The Oscars, the Emmy's, the Golden Globes-or any awards show for that matter-are easy to get confused. It's awards show season, and most quickly approaching is the Oscars.
Before getting into what exactly the Oscars are, here is a quick debrief on the difference in award shows: The Grammy Awards award for music, the Golden Globes award in Motion Picture and Television, the Emmys award for television, the Tony awards in Broadway, and the Oscars, formally known as the Academy Awards, award in the film industry.
The Golden Globes and the Oscars appear to be almost the same, but the Golden Globes are voted on and given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, where the Oscars are voted on by those who actually make the movies. For example: the best director award will be voted on by other directors.
The Oscars as we see them today and the Oscars as they were in the beginning are incredibly different. The first Academy Awards presentations were held on May 16, 1929. They took place during a private brunch at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles, and only about 270 people were present.
Possibly the most gaping change from the first Academy Awards to the Academy Awards of present day is the ticket price. To attend the Oscars in 1929 cost a grand total of $5, quite different than the costly television production spectacle that they are today.
Nominations for Oscar Awards came out last Thursday. "Lincoln" took the lead above all other films, receiving 12 different nominations. Other top ranking films that received multiple nominations include "Life of Pi" with 11, "Les Miserables" with eight, and "Argo" with seven.
From an amateur's point of view, the nominations didn't seem to be anything too surprising. Leila MacCurrach, junior majoring in rehab and disabilities, disagrees.
"I couldn't believe Ben Afleck didn't get nominated for best director. Argo was amazing," said MacCurrach.
So what do the Academy Awards mean for viewers? A fun night watching the stars?A changed view on television and film? Possibly nothing?
"I like to watch the Oscars, but it doesn't really affect what I watch afterwards," said Emma Goddard, junior majoring in finance.
Denney Burkholder, junior majoring in software engineering, has a different take on it.
"I'll usually watch some of the movies that get nominations or awards. I like doing that because you wind up watching movies that are better than your average box office hit," said Burkholder.
For those interested in tuning in to the Academy Awards this year, they will be held on Sunday, Feb. 24.
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