it’s not like the Golden Globes where the winner needs a Sat Nav to find their way to the stage.
I’m hoping for the best, expecting the worst. I can live with the attempt to see how the show goes without a comedic open, I can live with the intimacy of the room, I am even willing to hold judgment until after I see Queen Latifah sing during the “In Memoriam” but I am absolutely appalled that the songs segments are only getting 60 seconds. That doesn’t even sound like something they would even talk about let alone implement. How disrespectful. I also like to see the previous years winners present simply to see the evolution of the person. You can’t make this many changes in anything and expect to knock it out of the park. Ask Obama.
Incidentally, the night club of my dreams has a chrome pole on stage. Just saying.
If it actually is Nightclub of Your Dreams, it will probably fail spectacularly; people may not enjoy seeing all the stars glamming it up with the economy in such a downward spiral, even if Jackman is, as usual, charismatic.
Still, I hold out a smidgen of hope. That smidgen, though, is getting smaller and smaller.
Can there be a part where Hugh is playing Peter Allen and makes Sean Penn visibly uncomfortable?
I had the same association – with the Emmys from 2007. But anyway – having short versions of the nominated songs is totally disrespectful and to not give out the Honorary Oscar only to make the show shorter is something I’ll never forgive them. Bill Condon, that’s a big mistake and you’ll regret it! This show could really suck! Why denying somebody the Honorary Oscar just to make the show ten minutes shorter???