hosted the 81st Academy Awards. Due to the declining viewership of the recent Academy Awards ceremonies, AMPAS had contracted an entirely new production team in an attempt to revive interest surrounding both the awards and festivities. In September 2008, the Academy selected producers
Bill Condon and
Laurence Mark to co-produce the telecast. Nearly three months later, actor
Hugh Jackman, who had previously emceed three consecutive
Tony Awards ceremonies between
2003 and
2005, was chosen as host of the 2009 gala. Jackman expressed his anticipation of the awards in the few days preceding, and had commented that he was thrilled with preparations for the ceremony. Notable changes were introduced in the production of the telecast. In an attempt to build suspense and curiosity leading up to the awards, Condon and Mark announced that they would not reveal any of the presenters or performers who would participate in the Oscarcast. Another unique feature of the ceremony was that the orchestra performed onstage instead of being relegated to a
pit. In a break from previous presentations, five previous Oscar-winning performers presented each of the acting categories as opposed to only one or two. In addition, the Academy announced that for the first time since Oscar began broadcasting on television, film studios would be able to televise advertisements promoting their upcoming films. Furthermore, a montage of upcoming 2009 films was shown over the ceremony's closing credits. Several other people participated in the production of the ceremony.
Chris Harrison hosted "Road to the Oscars", a weekly behind-the-scenes video blog on the Oscar ceremony website.
David Rockwell designed a new set and stage design for the ceremony. Film historian and author
Robert Osborne greeted guests entering the festivities at the
Hollywood and Highland Center. Film director
Judd Apatow filmed a comedy montage which featured
Seth Rogen and
James Franco reprising their roles from
Pineapple Express. Director
Baz Luhrmann produced a song and dance number saluting movie musicals.
Peter Gabriel, who was originally scheduled to perform his
nominated song "
Down to Earth" from
WALL-E during the live broadcast, declined to perform after learning that he would be allowed to sing only 65 seconds of the song during the ceremony's Best Original Song nominee performances. Gabriel still attended the ceremony but singer
John Legend, backed by the
Soweto Gospel Choir, performed the song in place of Gabriel.
Box office performance of nominated films Continuing a trend in recent years, the field of major nominees favored independent, low-budget films over blockbusters. However, one of the nominees for Best Picture had grossed over $100 million before the nominations were announced (compared with none from the previous year). The combined gross of the five Best Picture nominees when the Oscars were announced was $188 million with an average gross of $37.7 million per film.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was the highest earner among the Best Picture nominees with $104.4 million in domestic box office receipts. The other top-50 box office hits that earned nominations were
Iron Man (2nd),
Wanted (16th), and
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (41st). AMPAS spokeswoman Leslie Unger later revealed that the list was "a complete fraud", and that
PricewaterhouseCoopers had just begun to count the ballots.
Critical reviews The show received a mixed reception from media publications. Some media outlets received the broadcast more positively. Television critic Robert Bianco of
USA Today gave Jackman an average review but extolled producers Condon and Mark saying that the broadcast felt "faster and more intimate without sacrificing Hollywood glamour."
Vanity Fair columnist Julian Sancton gave high marks for Jackman's hosting performance stating "After several years of glamour-deflating wisecracks from blasé hosts like
Jon Stewart,
Ellen DeGeneres, and
Steve Martin, the new producers hired an M.C. who was willing to break a sweat." Film critic
Roger Ebert lauded Jackman's performance noting that he "would be a charmer as host, and he was." Of the show itself, Ebert added, "It was the best Oscar show I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty." Other media outlets were more critical of the show.
Los Angeles Times columnist Mary McNamara thought Jackman's performance "obliterated all memory" of
David Letterman's hosting the ceremony in 1995, which was widely panned.
Time television critic
James Poniewozik wrote that Jackman was "charming and game and I bet he absolutely killed in the room. But he didn't really project beyond the room, nor did he much seem to be trying to." He also noted that while there were some entertaining moments, "the broadcast overall had problems of pacing." Maureen Ryan of the
Chicago Tribune remarked, "The whole thing was driven by a manic desire to bring some old-school glamor to the proceedings." She added that the long introductions praising the acting nominees slowed down the proceedings.
Ratings and reception The American telecast on ABC drew in an average of 36.94 million people over its length, which was a 13% increase from the record lows of the
previous year's ceremony. An estimated, 68.48 million total viewers watched all or part of the awards. The show also drew higher
Nielsen ratings compared to the previous ceremony, with 20.88% of households watching over a 32.44 share. In addition, the program scored a 12.43 rating over a 30.61 share among the 18–49 demographic, which was a 13 percent increase. Two months later, the ceremony won four awards including Outstanding Choreography (
Rob Ashford),
Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics (Hugh Jackman Opening Number:
William Ross, John Kimbrough,
Dan Harmon,
Rob Schrab,
Ben Schwartz), Outstanding Short Form Picture Editing, (Best Motion Picture Montage:
Kyle Cooper, Hal Honigsberg), and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Or Music Series Or Special. ==
In Memoriam==