Calendar 2005

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Our calendar of celebrity events is continually expanded as show dates, locations, hosts, nominations, performers and presenters are announced, again after the awards are handed out, and whenever interesting articles, facts, trivia or tidbits are discovered. Key dates, timelines, schedules, and official websites, when available, are also noted. Some outside links may expire, however, they are maintained for continuity of the text included herewith.

FEBRUARY 2005

Date

Event

 01:

MOTION PICTURE SOUND EDITORS (MPSE) AWARDS - final ballots distributed

19th ANNUAL SOUL TRAIN MUSIC AWARDS - nominations announced (awards presented 2/28/05)

02:

ACADEMY AWARDS - final ballots mailed

2nd FUNNY LADIES WE LOVE AWARDS, Pearl, West Hollywood. Cocktail reception, sponsored by Ladies Home Journal. Award recipients included Fran Drescher, Nora Ephron, Joely Fisher, Kathy Griffin, Reba McIntire, and Sara Rue. Kelly Ripa also received an award, via video hookup.

2005 HARVARD HASTY PUDDING AWARDS - Catherine Zeta-Jones and Tim Robbins were selected as recipients of Harvard's Hasty Pudding Woman and Man of the Year Awards. The awards are given to performers who have made a "lasting and impressive contribution to the world of entertainment," by Hasty Pudding Theatricals, the nation's oldest undergraduate drama troupe.

The Woman of the Year festivities were held on February 10th. Catherine Zeta-Zones led a parade through the streets of Harvard Square. Following the parade, she was roasted and presented with the Pudding Pot in the Hasty Pudding Theater. Tim Robbins was honored with Man of the Year on February 17th. He was also roasted and presented with his Pudding Pot in the Hasty Pudding Theater, prior to the start of the opening night performance of Terms of Frontierment.

03:

BAFTA AWARDS - final voting closes

6th ANNUAL GOLDEN TOMATOS AWARD - awards announced by RottenTomatos.com to honor their best reviewed films of 2004. Also see their Moldy Tomatos Awards and vote in the 2004 User Tomato Awards.

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD (SAG) AWARDS - final ballots due 12:00 p.m. (noon) PST

SUPER BOWL XXXIX - Kicked off with the Pepsi Smash Super Bowl Concert Series. Grammy nominee Kanye West, Grammy Award winner Big Boi of OutKast, Ryan Cabrera, and Ciara performed February 3^rd. Dwight Yoakam, Jo Dee Messina, Chris Cagle and Josh Gracin brought a country beat to Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Friday night. Jacksonville's own Lynyrd Skynyrd teamed with 3 Doors Down, Charlie Daniels and Jo Dee Messina for Saturday night's show. Tickets were available through Ticketmaster. Current and former NFL players such as Minnesota Vikings Daunte Culpepper, Jacksonville Jaguars Donovan Darius, Kansas City Chiefs Tony Gonzalez and former Atlanta Falcons' juggernaut Jamal Anderson, were also on hand; Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marcellus Wiley, served as the DJ for all three nights. In addition, the artists and NFL players autographed items for bid on the NFL’s auction site, NFL.com, with all proceeds going towards tsunami relief.

04:

AMERICAN CINEMA EDITORS (ACE) EDDIE AWARDS - final ballots due

AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS (ASC) AWARDS - final ballots (theatrical) due

05:

11th ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. Mel Gibson and Julie Andrews presented SAG's 41^st Life Achievement Award to actor James Garner. Actor® nominees Cate Blanchett* and Leonardo DiCaprio (The Aviator), 12 year old Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland), Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda), Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby), Jamie Foxx* and Kerry Washington (Ray) and Paul Giamatti* (Sideways) introduced their nominated films at the SAG Awards®.

SAG President Melissa Gilbert welcomed guests to the event. Nominee Charlize Theron presented the award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture, while Johnny Depp presented the Lead Actress in a Motion Picture. Nominees Annette Bening and Morgan Freeman* presented the Actor® for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries.

Additional presenters included Glenn Close*, Rosario Dawson, Ellen DeGeneres, James (Jamie) Denton*, Dennis Franz, Topher Grace, Teri Hatcher*, Sean Hayes, Anthony LaPaglia, Laura Linney, Sandra Oh*, Teri Polo, Tim Robbins, Kyra Sedgwick, John Stamos, Keifer Sutherland and Kate Winslet. The show was televised on TNT; E! provided pre-show red carpet coverage. Actor® nominee Ricardo Antonio Chavira* (Desperate Housewives) opened the red carpet with the now traditional Champagne Taittinger toast.

This year's SAG Awards provided a good example of great acceptance speeches. Most of the winners did not read off the usual "laundry list" of thanks. Instead, they gave heartfelt anecdotes about their early acting careers or other sweet stories.

The luxury gift collections featured at the 11th Annual SAG Awards® Backstage Talent Retreat and the gift bags presented to guests at the Post-Awards Gala hosted by People magazine and the Entertainment Industry Foundation, were included in the SAG Awards™ memorabilia auctioned through eBay at http://www.sagawards.com/auction. Proceeds from the SAG Awards™ online auctions benefit the charitable endeavors of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation. The auctions closed Tuesday, February 8. Watch for our coverage of the Backstage Creations Celebrity Talent Retreat, coming soon! Find pictures now from the SAG Red Carpet and Backstage on Zap2It.com.

SAG Awards Highlights of the film categories (for those tracking the road to the Oscars): Best - Ensemble Cast: Sideways; Director: n/a; Actor: Jamie Foxx, Ray; Actress: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby. *Also winners of the SAG Award this evening. Nominees & winners / Official Site / Complete SAG Awards Winners Acceptance Speeches / SAG Awards Show Recap

32ND ANNUAL EVENING STANDARD BRITISH FILM AWARDS, The Savoy, London. Hosted by Jack Dee. Awards presenters included Timothy Spall and Patrick Stewart. Guests included Dame Judi Dench, Kim Cattrall, Charles Dance, Bill Nighy and Colin Firth.

Highlights: Best - Picture: Vera Drake; Director: n/a; Actor: Paddy Considine, Dead Man's Shoes; Actress: Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake. Simon Pegg, who stars in and co-wrote Shaun of the Dead, won the 2004 Peter Sellers Award for Comedy. The Alexander Walker Special Award, which "honours those who have made a supreme contribution to British film," went to Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, the co-chairmen of Working Title films. Official website unknown.

06:

SUPER BOWL XXXIX, Jacksonville, FL. New England Patriots vs Philadelphia Eagles. Pre-game shows featured performances by the Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Clarkson, Charlie Daniels, Earth Wind and Fire, John Fogerty, and Gretchen Wilson. Before kick-off, Will Smith appeared live to introduce Alicia Keys' tribute to Ray Charles, singing America the Beautiful with students from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, which Charles attended.

In taped segments, actors Eugene Levy provided a hilarious look at the physics of football. Michael Chiklis introduced the New England Patriots before they took the field, while West Philly's own Will Smith intro'd his Philadelphia Eagles.

Michael Douglas had the honor of introducing a beautiful tribute to the U.S. Armed Forces, which brought former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush to the field, as well as a parade of veterans representing the "Greatest Generation" and the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. The combined choirs of the U.S. Service Academies sang the National Anthem followed by a flyover of vintage war planes. Paul McCartney performed during the Halftime Show.

07:

ACADEMY AWARDS NOMINEES LUNCHEON, Beverly Hills. Sixteen of the 19 actor nominees were among the more than 100 nominees from 24 categories who gathered for the 24th Annual Oscar Nominees Luncheon. From the Leading Actor and Actress categories Don Cheadle, Leonardo DiCaprio, Clint Eastwood, Jamie Foxx (also nom'd in the Supporting category), Annette Bening, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Imelda Staunton, Hilary Swank and Kate Winslet attended. Cate Blanchett, Laura Linney, Virginia Madsen, Sophie Okonedo, Alan Alda, Thomas Haden Church and Morgan Freeman represented the Supporting categories (Clive Owen and Natalie Portman (Closer) were unable to attend. Owen presented an award at the BRIT Awards in London on 2/9 (see below)). Best Actor nominee Johnny Depp was expected to attend the Oscar Luncheon, per a press release from AMPAS dated 2/3/05, however, he did not.). Four of the five nominees from the Directing category - Eastwood, Taylor Hackford, Alexander Payne, and Martin Scorsese - also attended. Director Mike Leigh (Vera Drake) was in London collecting awards at the Evening Standard, London Film Critics, and BAFTA Awards. Click here to see the annual class photo of 113 nominees at the Oscar Nominee Luncheon.

36th ANNUAL GMA MUSIC (DOVE) AWARDS - nominations announced (awards presented 4/13/05)

2005 JUNO AWARDS - nominees announced (awards presented 4/3/05)

08:

5th ANNUAL DVD EXCLUSIVE AWARDS, the Annenberg Building at the California Science Center, Los Angeles. Hosted by Aisha Tyler. Presenters included Bob Newhart, Pauly Shore, director John Landis, Thomas Jane and Nick Mancuso. Attendees included nominees Jennifer Tilly, Mark Hamill, Sid Caesar, Natasha Henstridge, Barbara Bain, Michael Gross, John Amos, Aleksa Palladino, Sara Botsford, Brooke D' Orsay and Kevin Burns.

Event highlights included world premiere sneak peeks of DVD bonus features from some of last year's biggest movies, including clips from The Incredibles, Meet the Fockers, and Team America: World Police; a video tribute by Steven Spielberg to Pioneer Award recipient Laurent Bouzereau; a tribute to Johnny Carson and the presentation of the inaugural Johnny Carson Award for TV DVD Performer of the Year to Larry David; and a tribute to the tsunami relief efforts of the American Red Cross. For each ticket sold, DVD Exclusive donated $50 to the American Red Cross. Nominations, winners and Official website.

25th ANNUAL GENIE AWARDS - nominations announced (awards presented 3/21/05)

18th ANNUAL KIDS CHOICE AWARDS - nominations announced (awards presented 4/02/05)

09:

31st ANNUAL SATURN AWARDS - nominations announced (awards presented 5/3/05)

25th BRIT AWARDS, Earls Court 2, London. Hosted by Chris Evans. Presenters included Minnie Driver, Naomie Harris, Jools Holland, Peter Hook, Natalie Imbruglia, Jazzy B, Jodie Kidd, Matt Lucas, Brian May, Shirley Manson, Charlie Creed Miles, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne, Clive Owen, Simon Pegg, Siouxsie Sioux, Lisa Stansfield, Bernard Sumner, David Walliams and Jo Whiley.

Performances featured Natasha & Daniel Bedingfield, Franz Ferdinand, Green Day, Sir Bob Geldolf, Keane, Lemar & Jamelia, Snoop Dogg & Pharrell Williams, Scissor Sisters, The Streets, Gwen Stefani, and Joss Stone. The Outstanding Contribution to Music Award was presented to Sir Bob Geldof in recognition of an incredible music career. Televised in the UK on February 10, ITV1.

All proceeds from the show go to the British Record Industry Trust, supporting young people in music and education. BRIT Awards Nominees & winners / Official website

25th LONDON FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS, Dorchester Hotel, London. The annual London Film Critics Circle awards recognize and encourage the best in British and International film talent. They are the only UK film awards which raise money for charity, contributing to the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children). Cate Blanchett was one of the award presenters.

Highlights: Best - Picture (British Film of the Year): Vera Drake, (Film of the Year) Sideways; Director (British Director of the Year) Mike Leigh, Vera Drake, (Director of the Year) Martin Scorsese, The Aviator; Actor: (British Actor of the Year) Daniel Craig, Enduring Love, (Actor of the Year) Jamie Foxx, Ray; Actress: (British Actress of the Year) tie - Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind & Eva Birthistle, Ae Fond Kiss, (Actress of the Year) Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake. Nominees & winners / Official website / Summary

2/9 - 2/13: U.S. COMEDY ARTS FESTIVAL, Aspen, Colorado. The Festival presented some of today's hottest comedy stars including by Dane Cook, Eddie Izzard, Judy Gold, Adam Hill, Patton Oswalt, Paula Poundstone, Colin Quinn and Sarah Silverman and special events including comedians/authors Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, authors of He's Just Not That Into You; Teri Garr performing in The Moth; and authors Amy Sohn, Jonathan Ames, David Rees and John Hodgman performing in Off the Page.

Festival programming included the AFI Star Award to Jim Carrey hosted by Conan O'Brien, a reunion of the cast of Waiting for Guffman, The Freedom of Speech Award honoring Garry Trudeau and hosted by Aaron McGruder; Richard "Cheech" Marin and Tommy Chong together on stage for the first time in 20 years, and Christopher Lloyd in Trumbo: Red White and Blacklisted.

The festival is one of the foremost forums for exploring the intersection of comedy and politics. This year, the Festival and the Center for American Progress co-hosted the industry seminar Wag the Debate: What's the Future of the Pundit? Moderated by Joe Scarborough. The panel included a balanced group of pundits from the political and entertainment worlds including Janeane Garofalo, Laura Ingraham, Joe Lockhart, Eric Alterman, Ben Karlin, Executive Producer of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and co-writer of America: The Book and Sheryl Underwood, comedian and talk show regular.

AMC taped new episodes of their entertainment talk show Sunday Morning Shootout with Peter Bart and Peter Guber in Aspen. Aisha Tyler and Curb Your Enthusiasm's Jeff Garlin hosted TBS Very Funny Live taped live for broadcast on TBS. Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder also broadcast their Air America radio show The Majority Report live from the Festival.

The cast of Arrested Development was scheduled to appear but had to cancel "due to scheduling conflicts." A special performance with the cast of Seth MacFarlane's new animated Fox series American Dad replaced it in the schedule.

Sideways earned four awards at the third annual Comedy Film Honors of the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. The film won for Best Feature, Director, Screenplay and Performance for Paul Giamatti. Zach Braff was awarded for his directorial debut, Garden State. Jury Awards were announced at the Festival Awards Gala on Saturday. The winning films were screened at the Isis Theater in Aspen on Sunday. Official website

10:

BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL - Official website

HARVARD HASTY PUDDING AWARDS, Cambridge, MA. Catherine Zeta-Jones honored as Woman of the Year. See February 02 above for details.

GRAMMY AWARDS Musicares Person of The Year Tribute Dinner Honoring Brian Wilson, Hollywood Palladium. Emceed by Jon Lovitz. Performances by Backstreet Boys, Barenaked Ladies, Jeff Beck, Michelle Branch, Jamie Cullum, Earth, Wind & Fire, India.Arie, Darlene Love, Shelby Lynne, Fred Martin and The Levite Camp, Michael McDonald, Billy Preston, Red Hot Chili Peppers, ?uestlove (The Roots), Richie Sambora and Neil Young.

11:

CINEMA AUDIO SOCIETY (CAS) - final ballots due

COSTUME DESIGNER GUILD - ballots due (unverified)

12:

ACADEMY AWARDS AMPAS SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL AWARDS PRESENTATION - Actress Scarlett Johansson hosted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Scientific and Technical Awards at the Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel in Pasadena. Portions of the presentations were taped for inclusion in the February 27 Academy Awards® broadcast, which Johansson will introduce.

9th ANNUAL ART DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills. Hosted by Cheryl Hines. Quentin Tarantino presented the honorary award for Outstanding Contribution to Cinematic Imagery to Director Zhang Yimou (House of Flying Daggers) and Frank Capra, Jr. presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to Production Designer Bill Creber. ADG unveiled its new Hall of Fame by inducting the following deceased legendary production designers: Wilfred Buckland, Richard Day, John DeCuir, Sr., Anton Grot, Boris Leven, William Cameron Menzies and Van Nest Polglase. Additional presenters were Debbie Allen, Danny Huston, Sally Kellerman, Roma Maffia, William Sanderson and Erik Von Detten.

Winners for excellence in production design were announced in seven categories for film, television and commercials. Awards for excellence in production design for a feature film in 2004 went to (Period or Fantasy Film) Production Designer Rick Heinrichs for Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events; (Contemporary Film) Production Designer Alex McDowell for The Terminal. Nominee & winners / Official website

2005 ORANGE BRITISH ACADEMY FILM (BAFTA) AWARDS, Odeon Leicester Square, London. Hosted by Stephen Fry. Presenting awards were (in order) Goldie Hawn, Daniel Craig, Diane Kruger, Stephen Daldry, Mischa Barton, Anjelica Huston, Sienna Miller & Christian Slater, Gillian Anderson, Clive Owen, Juliette Lewis, Sophie Okenedo & Jim Broadbent, Cate Blanchett, Pierce Brosnan, Dame Helen Mirren, Keanu Reeves, Richard Gere, Sir Richard Attenborough and Virginia McKenna. (BAFTA Show Report)

Stars attending the BAFTAs included Gael Garcia Bernal, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mike Leigh, Carey Lowell, Anthony Minghella, Claudia Schiffer, Kurt Russell, Martin Scorsese, Rodrigo De La Serna, Imelda Staunton, Emma Watson, and Ziyi Zhang. (Arrivals Report / Photo Gallery 1 / Photo Gallery 2).

Twice nominated Kate Winslet was unable to attend, since she is filming All the King's Men with Jude Law in New Orleans. Nominees and/or winners Jamie Foxx (performing at Sunday's Grammys), Jim Carrey, Alexander Payne, Natalie Portman and Charlize Theron were also absent.

For the first time the ceremony was shown in more than 100 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East on BBC Prime. It was broadcast, commercial free, in the U.S. on BBC America several times on Saturday, with the first broadcast at 12:10 p.m. PT. E! presented a one hour Red Carpet Special, hosted by Ruby Wax and Todd Newton.

Highlights: Best - Picture: (Film) The Aviator, (British Film of the Year) My Summer of Love, (Orange Film of the Year - voted by the public) Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban; Director: Mike Leigh, Vera Drake; Actor: Jamie Foxx, Ray; Actress: Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake. Nominees and winners / Official website

INDEPENDENT SPRIT AWARDS - paper ballots due (postmarked)

13:

19th AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS (ASC) OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS GALA, Grand Ballroom At Hollywood & Highland, Hollywood. Leonard Maltin was presented with the ASC's Award of Distinction.* The Board of Governors Award was presented to 12-time Academy Awards Producer Gilbert Cates. Fred Koenekamp, ASC was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Honors were also paid to Richard Moore, ASC and Italian cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli, AIC. Celebrity presenters included Alan Alda, Debbie Allen, Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda, Poppy Montgomery and Kathryn Morris.

The highlight of the evening included the presentation of the ASC Outstanding Achievement Award in Feature Film. This year's nominees were Dion Beebe, ASC, ACS and Paul Cameron for Collateral, Caleb Deschanel, ASC for The Passion Of The Christ, Bruno Delbonnel, AFC for A Very Long Engagement (winner), Pawel Edelman, PSC for Ray, and Robert Richardson, ASC for The Aviator.

Nominations and winners / Official website

* This is only the third time that the ASC has honored a journalist or critic. ASC presented their Board of Governors Award to former Los Angeles Times critic Charles Champlin in 1991. Past recipients of the ASC Award of Distinction include Roger Ebert in 2003, and historian Kevin Brownlow in 2004.

47th ANNUAL GRAMMY® AWARDS PRE-TELECAST, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles. 1:30 p.m. PT. Co-hosted by Ananda Lewis and Steve Vai. The Grammy® Pre-Telecast - during which awards for most of the Grammy®'s 107 categories were presented (winners) - took place prior to the big show. Early awards presenters were Jars Of Clay, Richard Kaufman, Keb' Mo', Cyndi Lauper, JD Natasha, Jamie O'Neal, Jill Scott, and Jon Secada. Grammy® -nominated artists Black Eagle and Jamie Cullum performed. Patrice Rushen, musical director for the telecast, also performed throughout the pre-telecast ceremonies with her 12-piece band.

The focus returns to the Los Angeles Convention Center for the Grammy® Celebration following the Grammy® telecast.

47th ANNUAL GRAMMY® AWARDS, Staples Center, Los Angeles. 5:00 p.m. PT. Hosted by Queen Latifah. More of a concert than an awards show this year, with the 24 live performances outnumbering the actual number of awards presented during the telecast - 11. For the first time in Grammy® history, five nominated artists - The Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani (performing with Eve), Los Lonely Boys, Maroon5 and Franz Ferdinand - opened the show by appearing together in one performance across four stages.

Additional performers included Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Green Day, John Mayer, and U2, along with these special segments: Grammy and Oscar nominee Jamie Foxx performed with Alicia Keys. Foxx is nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration. The "Godfather of Soul" James Brown made an appearance with multi-nominee Usher.. Kanye West performed with John Legend, Mavis Staples, and the Blind Boys of Alabama; a tribute to Ray Charles by Bonnie Raitt and Ray Charles; rocker Melissa Etheridge brought down the house in a tribute to '60s icon Janis Joplin with a bare footed Joss Stone; a salute to Southern rock with Tim McGraw, Gretchen Wilson, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Dickey Betts, Elvin Bishop, and Keith Urban.

The telecast also featured a special fund-raising musical performance of John Lennon and Paul McCartney's "Across The Universe" on behalf of continued tsunami relief efforts. Viewers can go to the iTunes Music Store to access a download of the live performance of "Across The Universe" for $.99, and to CBS.com, which offers exclusive video of the segment. All proceeds from downloads of the track will go to tsunami relief efforts benefiting survivors and their families. Special fund-raising musical segment participants, including Bono, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Slash, Velvet Revolver, Tim McGraw, Al Green and Brian Wilson, donated their time and talents to the performance.

Grammy Awards presenters included Lance Armstrong, Kevin Bacon, Tyra Banks, T. Bone Burnett, Sheryl Crow, Penelope Cruz, Ellen DeGeneres, Anthony Hamilton, Hoobastank, Norah Jones, Alison Krauss, Kris Kristofferson, Anthony LaPaglia, Amy Lee of Evanescence, Ludacris, Mario, Ricky Martin, Matthew McConaughey, Mark McGrath, Christina Milian, Nelly, Lisa Marie Presley, Bonnie Raitt, Adam Sandler, Gary Sinise, Quentin Tarantino, Rob Thomas, Billy Bob Thorton, John Travolta, and Steven Tyler.

The show was broadcast at 8:00 p.m. PT/ET on the CBS Television Network for the 32nd consecutive year. E! Entertainment Television once again placed star schmoozer Star Jones Reynolds and D-List comic with F-List jokes Kathy Griffin on the Red Carpet for a 3 hour pre-show starting at 5:00 p.m. PT. (If Star Jones asked the Golden Globe nominees what music they listened to in the limo on the way to the show, does this mean she will ask Grammy nominees what film they watched this weekend?) Fortunately, E! also had Dave Adelson on the red carpet, who actually knows what he's talking about in the music industry. Joan and Melissa Rivers did their damage for the T.V. Guide Channel, scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. PT (trivia: at 6:15 p.m., even though the Joan and Melissa program started at 6, our local TV Guide Channel listings indicated the scheduled program was "Look-a-Like," about a woman who wants to look like Mary J. Blige.)

An estimated 18.8 million people watched the Grammy awards, a 28 percent decrease in viewers from the 2004 Grammys. The Grammy ratings sunk to their lowest level since 1995, according to Nielsen Media Research. ABC gleefully announced this news, but they may face their own viewership disappointment when the Oscars air February 27.

Nominees / Official Website. Also, of interest: Film and TV nominees / Winners - updated throughout the evening / Grammy Awards Arrivals and Show Photo Gallery / Minute-by-minute Blog on USA Today

14:

MOVIE PREMIERE, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, 6:30 p.m. Be Cool starring John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Vince Vaughn, Cedric the Entertainer, Andre 3000, Steven Tyler, Christina Milian, Harvey Keitel, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Danny DeVito. Written by Elmore Leonard (novel) and Peter Steinfeld (screenplay). Directed by F. Gary Gray.

15:

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS - online ballots due at 11p.m. PST

WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA (WGA) - deadline for final screen ballots

OSCAR FASHION PREVIEW, Beverly Hills. The latest fashions from the biggest names in couture hit the runway at the 2005 Academy Awards® Fashion Preview. Oscar fashion coordinator Patty Fox and 20 models previewed the glamour and sophistication fans can expect to see in the fashions worn by the nominees, presenters and guests attending this year's Oscar ceremony. Designers included in the preview were Bill Blass, Kevan Hall, Halston, Douglas Hannant, Morgane Le Fay, Monique Lhuillier, Luca Luca, Isaac Mizrahi and Valentino. Diamonds courtesy of Chopard, Martin Katz and Harry Winston provided the finishing touches to the glamour of the preview.

1st WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA (WGA) DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY AWARDS, Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Hollywood. The Writers Guild of America, West and East, celebrated their first-ever WGA Documentary Screenplay Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Documentary Writing for the Screen. Nominees for the inaugural awards included the writers of Bright Leaves, Control Room, Home of the Brave, The Hunting of the President, In the Realms of the Unreal and Super Size Me. The winning documentary was Super Size Me, which is also nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary, Features. The award was presented to writer Morgan Spurlock by film producer Brian Grazer. WGA Official website

16:

GRAUMAN'S CHINESE THEATER, Induction Ceremony, Hollywood. 12:00 p.m. Sherry Lansing was the first female executive honored at Grauman's Chinese Theater when she placed her hands and footprints in the forecourt in ceremony #188 on February 16, 2005. Honorary Hollywood Mayor Johnny Grant emceed. Featured speakers included Jack Valenti, Diane Keaton and Morgan Freeman. Lansing's husband, director William Friedkin, was by his wife's side. Story / Photo gallery from the event.

MOVIE PREMIERE, Grauman's Chinese Theater, Hollywood. Celebrity arrivals 6:00 p.m. Constantine starring Keanu Reeves, Rachael Weisz, Shia LaBeouf, Dijimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale, Tilda Swinton and Jesse Ramirez. Directed by Francis Lawrence. Constantine released in U.S. theaters Friday, February 18. Keanu Reeves, Shia Labeouf, Djimon Hounsou, Gavin Rossdale and director Francis Lawrence attended the premiere. Celebrity guests expected included Gwen Stefani, Paula Abdul, Brittany Murphy, Patricia Arquette, Thomas Jane, Peter Berg, Estella Warren, Elisabeth Shue, Bryce Dallas Howard, Michelle Trachtenberg and more.

3rd ANNUAL VISUAL EFFECTS SOCIETY (VES) AWARDS, Hollywood Palladium, Hollywood. VES Awards recognize outstanding visual effects in 19 categories of film, television, commercials, music videos and games. Awards are also presented in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Actor or Actress in a Visual Effects Film (in 2005, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jude Law and Alfred Molina were nominated in this category). Robert Zemeckis was honored with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to the visual effects industry and to filmmaking as a whole. The honor was presented to him by Academy Award® winning visual effects artist Ken Ralston and long-time friend, collaborator and Academy Award® winning actor Tom Hanks. Robert Abel was honored posthumously with the Georges Melies Award for his contributions to the visual effects industry and Don Shay received the Board of Directors Award for illuminating the field of visual effects through his role as publisher of Cinefex. The ceremony was presided over by VES Exec Director Eric Roth.

VES Awards Highlights - Winners (Motion Pictures): Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban: Outstanding Visual Effects In A Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture, Outstanding Performance By An Animated Character In A Live Action Motion Picture (Hippogriff Character); The Aviator: Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects In A Motion Picture, Outstanding Special Effects In Service To Visual Effects In A Motion Picture, Outstanding Models And Minatures In A Motion Picture (XF11 Crash); Spider-Man 2: Outstanding Performance By An Actor Or Actress In A Visual Effects Film (Alfred Molina), Outstanding Created Environment In A Live Action Motion Picture (NYC Street, Night), Outstanding Compositing In A Motion Picture (Train Sequence); The Day After Tomorrow, Best Single Visual Effect Of The Year (Tidal Wave); The Incredibles: Outstanding Performance By An Animated Character In An Animated Motion Picture (Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible). All VES Nominees & Winners / VES website

17:

HARVARD HASTY PUDDING AWARDS, Cambridge, MA. Tim Robbins honored as Man of the Year. See February 02 above for details.

18:

LOS ANGELES FILM FESTIVAL - final deadline for submitting Shorts and Music Videos. (Festival runs 6/16-26/05). Official website

MUSIC FOR RELIEF BENEFIT CONCERT, Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim. No Doubt, Linkin Park with Jay-Z, Blink 182, Ozzy Osbourne with Camp Freddy, Jurassic 5, Story Of The Year, The Crystal Method, and more. All proceeds went to the rebuilding effort in South Asia and surrounding countries. Tickets were $85 to $125. Ticketmaster joined Music For Relief efforts by donating all profits from event service charges to the charity. Music For Relief official website

19:

2005 CINEMA AUDIO SOCIETY (CAS) AWARDS BANQUET, Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles. The C.A.S. Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing are presented annually to Re-Recording and Production Mixers in the categories of Television Non-Fiction, Variety or Music Series or Special; Television Series; Television Movies or Mini-Series; and Motion Pictures. Production Sound Mixer Willie D. Burton, C.A.S. received this year's Career Achievement Award.

CAS Awards Highlights - Winners (Motion Pictures): Petur Hliddal, Production Mixer, and Tom Fleischman, C.A.S., Re-recording Mixer, for The Aviator. All CAS Nominees & Winners / CAS Official Website

7th ANNUAL COSTUME DESIGNERS GUILD (CDG) AWARDS, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills. Hosted by Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen. Presenters included Marcia Cross, Carrie Fisher, Rachel Griffiths, Leonard Nimoy and Camryn Manheim.

The CDG presents awards for costume design excellence in five categories for films, television and commercials. The $15,000 work-of-art silver statuettes given to recipients of the Guild Awards are presented by Bulgari and were conceived to look like the partial body portion of a voluptuous woman draped in silver fabric by Costume Designers Guild member David LeVey.

Ismail Merchant and James Ivory were honored with the Distinguished Producer and Director Awards. Anthea Sylbert received the Lacoste Career Achievement Award for Film. This year's President's Award was presented to actor and costume collector Debbie Reynolds for her long time support of costume designers. She personally owns over 4,000 costumes from the silent screen period to the 1970's and in 2002 opened the "Hollywood Motion Picture Collection" featuring over 3,000 costumes including Judy Garland's ruby slippers and Marilyn Monroe's windswept dress. The President's Award is a discretionary award honoring a member of the costume design community who has significantly impacted the industry.

CDG Awards Highlights - Winners (Motion Pictures): Excellence for Costume Design for Film - Contemporary: Milena Canonero for The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. Excellence for Costume Design for Film - Period/Fantasy: Colleen Atwood for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. All CDG Nominees & Winners / CDG Official Website

57th ANNUAL WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA (WGA) AWARDS, in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Palladium and in New York at the Pierre Hotel. Seinfeld's John O'Hurley hosted the West Coast event. Presenters included Annette Bening, Rachel Bilson, Julie Delpy, David Duchovny, Craig Furguson, Dennis Haysbert, Anne Heche, George Lopez, Meg Ryan, Jeffrey Tambor, Kerry Washington, BeBe Winans, and WGA nominee Zach Braff (for Garden State). WGA Nominee (for The Wool Cap) William H. Macy presented screenwriter-playwright David Mamet with the WGA's Screen Laurel Award. Golden Girls stars Bea Arthur and Betty White presented Golden Girls writer/producer Susan Harris with the Paddy Chayefsky Television Laurel Award. Television and screenwriter Don Payne received the 2004 Paul Selvin Award for his acclaimed "Fraudcast News" episode of The Simpsons.

Charles Grodin hosted the event in New York. Presenters included Art Buchwald, Ritchie Coster, Alfonso Cuarón, Bob Edwards, Terry George, Kate Mulgrew, Cynthia Nixon, Tom Pelphrey, Andy Rooney, Julie Rottenberg, Ben Shenkman, Gina Tognoni, Ellen Violett and Elisa Zuritsky. The Writers Guild of America, East Special Awards were presented to John Sayles (Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Lifetime Achievement in Writing), John Auerbach (Richard B. Jablow Award for Distinguished Service to the WGAE) and Claire Labine (Evelyn F. Burkey Award for "bringing honor and dignity to writers everywhere").

WGA Awards Highlights - Winners (Motion Pictures): Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (Original Screenplay): Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman, Story by Charlie Kaufman & Michel Gondry & Pierre Bismuth. Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published (Adapted Screenplay): Sideways, Screenplay by Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor, based on the novel by Rex Pickett. All WGA Nominees & Winners / Official websites: WGA West / WGA East

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15th ANNUAL AMERICAN CINEMA EDITORS (ACE) EDDIE AWARDS, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills. Hosted by Jay Mohr. Special honorees included James L. Brooks, who was presented with the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year Award. Dave Blewitt, A.C.E. and Jim Clark received Career Achievement awards.

ACE Awards Highlights - Winners (Motion Pictures): Best Edited Feature Film - Dramatic: Thelma Schoonmaker for The Aviator. Best Edited Feature Film - Comedy or Musical: Paul Hirsch for Ray. All ACE Eddie Nominees & Winners / Official website

15th ANNUAL BEVERLY HILLS/HOLLYWOOD NAACP THEATRE AWARDS, Vision Theatre, Los Angeles (thru 2/21/05). Ted Lange (Love Boat) was the event's director. The legendary Della Reese received the Spirit Award, Lawrence Fishburne was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award and the founding members of the World famous Negro Ensemble Company were presented the Trailblazer Award. Nominees and Official Website

2005 LAURENCE OLIVIER AWARDS, London Hilton On Park Lane. Hosted by Richard Wilson. Kim Cattrall, Joshua Jackson and Patrick Stewart were among the award presenters. Nominees & Winners. Official website

17th ANNUAL USC SCRIPTER AWARD CEREMONY - Henry Winkler was master of ceremonies for the 17th annual USC Scripter® Award ceremony. Hal Kanter returned for the fifth time as grand emcee. The writers of Million Dollar Baby, Sideways, The Door in the Floor, The Bourne Supremacy, and Friday Night Lights were nominated for the award, the only honor that recognizes both author and screenwriter for a film adaptation. On January 14, 2005, it was announced that author F.X. Toole and screenwriter Paul Haggis would be honored with the Scripter Award for their work on Million Dollar Baby. Official website

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ACADEMY AWARDS - final ballots due 5:00 p.m. PST

42nd ANNUAL ICG PUBLICISTS AWARDS, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills. Julie Andrews was honored with the Publicists Lifetime Achievement Award for her unparalleled successes in theater, movies and television, as well as her appreciation of the importance of promoting the projects in which she appears. Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairmen Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothma received the Motion Picture Showmanship Award. The executive producers and co-creators of CBS-TV's CSI franchise, Carol Mendelsohn (CSI), Ann Donahue (CSI Miami) and Anthony E. Zuiker (CSI NY), received the Television Showmanship Award.

The ICG/PGA also presents the Maxwell Weinberg Publicists Showmanship Awards for best movie marketing campaign at its annual luncheon. Finalists for this year's Maxwell Weinberg Feature Film kudos were the publicists who worked on Fox's The Day After Tomorrow, Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles, Paramount's Mean Girls, Warner Bros.' The Polar Express, Universal's Ray and Sony's Spider-Man 2. Nominees for the award in the Maxwell Weinberg TV category were Fox's Arrested Development, CBS' Cold Case, ABC's Desperate Housewives, King World/Harpo/Paramount TV's Dr. Phil and Warner/FX's Nip/Tuck.

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MOTION PICTURE SOUND EDITORS (MPSE) AWARDS - final ballots due 5:00 p.m. PST

FIRST LIGHT FILM AWARDS, Odeon West End, Leicester Square, London. The First Light Film Awards celebrate the best short films made by children and young people between the ages of 5 and 18 from across the UK. The films were created through the UK Film Council's First Light initiative, using National Lottery grants worth an average of $9000 per project. The ceremony will be hosted by Jake Humphrey, with awards presented in nine categories.

A panel of celebrity judges, including Jude Law, Rupert Grint, Stephen Fry, Nick Hornby, Romola Garai, Pawel Pawlikowski, Natalie Press and Pam Ferris (Aunt Marge in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), selected the winners. The Awards were presented by top UK talent including Sir Ian McKellen, Asher D, Amma Asante, Joe Prospero; Colin Salmon, Nicolas Roeg and Hugh Hudson. Nominees and official website

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13th ANNUAL MOVIE GUIDE AWARDS, Beverly Hilton Hotel, Hollywood. This Faith and Values Awards Dinner and Gala rewards the best family-friendly movies and TV shows of the previous year. They also name the best films for mature audiences and award the Epiphany Prize for inspiring Movies & TV. Those noms were recently announced, with The Passion Of The Christ leading the way. Additional nominees, ticket info and official website.

MULTICULTURAL MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OSCAR WEEK LUNCHEON, Peninsula Hotel.

MANILOW: MUSIC AND PASSION, Hilton Theater, Las Vegas. Renowned singer/songwriter Barry Manilow will debut his new show, "Manilow: Music and Passion," on February 24 at the Las Vegas Hilton. Manilow just completed his final road tour "One Night Live! One Last Time!," selling out venues in 22 cities in which he performed for 250,000 fans. The entertainer, who has sold 65 million albums, earned 28 platinum records, and performed in over 3,000 concerts around the world, now has one home, at the Las Vegas Hilton Theater. Manilow will wow crowds at the Hilton with 5 shows a week throughout 2005 and into 2006. Tickets can be purchased at the Las Vegas Hilton box office (800-222-5361) or online: "Manilow: Music and Passion." Barry Manilow Official Website

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GLITTER AWARDS, Knitting Theater, Hollywood. The International Gay Film Awards. Red Carpet opened at 6:00 p.m., awards were at 7:00 p.m., post-show celebration at M&M Soul Food at Hollywood & Highland. For more information go to the official Glitter Awards website at www.hollywoodindependents.com.

3rd ANNUAL INDIE PRODUCER AWARDS GALA, WGA Theatre, Beverly Hills. 7:30pm. Hosted by Dave Foley. Screenwriter Barry Blaustein was the keynote speaker. Winners of the IP Short Film Competition and IP Screenwriting Contest were announced. Actor Andy Garcia was honored with the Josephine Award for Outstanding Contribution to Film. A limited amount of tickets were available for $35.00. Official website.

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2005 CÉSAR AWARDS, Theatre Du Chatelet, Paris. Hosted by Isabelle Adjani, president of the French Academy for Cinema Arts and Techniques. The César Awards, the Gallic equivalent of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, celebrated their 30th anniversary this year.

Will Smith was awarded an honorary Cesar, which he dedicated to his hero, Nelson Mandela, whom he said he had just visited in South Africa. "I had two invitations this weekend, one for the Oscars and one for the Cesars," quipped the Hollywood star, kissing the statue he received from Italian actress Monica Bellucci. Veteran French actor-singer Jacques Dutronc was also awarded an honorary Cesar and received a standing ovation (full story).

César Awards Highlights: Best - Picture: (Film/Meilleur film) L'Esquive (The Dodging), (Best Foreign Film/Meilleur film étranger) Lost in Translation; Director/Meilleur réalisateur: Abdellatif Kechiche, L'Esquive; Actor/Meilleur acteur: Mathieu Amalric, Rois et Reine (Kings and Queen); Actress/Meilleure actrice:Yolande Moreau, Quand la Mer Monte (When the Tide Comes In). All César Awards Nominations & Winners / Official website

20th INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS, Santa Monica. Hosted by Samuel L. Jackson with co-chairs Salma Hayek and Quentin Tarantino, this event is a pivotal destination on the awards show circuit. The Spirit Awards is a celebration honoring films made by filmmakers who embody independence and who dare to challenge the status quo. For the movie lover, the Spirit Awards will introduce you to great films you'll come to love. These are the low budget future classics you might not have heard of simply because millions are not poured into their advertising campaigns.

Indy Spirit Award presenters included Maria Bello, Gael Garcia Bernal, Selma Blair, Cate Blanchett, Kate Bosworth, Benjamin Bratt, Don Cheadle, Patricia Clarkson, David Duchovny, Marc Forster, Jodie Foster, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Regina King, Greg Kinnear, Laura Linney, Olivier Martinez, Bridget Moynahan, Dennis Quaid, Aidan Quinn, Christine Ricci, Liev Schrieber, Marisa Tomei, John Waters, Robin Williams, Elijah Wood and Robin Wright Penn.

Like other awards shows, the Spirit Awards show clips from the films nominated for Best Feature. But they don't stop there. For the second year, each clip was followed with a musical tribute, of sorts, providing fun, live entertainment. This year, Megan Mullally and "the Meaganettes" honored Best Feature nominee Maria Full of Grace with the snappy number "I'd Like To Teach the World to Sing (Coke is ....)." Jesse Bradford and Michelle Trachtenberg crooned a lil' ditty for Primer, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean and Annette O'Toole sexed up "Windy" for Kinsey, Tom Arnold uncorked "Zippity Doo Dah" in a toast to Sideways and David Alan Grier grooved Baadasssss! into "There's No Business Like Show Business."

Other stars at the event included nominees and guests Shohreh Aghdashloo, Kevin Bacon, Jeff Bridges, Bill Condon, Julie Delpy, Kimberly Elise, Jon Gries, Jon Heder, Bai Ling, Tina Majorino, Emily Mortimer, Sandra Oh, Giovanni Ribisi, Walter Salles, Peter Sarsgaard, Kyra Sedgwick, Molly Sims, Jennifer Tilly, Mario and Melvin Van Peebles and many more. Check out the Indy Spirit Awards Photo Gallery here.

For the first time, two tickets to the 20th IFP Independent Spirit Awards were auctioned on eBay, along with two Official Ceremony Gift Bags, all to benefit Project: Involve. The Official Ceremony Gift Bag, created by On3 Productions, is loaded with an assortment of exclusive items. For more information about Project:Involve, please visit www.ifp.org and click on the Project:Involve button on the right sidebar.

Catch the 2 hour Indy Spirit Awards show live on the IFC channel Saturday at 2:00 p.m. PT/5:00 p.m. ET, with repeats at (all PT:) midnight, Sunday 9:00 a.m. & 3:00 p.m., and Monday at 7:15 a.m. Also on IFC, the Spirit Awards 20th Anniversary 30 minute special Saturday at 11:00 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 a.m.

Bravo features the Red Carpet pre-show, hosted by Queer Eye's Carson Kressley, debuting at 9/8CT, followed by the Indy Spirit Awards at 10/9 CT on Bravo, with repeats on Sunday starting at 12:00 p.m. PT (see Spirit Week lineup).

Independent Spirit Awards Highlights - Winners: Best - Feature: Sideways; Director: Alexander Payne, Sideways; Actor: Paul Giamatti, Sideways; Actress: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace. Sideways also won awards for Best Supporting Male (Thomas Haden Church), Best Supporting Female (Virginia Madsen) and Best Screenplay (Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor). The Motorcycle Diaries took two awards, Best Debut Performance (Rodrigo de la Serna) and Best Cinematography (Eric Gautier). Director Zach Braff won the award for Best First Feature (Garden State) and director Alejandro Amenábar won Best Foreign Film honors (The Sea Inside). The John Cassavetes Award, for the Best Feature made for under $500,000, went to Mean Creek.

Gina Kwon, producer of Me and You and Everyone We Know and The Motel, received the eighth annual Bravo/American Express Producers Award, an unrestricted grant of $20,000, which honors producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality independent films. Jem Cohen, director of Chain, won the eleventh annual Turning Leaf Someone To Watch Award, a $20,000 grant created to honor a director of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, directors of Born Into Brothels, won the eighth annual DIRECTV/IFC Truer Than Fiction Award, also a $20,000 unrestricted grant, presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features.

A Special Distinction Award was given to the ensemble cast of Mean Creek: Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Trevor Morgan, Josh Peck, and Carly Schroeder. The nominating committee was struck by these young actors who turned in performances so uniformly unselfish and so intricately in tune with each other that it became impossible to single any one of them out from their extraordinary achievement together. All Indy Spirit Nominations & Winners / IFP Official Website

For outstanding contributions to the art of sound, the MPSE will present the Career Achievement Award to sound designer Gary Rydstrom. The award will be presented by Richard Hymns. The Inaugural Filmmaker's Award will be presented by Walter Murch to director/producer George Lucas.

MPSE Awards Highlights - Winners (Motion Pictures): Sound Effects/Foley Editing In a Feature Film - The Aviator; Sound Editing In a Foreign Film - House Of Flying Daggers; Dialogue/ADR Editing In a Feature Film - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind; Music Editing In a Feature Film - The Passion Of The Christ; Music Editing In a Musical Film - Ray; Sound Editing In An Animated Film - The Incredibles. All MPSE Nominees & Winners / MPSE Official Website

25th ANNUAL RAZZIE AWARDS GALA, The Ivar Theatre, Hollywood. The Razzie Awards opened with the production number "Lame" (sung to the tune of 1980's Oscar® winning Best Song "Fame") and featured one of Hollywood's top stars at it's annual ceremony. Winner Halle Berry showed up to accept her Razzie, carrying the Oscar she won in 2002 for Monster's Ball in one hand while hoisting the cheapjack tchotchke featuring a golf ball sized, handcrafted Razzberry atop a mangled Super 8 film reel that's spray-painted gold, valued at $4.97, in the other.

"They can't take this away from me, it's got my name on it!" Berry quipped. A raucous crowd cheered her on as she gave a stirring recreation of her Academy Award acceptance speech, including tears. She thanked everyone involved in Catwoman, a film she said took her from the top of her profession to the bottom. "I want to thank Warner Brothers for casting me in this piece of s---," she said as she dragged her agent on stage and warned him "next time read the script first." (full story)

Razzie Awards Highlights - "Winners": Worst - Picture: Catwoman; Director: Pitof, Catwoman; Actor: George W. Bush, Fahrenheit 9/11; Actress: Halle Berry, Catwoman. Fahrenheit 9/11 also produced several other Razzie winners: Donald Rumsfeld (Worst Supporting Actor), Britney Spears (Worst Supporting Actress), and Worst Screen Couple: George W. Bush & EITHER Condoleeza Rice OR His Pet Goat. Razzies founder John Wilson said the prizes were not meant to mock Michael Moore's film, only the statements Bush and the others make while "putting their highly paid, highly skilled feet in their mouths repeatedly and sucking on them." All Razzie Nominees & "Winners" / Razzie Official Website

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77th ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS, Kodak Theatre, Hollywood. Hosted by Chris "can he boost our sinking ratings?" Rock (announced 10/14/04) (answer: no he can't)*. Presenters included previous Academy Award® winners Halle Berry, Dustin Hoffman, Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sean Penn, Prince, Julia Roberts, Tim Robbins, Martin Scorsese, Barbra Streisand, Charlize Theron, Robin Williams, and Renée Zellweger; Annette Bening, Drew Barrymore, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Pierce Brosnan, Sean Combs, Penelope Cruz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kirsten Dunst, Jake Gyllenhaal, Salma Hayek, Samuel L. Jackson, Laura Linney, Mike Myers, Natalie Portman, Emmy Rossum, Adam Sandler, John Travolta, Kate Winslet and Ziyi Zhang (Catherine Zeta-Jones supposed absence was just a setup for Sandler and Rock to present together). Scarlett Johansson hosted the Scientific and Technical Awards on February 12th and appeared on the Oscar telecast to introduce the Sci-Tech Awards highlights segment. Director Sidney Lumet was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Roger Mayer, president of Turner Entertainment Co., received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Environmentally minded nominees Leonardo DiCaprio, Natalie Portman, Morgan Freeman, and presenters Orlando Bloom, Penelope Cruz, Salma Hayek, Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Tim Robbins, Charlize Theron and Robin Williams chose to "Go Green" for the drive to the Kodak Theater as part of Global Green's 3rd annual "Red Carpet - Green Stars" campaign.

Original songs nominated for Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures were performed during the telecast. Beyoncé and Josh Groban performed "Believe" from The Polar Express. Counting Crows performed their own "Accidentally In Love" from Shrek 2. Beyoncé also performed "Look To Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin)" from Les Choristes (The Choir) accompanied by the American Boyschoir and "Learn to Be Lonely" from The Phantom of the Opera. Carlos Santana and Antonio Banderas performed "Al Otro Lado Del Rio" (winner) from The Motorcycle Diaries. In a surprise appearance, acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma accompanied the "In Memoriam" tribute.

Rogert Ebert and George Penacchio kick started ABC's coverage with the 90 minute "An Evening at the Academy Awards." Billy Bush and Shaun Robinson (Access Hollywood), Jann Carl (Entertainment Tonight) and Chris Connelly co-hosted the Academy's 30 minute arrivals show "Oscar Countdown 2005," which segued directly into the 77th Academy Awards. ABC returned to Ebert & Co. (after the Barbara Walters special) for an Oscar wrap up, which brought us too few stars and too many commercials. For those who love the nonsense, we had E! Entertainment Television's Red Carpet Arrivals with Star Jones (come on, Star, the Glamazon's were cheerleaders on the WB's Popular!) with special correspondent Kathy Griffin and the TV Guide Channel's Joan and Melissa Rivers competing to dish on who was dressed to kill ... or dressed to shill. If you missed either show, don't worry - they will be replayed endlessly throughout the week, as will the Fashion Police / Wrap Up specials. E's tireless day long Oscar coverage actually started at 9 a.m. PT, with correspondents Todd Newton (yay!), Giuliana DiPandi (oh), Patrick Stinson, and a bunch of supposed experts and other commentators.

Nominees for the Academy Award® Best Picture of 2004 - The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, Ray and Sideways - were chosen from a list of 267 eligible feature-length films. Eleven films were eligible to compete for the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar and three were nominated: The Incredibles, Shark Tale and Shrek 2.

Academy Awards Highlights: Best - Picture: Million Dollar Baby; Director: Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby; Actor: Jamie Foxx, Ray; Actress: Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby; Supporting Actor: Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby; Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, The Aviator. All Oscar Nominees & Winners / 2005 Oscars Acceptance Speeches / Backstage Blog / Backstage Comments / Official websites: Oscar.org - Oscar.com / ABC's Oscar Website / Producer Gil Cates Oscar Blog. Past Oscar Nominees, Winners & Acceptance Speeches: 76th Academy Awards (2004), 75th Academy Awards (2003), 74th Academy Awards (2002).

Coming soon: watch for our round-up of Oscar Week Pre-Parties, Beauty Suites, and, of course, the Gift Bags!! Now - Red Carpet Arrivals Photos / Backstage Pictures.

So Gil Cates' attempts to bring us a hipper, edgier, faster Oscar show backfired. Chris Rock wasn't bad, but he wasn't good either. The presentation changes discussed below have by now been largely regarded a huge error - even Donald Trump said they were a terrible decision. Beyonce's overexposure, singing three of the nominated songs, wasn't necessary. The acceptance speeches largely produced the same bland laundry lists, especially disappointing after the lively, heartfelt speeches at the SAG Awards earlier this month (Oscar winners are allowed to post additional thanks on the Oscar website, so why use their 45 seconds to thank the studios?). Overall, the show delivered few, if any, memorable moments. The best ad lib came from presenter Jeremy Irons, stationed in the aisle to present the Best Live Action Short Academy Award. A noise that sounded like gunfire came out of the rafters. Iron's simple "I hope they missed" summed up this show. Will AMPAS consider a new producer for the 2006 Academy Awards, airing March 5th?

Previous editorial: Academy Awards Producer Gil Cates recently announced changes to the presentation of the Oscars, which he justifies as a means of getting more nominees seen by the viewing audience, but basically sound like the return to segregation. He intends to have nominees divided into 3 groups, with one group ("Group C") receiving their awards the traditional way (the "favorite" categories of Best Actor, Actress, Director, Picture, etc). However, nominees in so-called "Group A" categories will all appear onstage together as their names are read, with the winner stepping forward after the envelope is opened. "Group B" nominees will stay in their seats, all grouped together in one section of the audience, with the presenter stationed nearby to open the envelope and presumably give them their Oscar statuette. Does this mean they will give their acceptance speech into a microphone held by the presenter? Needless to say, this idea has met with resistance.

From the way Cates is handling this situation, it seems he does not have the same level of respect for motion picture technical professionals, which include Sound Re-Recording Mixers, Sound Editors, Film Editors, and Visual Effects Specialists, who painstakingly work for months on post-production. We suggest he watch "The End of All Things" on Disc 4 of the extended edition Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, which provides a realistic portrayal of the pressure these individuals are under to produce the Best Picture possible.

A suggestion for Mr. Cates, if he wants all the nominees seen while saving time during the Oscar broadcast, would be to have all nominees sit in the lower rows of the Kodak Theater, allowing the winners, even those from the "tech" categories - or "craft awards" as he referred to them in this article "Oscar Producer Answers Concerns" (USA Today 2/16/05) - who are often seated back in the parterre section, to promptly go to the stage to accept their award. During commercial breaks, instead of shuffling "Group A" nominees up to the stage for the presentation of awards, simply position them in one area in the audience, and have the camera pan over each individual as the presenter(s) announce the nominees in the category. There! Though the winner(s) won't be near their loved ones to celebrate the moment (those kisses!), Mr. Cates' agenda will be accomplished - all the nominees get seen by the viewing audience!! And they leave the Oscars, winners or not, with their dignity intact.

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19th ANNUAL SOUL TRAIN MUSIC AWARDS, Paramount Studios, Hollywood. Co-hosted by Brian McKnight, Fantasia Barrino, Nick Cannon and Nicole Richie, with performances by Barrino, Cannon, and McKnight, Anthony Hamilton, Ciara, Kierra "Kiki" Sheard and Karen Clark Sheard. Presenters included Paula Abdul, B5, Bow Wow, Boyz II Men, Gary Dourdan, Vivica A. Fox, Steve Harris, Christina Milian, Elise Neal, New Edition, the O'Jays, Kimora Lee Simmons, Tweet and Aisha Tyler.

The awards, named after the long-running television show, honor recording artists in R&B, hip-hop, rap and gospel music. The awards are chosen by a group of radio station professionals, talent managers and performers. Usher picked up three awards: Best Male R&B-Soul Single for "Confessions Part II," Best R&B-Doul Album by a Male Artist for "Confessions," and an award for Best R&B-Soul or Rap Music Video for his work with rappers Ludacris & Lil Jon in the song "Yeah!" An absent Alicia Keys received Best Female R&B-Soul Single for "If I Ain't Got You" and was honored for Best Female R&B-Soul Album for "The Diary of Alicia Keys." Other artists picking up awards were Destiny's Child for "Destiny Fulfilled" and newcomer Ciara, who won for Best R&B-Soul or Rap New Artist for her album "Goodies." Rapper Jay-Z received one award for Best R&B-Soul or Rap Music Video for "99 Problems."

The Quincy Jones Award for Outstanding Career Achievements in the Field of Entertainment was presented to Ice Cube. The Sammy Davis, Jr. Awards for Entertainers of the Year went to Usher and Ciara. The show's broadcast debut is scheduled for 3/12/05 via Tribune Entertainment Company Distribution (check local listings for channel and times). STMA Nominees & Winners / STMA Official website / Yahoo! Photo Gallery and Full Story

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