Academy reverses plans, will air all awards live at Oscars

Nyear.

This is just the latest flip-flop by the academy in its attempts to tweak the Oscars.

The academy’s headaches began after it last summer trotted out the induction of a “popular film Oscar.” The plan sparked such outrage (Rob Lowe pronounced the film industry dead, “survived by sequels, tentpoles and vertical integration”) that the new award was scuttled within a month. Kevin Hart was announced as this year’s Oscar host only to withdraw days later when many took issue with his old homophobic tweets and the comedian initially “chose to pass on the apology.” Hart finally apologized as he resigned, leaving the Oscars host-less for only the fifth time in its 91-year history.

And after first planning to limit the best song nominee performances, the academy confirmed that all songs will indeed be performed.

EW YORK (AP) — Bowing to a backlash that had threatened to engulf an already blunder-plagued Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday reversed its decision to present four awards during the commercial breaks of this year’s Oscar broadcast.