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“Frozen:” What if Kelly Clarkson, Britney Spears and Babs Sang “Let It Go”

“Let It Go,” the Oscar nominated track from Disney’s “Frozen” will be performed live at the Awards Ceremony on March 2 by Idina Menzel. But have you ever wondered what the beloved track would sound like if some of today’s biggest stars tackled it? Well, New York actress Christine Bianco, an off-broadway actress who has garnered YouTube fame with her “Total Eclipse of the Heart” Diva-Off, shows us!

She is quite on point with many of these impressions. Check it out below and let us know what you think!

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85th Academy Awards Nominations: “Lincoln” Tops With 12 Nods

oscarsIncluding a Best Picture nomination, Spielberg’s Lincoln topped the Oscar nominations (12 altogether), as they were revealed early Thursday morning. Life of Pi was a close second with eleven nominations, including Best Picture as well. Quvenzhane Wallis has become the youngest actress, at nine years old, to ever be nominated for Best Actress. Many of the “expected” nominations also occurred. The nominations were announced from Los Angeles by Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone. The complete list is below. The Oscars air February 24 at 8pm ET/5pm PT on ABC!

Best Picture

“Amour”
“Argo”
“Beasts of the Southern Wild”
“Django Unchained”
“Les Misérables”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
“Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Director

Michael Haneke, “Amour”
Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”
Ben Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”
David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”
Hugh Jackman, “Les Miserables”
Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”
Denzel Washington, “Flight”

Best Actress

Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour”
Quvenzhané Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Arkin, “Argo”
Robert De Niro, “Silver Linings Playbook”
Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”
Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”
Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained”

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams, “The Master”
Sally Field, “Lincoln”
Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables”
Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”
Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

“Argo”
Screenplay by Chris Terrio
“Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
“Life of Pi”
Screenplay by David Magee
“Lincoln”
Screenplay by Tony Kushner
“Silver Linings Playbook”
Screenplay by David O. Russell

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)
“Amour”
Written by Michael Haneke
“Django Unchained”
Written by Quentin Tarantino
“Flight”
Written by John Gatins
“Moonrise Kingdom”
Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
“Zero Dark Thirty”
Written by Mark Boal

Best Animated Feature Film

“Brave”
Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
“Frankenweenie”
Tim Burton
“ParaNorman”
Sam Fell and Chris Butler
“The Pirates! Band of Misfits”
Peter Lord
“Wreck-It Ralph”
Rich Moore

Best Cinematography

“Anna Karenina”
Seamus McGarvey
“Django Unchained”
Robert Richardson
“Life of Pi”
Claudio Miranda
“Lincoln”
Janusz Kaminski
“Skyfall”
Roger Deakins

Best Documentary Feature

“5 Broken Cameras”
“The Gatekeepers’
“How to Survive A Plague”
“The House I Live In”
“The Iinvisible War”
“Searching For Sugar Man”

Costume Design

“Anna Karenina”
Jacqueline Durran
“Les Misérables”
Paco Delgado
“Lincoln”
Joanna Johnston
“Mirror Mirror”
Eiko Ishioka
“Snow White and the Huntsman”
Colleen Atwood

Best Makeup

“Hitchcock”
Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin
Samuel
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
“Les Misérables”
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Best Music (Original Score)

“Anna Karenina”
Dario Marianelli
“Argo”
Alexandre Desplat
“Life of Pi”
Mychael Danna
“Lincoln”
John Williams
“Skyfall”
Thomas Newman

Best Music (Original Song)

“Before My Time”
Chasing Ice
Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
“Everybody Needs A Best Friend”
Ted
Music by Walter Murphy
Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
“Pi’s Lullaby”
Life of Pi
Music by Mychael Danna
Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
“Suddenly”
Les Miserables
“Skyfall”
Skyfall
Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul
Epworth

Sound Editing

“Argo”
Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
“Django Unchained”
Wylie Stateman
“Life of Pi”
Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
“Skyfall”
Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
“Zero Dark Thirty”
Paul N.J. Ottosson

Sound Mixing

“Argo”
John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio
Garcia
“Les Misérables”
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
“Life of Pi”
Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
“Lincoln”
Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
“Skyfall”
Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and
R. Christopher White
“Life of Pi”
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron,
Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
“Marvel’s The Avengers”
Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and
Dan Sudick
“Prometheus”
Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley
and Martin Hill
“Snow White and the Huntsman”
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan,
Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

Editing

“Argo”
William Goldenberg
“Life of Pi”
Tim Squyres
“Lincoln”
Michael Kahn
“Silver Linings Playbook”
Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
“Zero Dark Thirty”
Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

Foreign Language Film

“Amour”
Austria
“Kon-Tiki”
Norway
“No”
Chile
“A Royal Affair”
Denmark
“War Witch”
Canada

Production Design

“Anna Karenina”
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Production Design: Dan Hennah
Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
“Les Misérables”
Production Design: Eve Stewart
Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
“Life of Pi”
Production Design: David Gropman
Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
“Lincoln”
Production Design: Rick Carter
Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Short Film (Live Action)

“Asad”
Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
“Buzkashi Boys”
Sam French and Ariel Nasr
“Curfew”
Shawn Christensen
“Death of a Shadow (Dood van een
Schaduw)”
Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
“Henry”
Yan England

Short Film (Animated)

“Adam and Dog”
Minkyu Lee
“Fresh Guacamole”
PES
“Head over Heels”
Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly
“Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare'”
David Silverman
“Paperman”
John Kahrs

Documentary Short Subject

“Inocente”
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
“Kings Point”
Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
“Mondays at Racine”
Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
“Open Heart”
Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
“Redemption”
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill

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Brett Ratner Steps Down as Oscars Producer

Amid recent controversy surrounding some anti-gay remarks, Brett Ratner has stepped down from producer of the 2012 Academy Awards. At a recent screening of his new movie, Tower Heist, Ratner used an anti-gay slur and later made graphic remarks regarding his sex life on The Howard Stern Show. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Tom Sherak expressed support for Ratner, but labeled his comments as “inappropriate…dumb and insensitive.” Even with the support. Ratner felt it necessary to step down and leave his post. Earlier today, Sherak released a statement acknowledging Ratner’s choice. “He did the right thing for the Academy and for himself. Words have meaning, and they have consequences. Brett is a good person, but his comments were unacceptable. We all hope this will be an opportunity to raise awareness about the harm that is caused by reckless and insensitive remarks, regardless of the intent.”

It’s still unclear as to who will replace Ratner as producer of one of the biggest award shows of the season. The question is … will Eddie Murphy resign, after being hand picked by Ratner as the show’s host?

You can read Ratner’s official statement below.

The Oscars are set to take place on February 26 from the Nokia Theater in LA.

“

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few days, I’ve gotten a well-deserved earful from many of the people I admire most in this industry expressing their outrage and disappointment over the hurtful and stupid things I said in a number of recent media appearances. To them, and to everyone I’ve hurt and offended, I’d like to apologize publicly and unreservedly.
As difficult as the last few days have been for me, they cannot compare to the experience of any young man or woman who has been the target of offensive slurs or derogatory comments. And they pale in comparison to what any gay, lesbian, or transgender individual must deal with as they confront the many inequalities that continue to plague our world.
So many artists and craftspeople in our business are members of the LGBT community, and it pains me deeply that I may have hurt them. I should have known this all along, but at least I know it now: words do matter. Having love in your heart doesn’t count for much if what comes out of your mouth is ugly and bigoted. With this in mind, and to all those who understandably feel that apologies are not enough, please know that I will be taking real action over the coming weeks and months in an effort to do everything I can both professionally and personally to help stamp out the kind of thoughtless bigotry I’ve so foolishly perpetuated.

As a first step, I called Tom Sherak this morning and resigned as a producer of the 84th Academy Awards telecast. Being asked to help put on the Oscar show was the proudest moment of my career. But as painful as this may be for me, it would be worse if my association with the show were to be a distraction from the Academy and the high ideals it represents.

I am grateful to GLAAD for engaging me in a dialogue about what we can do together to increase awareness of the important and troubling issues this episode has raised and I look forward to working with them. I am incredibly lucky to have a career in this business that I love with all of my heart and to be able to work alongside so many of my heroes. I deeply regret my actions and I am determined to learn from this experience.

Sincerely, Brett Ratner

“

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Oscar Week: Didja Know? More Fun Oscar Facts!

For today’s Didja Know, we thought we’d visit memorable red carpet fashions from the Academy Awards! Presenting, the Top 5 Best and Top 5 Worst Oscar Gowns throughout the years! It’s definitely hard to pick from so many, feel free to tell us what yours would be in our forums!

Top 5 Best

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Top 5 Worst

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Well, there you have it! Think we will see some “bests” or “worsts” at this years Oscars? Leave us a comment below!

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Banksy in L.A.: Maybe No Oscar Appearance, but Still Leaving His Mark!

As we reported earlier, Banksy, the famed Graffiti Artist, was denied by Oscar officials to accept his award, if he should win Best Documentary for Exit Through the Gift Shop, incognito. Questions have been swirling whether Banksy will attend the event masked, or if he will bypass it all together.

However, signs that he is in Los Angeles are popping up everywhere, and his art has been spotted around the city. People out in Southern California, myself included, are getting a rare treat. We know it’s him, as he has posted pictures of his works of art on his own website, laying claim. Have a look at the pictures below, and let us know what you think!

Click the pictures to enlarge:

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Oscar Week: Didja Know? How Did The Statuette Come About?

Welcome to another Didja Know? Oscar article! In today’s feature, we find out just how the statuette came about, what it’s made of and it’s journey throughout the years.

Didja know, the Oscar statuette is formally known as the Academy Award of Merit? It only got it’s famously known name of Oscar when Academy librarian Margaret Herrick remarked that it strongly resembled her uncle Oscar. Imagine being the person that the most prestigious award in cinema is named after!

Before the name of “Oscar” stuck, people had also referred to it as the golden trophy, the statue of merit and the iron man. However, Bette Davis could also have a claim on giving the award it’s famous nickname moniker. When she won her first award in 1936, she remarked that the statuette looked just like her ex-husband Harmon “Oscar” Nelson… especially it’s butt!

Despite popular belief, the statuette isn’t made of solid gold. It’s actually just gold-plated; and comprised of an alloy called Brittania, which is made of 93% tin, 5% antimony and 2% copper. During World War II there was a need to conserve metal for the war effort, and thusly the awards were actually made of plaster. After the war ended, winners were allowed to exchange them for the shinier statues.

Until the 1950’s, children winning Oscars were actually given mini-statuettes, and when ventriloquist Edgar Bergen won an honorary Oscar in 1938 along with his “dummy” Charlie McCarthy, he was presented with one made of wood, along with a moveable mouth!

In 1939, Walt Disney got an honorary Oscar for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. He was presented with one full sized Oscar and seven miniature Oscar statues! Didja know that Disney held the record for most nominations (48), wins (22) and honorary given (4)?

What do you think? Didja already know all this info? Have you joined in the Oscar conversation in the forum, and voted in our polls where you too can win a prize? If not, CLICK HERE to join, and leave us a comment below!

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Oscar Week: Didja Know?

Each day this week we’ll be featuring various factoids and tidbits about the Oscars. We found them interesting and thought you would too! So, for today’s feature, we wanted to talk about lost and/or missing Oscar statuettes. It’s happened more than you think, but I have say, if I ever one won, it would be locked up tighter than Fort Knox!

Over the years AMPAS (Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences) has put into place policies to prevent the Oscar from turning into a mere piece of commerce or movie memorabilia in order to keep to the credo that the only way to get an Oscar is to actually win it. The one exception is if it’s bequeathed to a friend or family member by the actual winner. Since 1950 there has been in place a “Winner’s Agreement”, which is a binding legal document that restricts all winners and their heirs from selling the Oscar statuette. There may be a few Oscars popping up for auction here and there, but AMPAS reports that they’re generally pre-1950 awards. However, the Oscar has found itself in some strange situations, so sit back, relax, and read on about 10 of the weirdest places Oscar has found himself in.

In 1996 Clark Gable’s Oscar for 1934’s It Happened One Night was purchased at auction for $607,500 by an anonymous bidder, anonymous for a short while anyway. Keeping to the tradition of not wanting the Oscar to end up in strange hands, this bidder turned out to be none other than Steven Spielberg who promptly donated this Oscar back to the Academy.

In 1940 Jimmy Stewart won an Oscar for The Philadelphia Story. After the ceremony, he gave it to his father, who displayed it in the front window of the family business J.M. Stewart & Co. Hardware. It stayed there for nearly 20 years.

F. Keogh Gleason worked as a set decorator at MGM for 40 years and ended up winning a total of four Oscars. In the 1980’s, three of those awards were eventually found in a West Hollywood pawnshop called “Elliott Salter Gives Instant Loans” (for his work on An American In Paris, Gigi and Somebody Up There Likes Me). From what the shop owner states, Gleason’s son Pat brought them in for some fast cash. He later came back and reclaimed them.

In 1938 Alice Brady won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in In Old Chicago. She was too ill with cancer to attend the actual ceremony, and when her name was read as the winner, a stranger bounded on stage to accept the award on her behalf. The kicker is that she didn’t know this person and her Oscar was never seen again. Sadly, the Academy wasn’t able to reissue her one in time before her eventual death from cancer.

“Who’s the black private dick, that’s a sex machine to all the chicks? Shaft, ya, damn right”. Remember that song? Isaac Hayes wrote and sang the theme to Shaft and won an Oscar for Best Original Song in 1972. That award sits in the entrance to his Memphis restaurant “Music, Food and Passion”.

Shelley Winter’s 1959 Oscar (Best Supporting Actress, The Diary of Anne Frank) was bequeathed to the Anne Frank House Museum in Amsterdam.

Whoopi Goldberg won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Ghost. Although she was reluctant to let it go, it was sent out for cleaning by the Academy to R.S. Owens of Chicago. UPS later told them that it was lost in transit. It was later found, of all places, in a trash bin at the Ontario, CA airport by a security guard and returned to Goldberg. She has said that she’s dropped plans to have it cleaned and it will never leave her house again.

Margaret O’Brien and Shirley Temple both received mini-Oscars for ‘Outstanding Child Actress’. O’Briens’ 1944 Oscar was reportedly stolen by the maid in 1954. The Academy replaced it with a full sized one, and nearly 40 years later at a Pasadena City College swap meet the original turned up! It was returned to O’Brien.

In 2006 William Hurt was moving between homes and reported his 1985 Oscar for Kiss of the Spider Woman stolen during the move. It was later found by the police in a ditch, but it was badly damaged. Hurt has yet to take the Academy up on their offer to have it repaired.

Nestor Almendros, an acclaimed Spanish Director of Photography, was nominated in 1979 for his work on Days of Thunder. Apparently, he didn’t want to go to the ceremony, thinking the other DP’s and films had a better chance of winning. Close friend Scotty Bowers pulled him into the car and they barely made it to the ceremony, just as the doors were being closed. Being grateful for his friends urging him to go, he bequeathed the Oscar to Bowers before his (Almendros) death due to complication of AIDS in 1992. Bowers, who is a caterer, states he keeps it in his home, loaning it out once in awhile for parties.

What do you think? Would you lock yours up if you won? Would you display it for all the world to see? Let us know below, and come join us in the Forum HERE to talk about all things Oscars! Don’t forget to vote in the Oscar polls too!

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Oscar Week: The History Of The Oscars

Welcome to YakkityYak’s Oscar Week! We have a whole bunch of fun things planned for the week so be sure to keep your eyes on the Yak! Also, be sure to head into our forum HERE during the week where we will be voting for what nominees we think should win, leading up to First Annual Yakkster Oscars to be handed out on Sunday, February 27th. (No need to register to vote!) PLUS, just to see who’s the best when it comes to actual Oscar predictions, we’ll have a “Predict The Actual Winner” contest, with a prize of course! To enter to win a prize, you must be registered in the forum. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER, then go vote!

We thought we would start out this week with the history of the Oscars and how the annual tradition got it’s start. It began with man named Louis B. Mayer, studio boss of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who conceived the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927. Initially, it was a non-profit corporation made to promote the art of movie making. The Academy had 36 members at it’s beginning, with Douglas Fairbanks Sr. acting as president. The very first Academy Awards were actually held out of the public eye; a private banquet at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel was held to hand out the awards on May 16th, 1929. Tickets to the event held in what is known as the “Blossom Room” cost just $5!

There was very little suspense, actually no suspense at all, during this first ceremony, as the winners were already announced three months prior to the event. The following year, however, the Academy decided to keep the results private, only releasing a list of the winners to various news publications to be released at 11:00pm the night of the awards. This practice worked for awhile, until 1940, when the LA Times broke protocol and published the winners in the evening edition, which nominees were able to read as they arrived at the event. Yikes! Thus, the sealed envelope system was born in 1941, which is still in use today.

Only 15 awards were handed out at the first awards ceremony, representing cinematic achievements for 1927 and 1928. Emil Jannings won the first Best Actor Oscar, and received the very first Oscar statuette, literally. Jannings put in a request to have it delivered to him early since he was unable to attend the ceremony; he needed to return to Europe before the event could begin. This first ceremony was the only one that didn’t have an audience, but the enthusiasm surrounding the event was so great that an L.A. radio station began having a special one hour broadcast. It has been broadcast via radio and TV ever since.

The awards themselves continued to be held as a banquet at the Biltmore or Ambassador Hotels until 1942, when increased attendance made it impractical. The Academy needed a change of scenery to accommodate the growing amount of guests, so the 16th Annual Academy Awards were held at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, marking the move to a theater ever since. The first televised Oscars occurred in 1953 allowing millions across the U.S. and Canada to take in this prestigious event. The first color broadcast occurred in 1966, and the first international broadcast in 1969!

There are a ton of little known facts and fascinating Oscar trivia which the Yak will be proudly presenting to you in the coming week, with “Oscar Didja Know?” daily articles, Nominee specific articles, and more! So, keep your browsers tuned into the Yak all week, and don’t forget to come over to the FORUM and vote in the Oscar polls. You just may win a prize!

Also, be sure to leave a comment below! Are you excited for the Oscars? Do you have Oscar parties? Who do you want to win?