Producers for Sunday's Oscars ceremony will be hoping that the show does not lose its status as the second most-watched TV event in the US behind the Super Bowl, after a strong showing by the Grammys.
The world's top film honours are in jeopardy of losing their status if the show can't lure more than 40 million viewers, which could be difficult.
Producers have brought back popular host Billy Crystal for laughs, but the best solution for a lively TV awards programme, sponsors at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences say, is a group of surprise winners or ones who give genuinely emotional or rousing acceptance speeches.
"Be memorable, and you will be remembered," co-producer Don Mischer told nominees at a recent luncheon.
It is hard to forget 73-year-old Jack Palance doing one-arm push-ups on the Oscar stage after winning best supporting actor for 1991's "City Slickers," or more recently the heartfelt speech by writers Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of best song winner "Falling Slowly" from 2007 film, "Once."
The Oscars need a few surprises because silent movie romance "The Artist," while critically lauded, has generated only around $30 million (￡19 million) at US and Canadian box offices, and the Oscars generally enjoy larger TV audiences when popular hits like "Avatar" are in the hunt for best movie.
The show annually is the second most-watched program on US TV behind professional football's Super Bowl, but this year's Grammy Awards, music's top honours, lured 40 million viewers the night after Whitney Houston's death and could easily surpass the Oscars.
Oscar producers also hope a return of popular comedian Crystal as host of the programme for the ninth time will lure viewers. He has not been emcee of the show since 2004 when it drew roughly 44 million viewers and box office smash "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" was the big winner.
今年的奥斯卡颁奖典礼于当地时间上周日举行，在格莱美颁奖典礼大出风头之后，制片商们希望奥斯卡颁奖礼不会失去仅次于美国橄榄球超级杯大赛的全美收视率第二的宝座。
如果无法吸引到超过4千万名观众，这场全球顶级电影颁奖典礼会失去昔日的荣光，而想吸引这么多观众非常困难。
制片商已经请回了受欢迎的主持人比利?克里斯托来为大家带来笑声，但美国电影艺术与科学学院的赞助商们表示，对于一个现场直播的电视颁奖节目来说，最好的办法是有一些出人意料的奖项得主，或者是一些能发表真诚感人或引发赞同的获奖感言的得主。
制片人之一唐?米斯彻最近在一次午宴上告诉提名者：“有让人印象深刻的表现，你就会被大家牢记。”
人们很难忘记73岁的杰克?帕兰斯凭借1991年的影片《城市乡巴佬》获得最佳男配角后，在奥斯卡舞台上做单臂俯卧撑的情景；或者几年前作曲者格兰?汉萨德和玛可塔?伊尔格洛娃凭借2007年的影片《曾经》中的歌曲《缓缓下坠》获得奥斯卡最佳原创歌曲奖时，发表的感人肺腑的获奖感言。
奥斯卡需要一些惊喜。尽管无声爱情电影《艺术家》受到评论家的赞誉，但在美国和加拿大仅收获了大约三千万美元（1900万英镑）票房。而只有当诸如《阿凡达》这种受人欢迎的热门影片参与角逐时，才会有更多观众收看奥斯卡颁奖礼。
奥斯卡颁奖典礼每年都在美国电视节目排行榜中名列第二，排在第一的是职业橄榄球赛事“超级碗”。但今年的乐坛最高奖格莱美颁奖典礼前一天，惠特尼?休斯顿去世，导致这场颁奖典礼吸引了4千名观众，轻易就能赶超奥斯卡颁奖典礼的收视率。
奥斯卡制片人还希望，请回喜剧红星克里斯托做主持人会吸引观众，这也是克里斯托第九次担任主持人。自2004年来他就没有担任过奥斯卡主持，那一年的奥斯卡颁奖典礼有大约4400万人观看，当年的最大赢家是热卖影片《指环王3:王者归来》。
Vocabulary:
luncheon: 午宴，正式的午餐会
push-ups: 俯卧撑
emcee: 主持人，司仪
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