Ellen hosting the Oscars

[+ deej]

I don't see a quote from Liza in that article.

[bostonman]

I don't see a quote from Liza in that article.

 

And to boot, it IS the Daily News.

[Cooper]

And to boot, it IS the Daily News.

 

You could say that same thing about any newspaper, however, if you were to do a quick search you'll see that other sources are posting the same headline.

 

http://www.news-press.us/oscars-2014-liza-minnelli-is-not-amused-by-ellen-degeneres-jokes-video/

 

http://www.onenewspage.us/n/Technology/750cmyw6u/Oscars-2014-Liza-Minnelli-Is-Not-Amused-by.htm

[manTOman]

They say it's the toughest gig in Hollywood, and it sure looks like it.

I think the minute we all accept that the show will always be 3+ hrs, and that no matter who hosts it they will never be able to make it seem much shorter than that. I also feel that it's harder to keep the energy going when you have to go to yet another 10 minute commercial break what seems like every 5 minutes. And it does seem like these breaks grow longer and more frequent with every year.

I think last night also had a nice share of memorable and quirky speeches that also made it more interesting than usual.

And finally am I the only one who thinks that Sidney Poitier should have been presenting Best Picture, weather with Will Smith or Angelina Jolie. It would certainly make for a more poignant moment than Will Smith doing the honor. Aren't there a lot of people more deserving of that honor than Will Smith.

[+ deej]

You could say that same thing about any newspaper, however, if you were to do a quick search you'll see that other sources are posting the same headline.

 

Oh, I've seen it all over the web. One of your own sources summed it up thusly:

 

but, based on GIFs like the four embedded below, people have been saying online that she was anything but.

Based on gifs. Still no word from Liza.

 

Now, it’s probably safe to assume that Liza was just playing it up for the cameras because no host, particularly of an event of the Oscars’ magnitude, includes jokes that have not been pre-approved by the stars on whose expense they’re made.

 

At the very least, the jokes are about stars of whom hosts know for a fact they wouldn’t mind, like Jennifer Lawrence, for whom Ellen introduced a new joke right before the show, about her trip and fall on the red carpet.

 

Either way, we’ll probably never know if Liza was really offended, or she just seemed that way because of the obvious plastic surgery, or if she only wanted to seem that way to make things a bit more interesting and give us something to gossip about.

 

Still no remark from Minnelli, who later took a selfie with Ellen.

 

I see a gossip pileup.

[MrMiniver]

I was at an Oscar party and halfway through the show a friend turned to me and said "do you think dignity will ever return to this show?" I said no. When it's considered funny to make fun of old people and call Liza Minnelli a man in drag, I think we've sunk to lows we won't return from. I don't think that sort of thing is funny.

 

It was sad to see actresses like Goldie Hawn and Kim Novak feel they have to do things like that to their faces. Novak hasn't made a film in over 20 years and Goldie hasn't been in a film in over a decade. Not sure why they feel the need to disfigure themselves.

 

Travolta was a mess. He destroyed Idina Menzel's name and if his black hair dye gets any darker they'll have to call 911.

 

Poor Bette. They finally asked her to sing long after she could sing. She can no longer hit any high notes and can't sing a line. So it was torture watching her make up for it by twisting that song. Very sad.

 

On the good side, all 4 acting winners gave really terrific speeches and were well deserving.

 

For me, the most poignant moment of all was watching one of my cinema heroes -- Sidney Poitier -- make an appearance. He didn't want to use his cane so Angelina (who did a terrific job) helped him make that long, slow walk to the podium and when he couldn't read the winner she graciously handled that moment. He's a class act, perhaps, making his final appearance on the Oscars. I love the way both handled the moment.

[MrMiniver]

It was Kim Novak, 81. For that age, the surgery is probably 10 years old or more and so the surgeon really shouldnt be blamed, the ravages of time defy even the adept surgical hands, eventually. Eva Marie Saint is more than 90. I guess George Burns was on stage in his 90s but given Sidney Portier's performance, perhaps the Academy should evaluate not only status but functionality before parading the living dead on to the stage.

 

Sidney Poitier is a living legend and on a night when "heroes" were being celebrated he had to be included. He did wonderfully considering he's 88 years old and he didn't flub a single line unlike people like Ellen and Travolta -- much younger who couldn't seem to get a line out or hit a mark.

 

I'll see Eva Marie Saint next month at the TCM Festival. She still looks great looks her age as she should. She's in good shape and she'll be introducing one of her films.

[MrMiniver]

They say it's the toughest gig in Hollywood, and it sure looks like it.

I think the minute we all accept that the show will always be 3+ hrs, and that no matter who hosts it they will never be able to make it seem much shorter than that. I also feel that it's harder to keep the energy going when you have to go to yet another 10 minute commercial break what seems like every 5 minutes. And it does seem like these breaks grow longer and more frequent with every year.

I think last night also had a nice share of memorable and quirky speeches that also made it more interesting than usual.

And finally am I the only one who thinks that Sidney Poitier should have been presenting Best Picture, weather with Will Smith or Angelina Jolie. It would certainly make for a more poignant moment than Will Smith doing the honor. Aren't there a lot of people more deserving of that honor than Will Smith.

 

Especially considering that Will Smith starred in the worst film of 2013 which is generally acknowledged? You're probably right.

[Cooper]

Edgar, the pizza delivery man at the Oscars, gets a $1,000 tip. Great story.

 

http://images.indiatvnews.com/entertainmenthollywood/Oscars-pizza-de6947.jpg

 

Read more: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-pizza-delivery-guy-gets-685657

[Cooper]

Seems the transgender community took offense with Ellen's "joke" about Liza Minnelli looking like a "male impersonator".

 

http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1708513.1393817390!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/minnelli3f-5-web.jpg

 

Read more: http://www.westernjournalism.com/ellen-degeneres-faces-wrath-transgender-community/

[Frankly Rich]

TMZ spoke to Liza, and she told them the joke was not funny.

 

http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_gyj7gy8a

[Cooper]

TMZ spoke to Liza, and she told them the joke was not funny.

 

http://www.tmz.com/videos/0_gyj7gy8a

 

So, Liza finally speaks out on the "male impersonator" joke... She is a classy lady. It's obvious that Oscar "joke" caught her off guard and she didn't see any humor in it, however, I agree with her when she said, Ellen didn't intend it to be mean spirited. As Liza put it, it just went "too far"... Thanks Frankly Rich for posting this. It confirms all the headlines that I was citing earlier.

[JT Brooklyn]

Travolta another New Old Look

 

Travolta.. I'd bet that thing on his head was a bad Dark Brown Wig! At this stage of HIS game I guess it really doesn't matter anymore...

 

He has made Millions so let them say what they want.... That actually can be said for most of the people discussed in this thread!

 

According to TMZ The Pizza Guy got $600 plus...one of the Lamer segments! How many of those Women sitting in "borrowed dresses" got Pizza Oil on them and now they own them! That's the biggest laugh of the night...IMHO of course.

[TruthBTold]

What did everybody think of Pink's performance? I thought she did a really nice job.

[MrMiniver]

What did everybody think of Pink's performance? I thought she did a really nice job.

 

Awful. I didn't know who she was before I saw it and I thought she tortured that song. That song needs a purer sound, to me, and she was too scratchy.

 

I also thought it funny that apparently no one in the Academy knew that THE WIZARD OF OZ is not a widescreen film? Oh, my.

 

I just don't get what was funny about the pizza segment.

 

I also don't know how telling a female senior citizen that she looks like a man is not "mean-spirited." Same with making fun of June Squibb being old. It was so NOT Ellen who is usually such a class act. If she wanted to pick on someone why not go for DiCaprio or Jonah Hill or someone of that generation. I guess it's safer to go after old people. Very sad, me thought.

[Phil_musc]

What did everybody think of Pink's performance? I thought she did a really nice job.

 

I liked her voice in the song, but her phrasing was ignorant and unartistic (IMHO of course) - I get bothered when people breathe in the middle of words

in a pop song. It destroys the integrity of the text. I know, I know - in opera and oratorio it happens frequently, but there the word treatment is different musically.

[bostonman]

I liked her voice in the song, but her phrasing was ignorant and unartistic (IMHO of course) - I get bothered when people breathe in the middle of words

in a pop song. It destroys the integrity of the text. I know, I know - in opera and oratorio it happens frequently, but there the word treatment is different musically.

 

There's been a very long (and somewhat contentious) discussion on one of the theatre discussion sites about this very thing.

 

I think we do have to keep in mind that in pop, sometimes the words are not as important as the style, so "integrity of the text" is not something that's even being thought about - not in the same way one might approach a theatre performance, or art song, etc. Yes, I found Pink's sense of phrasing to be extremely odd, but frankly, also extremely idiomatic. I may not love it, but I get it.

 

Odd that you mention opera/oratorio. Again, of course, sometimes the musical line takes precedence, and a singer's gotta find somewhere to breathe, lol. But I think most singers would avoid breathing mid-word unless it was absolutely necessary. (Or, if the composer actually wrote it that way, which does happen.)

 

Speaking of which, even in "musical theatre" we sometimes find composers doing that for effect - think of "Embraceable You" which is full of deliberate pauses in the middle of words. ("Embrace me, you sweet embra---ceable you" etc.) Here of course it has a lilting, playful, even seductive effect - so it works.

[Steven_Draker]

Seems the transgender community took offense with Ellen's "joke" about Liza Minnelli looking like a "male impersonator".

 

In our increasingly über politically correct society, it's hard to make a joke without someone getting "offended".

 

Can we make fun out of everything/everyone? ... It depends on your audience and who is listening to the joke.

 

Self-effacing humor and poking some fun at yourself always exudes self-confidence and sexiness. ;-)

 

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1659287/thumbs/o-SIMPSON-facebook.jpg

[MrMiniver]

I liked her voice in the song, but her phrasing was ignorant and unartistic (IMHO of course) - I get bothered when people breathe in the middle of words

in a pop song. It destroys the integrity of the text. I know, I know - in opera and oratorio it happens frequently, but there the word treatment is different musically.

 

I've never heard an opera singer breathe in the middle of a word. If anything, they are taught so well, that they hold long lines and only breathe in appropriate spots. It's what really bothered me about Audra McDonald's (sp?) rendition of Climb Every Mountain in the recent NBC telecast. She took a huge gulp of air right before the final note. It completely broke the moment.

[EXPAT]

Re: Tip for pizza guy.

Ellen didn't give the pizza guy the tip until her live show on Monday when he was her guest. She pulled that famous hat out and there was $600 inside the hat from the various donations and then she pulled $400 out of her pocket to round it out to $1000.

[bostonman]

I've never heard an opera singer breathe in the middle of a word.

 

I bet you have, certainly in bel canto or Mozart or baroque music, where long melismas make it almost impossible NOT to do so. (Sometimes singers will sidestep this by finishing the word and continuing on a neutral "ah" - but not always.) OR, music where the composer has actually written pauses mid-word. (For instance, in Il Trovatore, Leonora has several spots where the music is written for her to do just that - simulating the emotional effect of gasping or being short of breath - the Finale Act II "E deggio e posso crederlo" and the "Miserere" come to mind immediately.)

 

It's what really bothered me about Audra McDonald's (sp?) rendition of Climb Every Mountain in the recent NBC telecast. She took a huge gulp of air right before the final note. It completely broke the moment.

 

Look - there's only two ways to negotiate that line in order to be able to hold the final note a decent length of time - either breathe before "dream" or breathe before "your dream." Either choice can be justified, depending on how the actress wants to interpret the line. Personally, I would find breathing before "your" easier, so that one is just staying on that last pitch without having to readjust for the last note. But the perils of doing that is one often hears the "dr" fudged in the process, so you get a kind of "yaw-reem." Breathing before "dream" at least basically insures the word will be enunciated correctly.

[MrMiniver]

As I said, it just didn't work for me, and completely ruined the song/moment for me. And, no, I've never heard an opera singer take a breath in the MIDDLE of a word.

[bostonman]

And, no, I've never heard an opera singer take a breath in the MIDDLE of a word.

 

Here's a whole bunch of breaths in middles of words...right at the beginning of this clip...(and she continues with the same idea around 2:17 through the ensemble).

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bupBA-bAkE

[bostonman]

Here's another one. A breath in the middle of the word "plain" at 1:32, from a singer who specializes in this rep.

 

[+ FreshFluff]

Here's another one. A breath in the middle of the word "plain" at 1:32, from a singer who specializes in this rep.

 

 

One of the comments on this (Handel's Messiah) was pretty funny:

"Great music, though never a fan of the religious bollocks."