Today's Entertainment

2 F ebruary 22 - 28, 2015 Br ainerd Dispatch By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media T he red carpet and designer duds are ready for cameras to start rolling when the glitterati descend on Los Angeles once again for Hol- lywood's biggest night. Another glamorous awards sea- son comes to an end with the granddaddy of them all when the last golden Oscar statue is handed out at L.A.'s Dolby Theatre this month. Hosted for the first time by award-winning stage and screen star Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother"), The 87th Annual Academy Awards airs live Sunday, Feb. 22, on ABC. If you only tune in to one awards show this season, the Oscars is the one to catch. This year's ceremony honors some of the best films of 2014 and shines a light on many of the biggest names in the business. This is the third consecutive year that Neil Meron and Craig Zadan are producing the event, and de- spite some mixed reviews, particu- larly where the hosts were con- cerned, the previous two Oscar tele- casts received a notable spike in rat- ings from previous years. The 86th Academy Awards, hosted by much- loved comedian Ellen DeGeneres ("Finding Nemo," 2003), drew in more than 45 million viewers, mak- ing it television's most-watched en- tertainment event in a decade and netting an eight per cent increase over the previous year. The host's celebrity-filled selfie, now famous for being the picture that broke Twitter, was the most retweeted photo of all time with nearly 33 mil- lion views. Though some critics denounced the ceremony as dull and far too long, citing DeGeneres' unremark- able and, at times, cringe-worthy emceeing, Meron and Zadan want- ed her back this year — after all, the ratings speak for themselves. The talk show darling was against hosting the awards for the third time, however, and the next two on the list, Chris Rock ("The Chris Rock Show") and Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("Seinfeld"), didn't pan out either. (It should be noted that Rock de- nied he was ever offered the gig, and Meron and Zadan said in a statement to Deadline.com that the only person they ever sent a formal offer to host was Harris.) The producers finally landed on Harris, and though he allegedly may not have been their first choice, the pair has high hopes for the actor. "We are thrilled to have Neil host the Oscars," they said in a news release. "We have known him his entire adult life, and we have watched him explode as a great performer in feature films, televi- sion and stage. To work with him on the Oscars is the perfect storm, all of his resources and talent coming together on a global stage." As for Harris, he'll be able to cross another item off his bucket list. "Host the Oscars" is right up there with "meet the president," "perform with the Muppets" and "juggle flaming torches" as a must for the actor, so the night will truly be a personal accomplishment. Not to worry, though — he's not a rookie when it comes to em- ceeing. Harris has hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards twice and the Tony Awards four times, which netted him sever- al special class Emmys, but the Oscars gig should top them all. Since the nominees were an- nounced last month, there's been no shortage of speculation as to who will bring home the big prizes. Of the films that have received mul- tiple nominations, "Birdman" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" lead the charge with nine each, fol- lowed closely by "The Imitation Game," holding strong with eight. All three are up for the award for Best Picture and Best Director and were major players at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards last month. It was "Boyhood" that came out on top at the Golden Globes, how- ever, taking home three awards of its five nominations. The coming-of- age drama, which has been de- clared a landmark film by many critics, is up for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and acting nominations for Ethan Hawke ("Gattaca," 1997) and Patricia Arquette ("Medium"). To break up the barrage of speeches and awards, the Oscars al- ways delivers some memorable mu- sical performances as well. This year, John Legend and Common will perform their song "Glory" from the movie "Selma," for which they've nabbed a nomination for Best Origi- nal Song. British artist Rita Ora will be making her Oscars debut, and country superstar Tim McGraw and "The Voice" coach Adam Levine will take the stage as well. Even our talented host will dis- play his musical chops. Harris, who's had Broadway roles both in singing and acting, will perform an original musical sequence written by Robert Lopez and Kristen Ander- son-Lopez, the team behind "Fro- zen's" (2013) Oscar-winning song "Let It Go." "We love the Oscars and have always been huge Neil Patrick Har- ris fans, so when he asked us to write him a song for this year's show we said, 'Yes!' before he could finish the sentence," said the pair in a news release. There's obviously a lot to look forward to at this year's Oscars, and there's bound to be some surprises as well. Don't forget to tune in be- forehand to the Oscars Red Carpet Live to get a glimpse of the night's A-listers arriving in all their haute- coutured glory. The 87th Annual Academy Awards airs live Sunday, Feb. 22, on ABC. 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