|
Oscar show must go on
06/03/2003 08:14 - (SA)
Los Angeles - With a US war on Iraq looming on the horizon, the organisers of this year's Oscars, debating whether the ceremony would still take place if military action begins, want the show to go on.
The subject of what would happen to the Oscars if war breaks out "came up" at a board meeting of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, academy spokesperson John Pavlik said, declining to give further detail.
"Everybody is talking about it all the time. We are absolutely planning on putting the show on March 23," Pavlik insisted on Wednesday.
Since its launch 75 years ago, the Academy Awards has been the most ardently awaited event in the world of cinema, requiring a huge logistics operation to ensure its smooth running.
Attended by thousands of the world's most famous celebrities, those present at the ceremony range from Oscar nominees to presenters, guests, technicians, musicians, cooks, waiters, florists, security guards and journalists.
In fact, nobody in Hollywood wants to contemplate throwing months of preparatory work through the window - though the drums of war in Washington highlight the likelihood it could start in a matter of days.
Wait and see
"Is it going to be tomorrow, is it going to be the day after, is it going to be two days before the show or the day of the show?" Pavlik asks. "How can we know?"
"We'll have to wait and see what happens."
But despite the fact the Academy says it has no alternative plans, the idea of postponing the event has not totally been rejected. "We'll get together whenever anything happens and we'll decide what to do," he added.
Certainly, the show was never cancelled during World War II, though it is also true that back in those days there was no television.
Today the Oscars, transmitted across the world in one of the highest-grossing advertising events of the year, would run the risk of being interrupted - even eclipsed - by possible war news. - Sapa-AFP
|
South Africa
