Ceremony information 70th Academy Awards

1 ceremony information

1.1 box office performance of nominees
1.2 critical response
1.3 ratings , reception

ceremony information

billy crystal hosted 70th academy awards.

in december 1997, academy hired veteran oscar telecast producer gil cates oversee 1998 ceremony. “gil has become consummate oscar show producer, consistently garnering top television ratings telecast,” said ampas president robert rehme in press release announcing selection. “his shows full of wit, charm , surprise.” few days later, actor , comedian billy crystal chosen emcee upcoming telecast. cates explained reason bring veteran comedian saying, billy s performance last year spectacular. there nobody him. in article published in usa today requested cates , ampas 5 months after previous year s ceremony take break hosting duties. however, pressure academy, cates, , several friends , family members made him reconsider decision. sixth stint make him second bob hope in number of ceremonies hosted.

to commemorate seventieth anniversary of academy awards, 70 actors have received both competitive , honorary awards appeared seated onstage during segment called oscar s family album. each former winner acknowledged announcer norman rose films or won for. @ end of segment newly minted winners kim bassinger, helen hunt, , robin williams joined them. marked largest gathering of former winners since 50th ceremony held in 1978.

several others participated in production of ceremony. bill conti served musical director telecast. dancer daniel ezralow choreographed dance number showcasing nominees best original comedy or musical score. bart bear made surprise appearance during presentation of best sound effects editing award mike myers.

box office performance of nominees

at time of nominations announcement on february 10, combined gross of 5 best picture nominees $579 million average of $116 million per film. titanic highest earner among best picture nominees $338.7 million in domestic box office receipts. film followed gets ($92.6 million), hunting ($68.9 million), l.a. confidential ($39.7 million), , full monty ($38.7 million).

of top 50 grossing movies of year, 40 nominations went 15 films on list. titanic (1st), gets (16th), hunting (20th), , in & out (24th) nominated directing, acting, screenwriting, or best picture. other top 50 box office hits earned nominations men in black (2nd), lost world: jurassic park (3rd), air force 1 (5th), best friends wedding (7th), face/off (9th), con air (12th), contact (13th), hercules (14th), fifth element (25th), anastasia (30th), , starship troopers (34th).

critical response

the show received positive reception media publications. television critic howard rosenberg of los angeles times lauded crystal s performance writing earn top billing unusual comedian artful @ doing musical comedy jokes. san francisco chronicle columnist john carman raved, best oscar show in 2 decades. gave high marks host, commenting, last night, crystal in razor form. seattle times television editor kay mcfadden praised crystal commenting possesses impeccable timing , judgment. in addition, noted while ceremony dragged on, last night 1 of television s smartest live ceremonies in recent memory.

some media outlets more critical of show. ray richmond of variety complained ceremony proved yawner of oscarcast. added crystal s off-the-cuff one-liners sank faster great ship herself. boston globe television critic matthew gilbert bemoaned, there hardly spontaneous moment during last night s oscarcast. film critic carrie rickey philadelphia inquirer lamented inevitable titanic sweep sank telecast loaded montages of previous years oscar highlights.

ratings , reception

the american telecast on abc drew in average of 57.25 million people on length, 29% increase previous year s ceremony. estimated 87.50 million total viewers watched or part of awards. show earned higher nielsen ratings compared previous ceremony 35.32% of households watching on 55.77 share. in addition, garnered higher 18–49 demo rating 24.90 rating on 44.30 share among viewers in demographic. was, , remains date, highest viewership academy award telecast since figures compiled beginning 46th ceremony in 1974.

in july 1998, ceremony presentation received 8 nominations @ 50th primetime emmys. 2 months later, ceremony won 5 of nominations outstanding individual performance in variety or music program (billy crystal), outstanding directing variety or music program (louis j horvitz), outstanding lighting direction (electronic) drama series, variety series, miniseries, or movie (bob barnhart, robert dickinson, matt ford, andy o reilly), outstanding music direction (bill conti), , outstanding sound mixing variety series or special (patrick baltzell, robert douglass, edward j. greene, tommy vicari).