News and Recap
The 71st Academy Awards saw the show's first "official" pre-show, as the Academy attempted to compete with the likes of E!'s Joan Rivers and other red carpet denizens.
The show attracted 45.63m viewers, a 18% decline to the previous year's 57.25 million, yet a high rating compared to most other ceremonies.
This was the first time that two people have been nominated for Academy Awards for playing the same person in different films — Queen Elizabeth I, played by Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth and Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love. (Host Whoopi Goldberg marked the occasion by appearing in a complete Elizabeth costume, including wig and whiteface, and dubbing herself "the African queen.")
This would mark the final time the show would originate from the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, a venue the Academy Awards called home for nearly thirty-years.
As of 2011 this is the only Oscars where no nominated actor or actress were featured in the In Memoriam segment; though Sinatra did have his own tribute.
While presenting Best Film Editing Jim Carrey made a joke about he was not nominated but Roberto Benigni was. Part of this was due to how he was considered the frontrunner for The Truman Show. As of 2011 he is one of only 6 people who have won the Golden Globe for best Actor/Actress in a Drama but were not nominated for the corresponding Oscar.
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