"What do you think is the biggest contender this year?"
On the other side of the Pacific, because a certain television station purchased the broadcasting rights but never actually aired the show, film enthusiasts who cared about global movie trends could only watch the Oscars live stream online.
Fortunately, the internet offers more freedom and doesn't chop up the ceremony into a mess like the nighttime replay on that particular channel.
Wang Ziming sat in front of his computer, listening to the host and a guest prattling on a website.
After the host asked this meaningless question, the guest, named Zhang Yibai, immediately replied, "I think the hottest or most promising film is The Social Network!"
The host pressed on, "Why is that?"
"It's simple…" The guest acted like a true Oscar expert. "At the Golden Globes, which is the biggest indicator before the Oscars, The Social Network was the biggest winner. According to past trends…"
Upon hearing this, Wang Ziming almost spat out the water he was drinking. He had studied the film industry across the ocean. Though not a self-proclaimed expert like the one on the livestream, he knew well that the Golden Globes had little to do with the Oscars. In fact, at the major guild awards, The Social Network was basically a disaster this practically foretold its fate at the Oscars.
Those two were still discussing it, but Wang Ziming switched to another window and entered a discussion forum where the debate was quite lively.
"Will Duke win his second Best Director Oscar?"
That was the main topic everyone was debating here.
"He definitely will. Otherwise, the Oscars have no fairness at all!"
Another post followed, "The two films Duke was nominated for Inception and Gravity made more at the box office than all the other nominated films combined!"
"Duke is the audience's favorite director!"
Although most of the netizens in the discussion were optimistic about Duke winning, some kept a cool head.
"Box office performance has nothing to do with winning an Oscar, and those old guys in the Academy don't care whether a director or film is popular with audiences…"
As soon as this was said, the discussion quieted down. Anyone with a slight understanding of Hollywood would know this was the truth.
When has the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on the other side of the Pacific ever cared about the audience?
As the red carpet event began, Wang Ziming returned to the livestream. It was still morning on this side of the Pacific, while over in Los Angeles it was already late afternoon.
As is well known, Oscar viewership has hit record lows in recent years. This year, the Academy and the Oscars committee spent a fortune to build the most luxurious crystal stage in history, aiming to capture people's attention visually. According to the information Duke received, the stage design of the 83rd Academy Awards was created by Broadway set design master David Rockwell and decorated with 92,000 Swarovski crystals, forming a magnificent "crystal waterfall" to create a fairytale-like world.
This year, the Oscars committee not only revamped the stage décor but also boldly reformed the viewership aspects. During the awards ceremony breaks, the committee would mimic the "Super Bowl" model and intensively broadcast trailers for upcoming Hollywood blockbusters to attract more eyeballs and gain more ad revenue.
They also deliberately added interactive segments to encourage audience participation.
It could be said that, to save the Oscars from its consistent decline in viewership, the Academy and the committee were really going all out.
You know, the Oscars used to rank second or third in national U.S. viewership besides the Super Bowl, no show or event could compare but in recent years, the drop in ratings and audience numbers had made all of Hollywood feel the crisis.
Promotion. Hype. Throwing out eye-catching stunts these are the surefire methods to boost ratings.
Of course, if the Academy would consider awarding major prizes to high-grossing films, ratings would not be an issue. Unfortunately, the Academy would rarely do that.
From another perspective, the declining viewership of the Oscars can't be separated from the Academy's increasingly conservative and niche choices.
Perhaps the Academy felt the gimmicks weren't attractive enough, or maybe it was just media hype, but just two days before the awards ceremony, shocking news surfaced online claiming that the Oscars' winners list had been leaked.
According to this list, The Social Network would win Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Cinematography. Another highly anticipated film, The King's Speech, would only get two technical awards: Best Costume Design and Best Makeup. For the acting awards, Leonardo DiCaprio would lose Best Actor to his rival Colin Firth, while Natalie Portman would beat a strong field to win Best Actress for Black Swan.
The list also claimed to bear the signature of new rotating Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Amy Adams would win Best Supporting Actress, while Best Supporting Actor would go to Christian Bale. Best Director would go to David Fincher for The Social Network.
The media was in an uproar. Nearly all entertainment outlets began wildly speculating about the incident. Headlines blared the question Could the tightly guarded Oscar winners list really be leaked?
Naturally, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences issued a denial.
"This list is absolutely fake," said Academy spokesperson Leslie Unger in an interview. "PricewaterhouseCoopers is still conducting the final tally. Before the winners are announced, only two people will know the results. The Academy does not notify winners in advance, nor would it issue such a list."
In general, leaks from the Oscars are nearly impossible.
The Oscar voting process is strictly guarded. The accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, which oversees the vote counting and supervision, has never had a leak since it began handling Oscar tallies.
After collecting the ballots, PwC dispatches two trusted supervisors to oversee a team counting votes in a secret location. When the results are finalized, they are sealed in two separate envelopes.
Only these two supervisors know the final results. On the night of the ceremony, they travel to the Kodak Theatre in two different vehicles on different routes to prevent traffic jams or other unexpected incidents affecting both of them at once. The whole process seems foolproof.
However, only the Academy's rotating president and the current committee truly know if there's any trickery involved.
Perhaps the Academy bigwigs saw a fake list circulating online and decided to use it to stir hype and boost the ceremony's appeal. Or maybe the list was fabricated by them on purpose to give the media and public more to talk about...
You have to know, even the theft of the golden statuette at the beginning of the new millennium has yet to reach a truly convincing conclusion.
The Oscars, which represent the pinnacle of Hollywood's artistic achievement, also need hype and gimmicks to attract viewers. In this era, business has seeped into every corner of the film industry even the most artistic acts within this industry ultimately cannot be separated from commerce.
When the sun was approaching the horizon, Duke appeared on the red carpet right on time with Scarlett Johansson on his arm.
As usual, he was still in a neatly tailored traditional black tuxedo, but Scarlett Johansson's outfit was far more stunning and fashionable.
Scarlett Johansson wore a handmade purple trailing evening gown from Dolce & Gabbana. The slim fit combined with floral lace made her look elegant and unique, while the backless and sheer details further enhanced her seductive charm.
"If your hairstyle were a bit more refined, it'd be absolutely perfect."
As they walked into the interview area, Duke said this to Scarlett. Scarlett lightly ran her fingers through her meticulously styled golden curls and replied nonchalantly, "Your fashion sense has always been questionable."
Duke shrugged, accepting Scarlett's remark, and the two continued into the interview zone.
On such occasions, the reporters' questions were nothing more than the usual set clichés, mostly centered on the nominees' views of their respective award categories.
"In a few more hours, you'll know whether I win or not." Duke's answer was equally formulaic.
In contrast, Scarlett spoke a bit more, "Among all the actresses nominated for Best Actress, I'm the youngest. The other four are all outstanding performers and far more deserving of this Oscar than I am."
Whether anyone believed those words was irrelevant. What mattered was that almost every nominated actor spoke like this they were clearly constructing a humble, calm public image.
In fact, Scarlett knew very well that her chances of winning were at least thirty percent. Her biggest competitor was Natalie Portman. Their roles and performances were roughly on the same level, so the rest depended on how well other areas were handled.
During the critical voting phase, Duke had made a huge fuss over that ex-girlfriend of Benjamin Miller, which definitely offset part of the advantage Natalie held due to her pregnancy...
As Duke entered the Kodak Theatre, he headed straight for the second row where the Gravity and Inception crews were seated.
"Godmother…"
Letting go of Duke's arm, Scarlett took a quick step forward and tightly embraced Leah. "Godmother, I'm so happy you could come!"
Lady Leah gently patted her on the back. "Dear, I had to be here to personally witness your glorious moment."
Over the past few months, she had also been reconnecting with many old friends in Hollywood.
Once Duke greeted Leah, Scarlett took her seat. Perhaps by coincidence, the Black Swan crew was seated right next to the Gravity crew. When she turned her head, she happened to see Natalie Portman looking over their eyes collided directly.