March 28, 2000
Notes on the Oscars and other stuff - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER -- In this space today, lemme rant about a variety of things. First up some thoughts on the Oscars.
Tyra Banks looked regal in that royal purple ball gown of hers, but that still doesn’t make her less of a dim-bulb. Her demeanour hosting the Oscar pre-show is enough to make Joan Rivers look like a classy broad. While Miss Banks was “interviewing” (and I use that term lightly) she’d motion to the female stars to show off their fancy threads, but when they went to a full shot of the gowns from top to bottom, Banks’ pesky train got in the freaking way. Dim-bulb.
Burt Bacharach added a great touch of musical genius to the Oscarcast, but he’s also responsible for the gutting of those entrance themes that Bill Conti used to play. That aside, Burt’s still the king. Hope he’ll be back next year, then again he might not.
The song Alfie has always been one of my favourites, so Burt’s inclusion of that song was just wonderful. Having that harmonica player, his singing and then the surprise appearance of Dionne Warwick was superb. Plus, the clips from the movie Alfie, proved the night’s ceremony certainly belonged to Michael Caine.
With the prominence given to Peter Coyote, the backstage announcer, the Oscar’s could fall to the recent trends of show’s like the Golden Globes, the Emmy’s and others that have dumped hosts. The role of the Oscar master of ceremonies is a difficult and thankless job, plus you get a lot of flack from know-it-all critics.
Today in British Columbia, the Provincial government dropped it’s ninth budget. Deficit ridden, as always. Watching the proceedings unfold on the television yesterday afternoon, I found three things interesting...
Paul Ramsey was intensely nervous and his colleagues seemed disenchanted, distant and aloof, especially his seatmate, Gordon Wilson. Meaning that they don’t hold much stock in their own budget. Ramsey was interviewed by my colleague, Babak Khorram during the recent NDP convention, in of all places the back of a bus. I didn’t talk to him personally, but he seems like a nice man. At least, that’s what Khorram said.
The second thing I noticed was that promptly at 2:00 the proceedings begin with the Speaker’s parade. But the proceedings don’t actually start until the MLA’s make their way into their seats. With the speaker in the chair he waits until most members show up, which usually takes the upwards of about 10 minutes. And the funny thing is that it’s usually NDP MLA’s who are late. It makes for bad television, plus it is a little disrespectful to the tradition of Parliament to have the house literally idle until the tardy MLA’s slip in. 2:00 is not an unreasonable time to make it into the legislature.
And finally, Ujjal Dosanjh’s call for a respectful and calm house seem like a reality. Grilled by Liberal leader Gordon Campbell, he answered the questions with eloquence, even though he side-stepped the answers that the Liberals were looking for. He’d answer the question without the thumping of desks, usually made by the members of his caucus. Is it a sign of dissension or a lack of support for their leader? Maybe it’s just restraint.
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