Music at the Academy Awards 2013

Big Ears

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Host Seth MacFarlane kicked off the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles with the quip, "I honestly cannot believe I'm here. It's an honour that everyone else said 'no'". The Family Guy creator launched into a satirical song about topless appearances by actresses in the movies.

Anne Hathaway won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as tragic factory worker Fantine in the musical Les Miserables.

British singer Adele won the Oscar for best original song for her Bond theme Skyfall, which she also performed during the show. Her co-writer Paul Epworth collected the award alongside her.

Searching for Sugar Man, which tells the story of musician Rodriguez who disappeared from public view in the early 1970s, but developed a cult following in South Africa, won the Oscar for best documentary.

Halle Berry introduced a tribute to the James Bond series, followed by Shirley Bassey, who performed her theme song from Goldfinger.

The show also featured a salute to movie musicals of the past decade, with Chicago Oscar-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dreamgirls winner Jennifer Hudson joining Les Miserables cast members, including Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Helena Bonham Carter and Amanda Seyfried.

During the section of the show that pays tribute to those involved in films who died in 2012, Barbra Streisand sang the late Marvin Hamlisch's The Way We Were, from the 1973 romantic drama of the same name in which she starred with Robert Redford. It was Streisand's first Oscars performance for 36 years.
 

Big Ears

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The James Bond films have only won two Academy Awards. The first was Goldfinger (1964) for Best Sound Effects and the second was Thunderball (1965) for Best Visual Effects.

There were seven nominations: Diamonds are Forever (1971) for Best Sound (1); The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) for Best Set Direction (3); and Moonraker (1979) for Best Visual Effects (6).

Music in the Bond films, which was nominated is: Live and Let Die (1973) for Best Original Song with "Live and Let Die" (2); The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) for Best Original Score (4) and Best Original Song with "Nobody Does it Better" (5); and For Your Eyes Only (1981) Best Original Song "For Your Eyes Only" (7).

None of the great songs by the genius Don Black, such as Goldfinger, Thunderball and Diamonds Are Forever were even nominated.

Prior to the 2013 ceremony, Norman Wanstall was the only living James Bond Oscar winner, for Best Sound Effects. He was in his twenties at the time and gave up films to become a plumber. In a recent BBC interview, he said the Bond films became very repetitive and, as with so many modern films, Skyfall is too long and the editing and pacing are all over the place.
 

runtfan

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British singer Adele won the Oscar for best original song for her Bond theme Skyfall, which she also performed during the show. Her co-writer Paul Epworth collected the award alongside her.

I thought that Skyfall song was one incredibly boring, lifeless piece of music. I don't know who actually wrote the music but he/she/they forgot the hook. I had never heard it before the Oscar telecast and with any luck won't have to sit through it again.
 

Big Ears

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The fact that great performances of Don Black songs were not nominated, while a bland effort won the award, leads me to think that the Academy Awards have a political element. I assume Adele is signed to a big corporation.
 

Lynch

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I thought that Skyfall song was one incredibly boring, lifeless piece of music. I don't know who actually wrote the music but he/she/they forgot the hook. I had never heard it before the Oscar telecast and with any luck won't have to sit through it again.
I saw Skyfall in the theater and I will say that the 'theme' song did absolutely nothing for me.

Adele is ok, but I think she is VASTLY overrated. This song falls into the same category.
 

Big Ears

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I don't think I have ever seen Charlize Theron in anything, but I undertand she is not averse to posing nude. To me, Adele is one of a number of British singers who made a career of stuttery phrasing, in the absence of Amy Winehouse (who was genuinely gifted, but a crack addict who kept bad company). Skyfall sounds as if it was knocked off in ten minutes during a coffee break.
 

LG

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The fact that great performances of Don Black songs were not nominated, while a bland effort won the award, leads me to think that the Academy Awards have a political element. I assume Adele is signed to a big corporation.

All of the awards shows are political, the ones hosted by the "official" establishments. It's all about shmoozing and behind the scenes relationships more than anything else.

I gave up on the Academy Awards when Rocky won over Star Wars, showed that the Academy lives in a different world from the plebes who actually go see the movies.

Charlize Theron is a good actress, but she's notorious for "diva" behavior on movie sets. As far as I know she's South African born but her family emigrated to Canada, she might now have American citizenship as well.

Seth McFarlane does nothing for me.
 

Powerage

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As a Bond theme, I like Skyfall. Think it works really well with the film, which is probably my favourite Bond film ever now.
 

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