Sunday special: Booing, cheering Academy Award winners all part of the fun

Welcome to the Blade blog Culture Shock, a three-times-a-week riff by Pop Culture Editor Kirk Baird on pop culture news, events, and trends. The blog will appear Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings here, with the odd night or off-day posting if something is merited.

Sunday is one of my favorite days of the years.

It's not my birthday or anyone else in my family. It's not a holiday or any anniversary, though it does mark an 82nd annual.

Sunday is Oscars, which for me is cause for celebration and angst.

For thirty-something years I've tuned in to the Academy Awards. Never missed it, even when I was lying in a hospital bed recovering from a car accident in college in 1992. That was the year Silence of the Lambs became the first horror film ever honored with a Best Picture golden statue.

And my memories of the Oscars go back 15 years further than that, to when I was a child and Star Wars lost Best Picture to Annie Hall. I hated Woody Allen for several years after that. Eventually, I came around to appreciate and respect the filmmaker and his works. As great as Annie Hall is, I'm still miffed about its Academy Award win over Star Wars. I mean, Luke Skywalker. Han Solo. Darth Vader. And they lose to Alvy Singer (Hall).

Oscar grudges fade slowly, I suppose.

I was also irritated when David Lynch's moving Elephant Man lost to Ordinary People in 1980, though I now concede neither film was close to the brilliance of fellow nominee Raging Bull.

And I booed English Patient's victory over Fargo in 1996. Still do.

Conversely, I cheered the victories of Unforgiven, Schindler's List, and No Country For Old Men.

As much as the films that did and didn't win, though, I remember the moments of the presentation. Love In Memoriam. Hate the musical numbers. And for god's sake, give the winners more time to talk — everyone watching the Oscars knows the score, that long-winded political rants and teary-eyed thank yous to agents and studio execs are part of the "I can't believe I won!" process. Give me "You like me, you really, really like me" over the orchestra cue to hurry up any time.

I remember watching the ultimate Oscar fiasco in 1989, the Rob Lowe-Snow White dance number, and the even stranger pairing of Robocop and Pee-wee Herman. "Gee, thanks Robocop," Pee-wee told Robocop after being saved from a hulking robotic prop from the bloody sci-fi actioner. Priceless. Hollywood screenwriters couldn't dream up anything as bad as this.

When I moved to Las Vegas in 2000, a highlight for me was an annual Oscar party hosted by friends, complete with a special dish cooked up to represent one of the five Best Picture nominees. For example, onion rings for the Lord of the Rings.

Not sure how it's going to work this year with 10 nominations, but they plan special foods for all of the films.

For the second consecutive year I won't be at their party. I'll be home blogging the Oscars live. I'll be perched in front of my plasma cheering and hissing the results like most of you.

My Oscar predictions appear in Sunday's Blade, so I won't give away my picks here, other than to say I'll either be genius or chump come Monday. I've always been better than good in picking the Oscars, and that reputation is on the line, I suppose, this year more than ever. I certainly wasn't wishy-washy about what movie I think will dominate this year's Oscars.

And check in Sunday for the live blog, which will begin during the red carpet pre-Oscar event at 8 p.m., which can be seen locally on WTVG-TV, Channel 13. Call it Culture Shoc: The Home Game. And feel free to e-mail me your thoughts as the Academy Awards moves along.

And by all means, if my predictions are wrong — and they won't be — take me to task for it on Monday.

As expected, Crystal Bowersox is through to another week of American Idol, which means the Bowersox watch continues.

A day after missing her second live Idol performance and spending the night in the hospital as per doctor's orders — what online sites suggest is diabetes related — the singer's performance Wednesday night won the praise of judges and the votes of viewers.

Twenty-seven million people voted this week. Expect the number to climb as the contest gets tougher and battle lines are drawn by contestant fans. They're a loyal group.

I wasn't shocked by the four who got the boot: John Park, Jermaine Sellers, Michelle Delamor, and Haeley Vaughn — although I had higher hopes for Vaughn to advance further in the show until Wednesday's performance of "The Climb."

Agree or disagree with a posting? Lemme know. Have a topic or suggestion? Lemme know that, too. Send an e-mail to kbaird@theblade.com

or call 419-724-6734.

LINK: For all of Kirk Baird's Culture Shock riffs