Nominations

Well this is a little later than I wanted, but I had to see how many references to Xanadu Boston Legal was able to work in. It has officially become the gayest show on TV, and of course I mean that in the best way posible. Now, on to the big news. While most of the major Oscar nominees are decent choices (except for Juno, as much as I loved Ellen Paige in Hard Candy and Michael Cera & Jason Bateman, I can't get into that one, 16 year olds are not that precocious, it comes across as a cross between an after school special and Dawson's Creek), and I am thrilled for the Michael Clayton love, overall it's a big disappointment. Only 3 (granted, all well deserved) nominations for Sweeney Todd and none for Best Picture, Director, or Alan Rickman as Best Supporting Actor (or Jamie Campbell Wright for that matter?). Here's hoping Johnny Depp wins, although he's not a frontrunner. Then, only one nomination (also well deserved) for Once (Best Song)? And lastly, Jennifer Fucking Hudson can win an undeserved Oscar for the horrible Dreamgirls but not even a nomination for Nikki Blonsky? She's got a way better story than Jennifer, have you seen that utube clip? Not even a Best Song nom for New Girl on the Block? No nominations for Keira and James, or a director nomination for Atonement? Disgraceful all around. Still, while there aren't any truly thrilling and exciting nominees, except for the Juno nominations, they're all solid in most categories, and with no frontrunners, it should make for an interesting night. Look for my predictions the week before the ceremony.

Not willing to let the Oscars dominate the headlines, the Tony Awards committee made some more eligibility announcements, really shaking up the race. They decided to make Max and Laura eligible in the leading categories while demoting Rosie Perez to featured, although to be fair, Rita Moreno won in the supporting category for that role in 75. Max's promotion won't really change the race. I'm still predicting Lin-Manuel Miranda to win, but there's plenty of time for that to change, and Boyd Gaines could easily take it if Gypsy steamrolls the awards. Max's departure though from the featured category leaves it wide open for Matty to finally get an overdue award for South Pacific. Laura's promotion could help Patti win as she now splits the pro up and coming bloc (which propelled LaChanze to a win when Chita and Patti split the pro diva bloc, more on that tomorrow) with Kerry Butler, Kelli O'Hara, and Sierra Borgess. She also leaves the featured field open for a long overdue award for Sherri Rene Scott, although Laura Benanti could take it if Gypsy steamrolls.

Lastly, is everyone as shocked as I am about Heath Ledger? I wasn't a fan of most of his movie output other than Brokeback (and he did deserve the Oscar way more than Phillip Seymour Hoffman's overly affected performance in the dreadfully dull Capote), although Cassanova had its moments. Still, he seemed like a decent guy and had a lot of potential. With a moment of silence, I'm signing off for tonight.