BILLY'S BACK CRYSTAL THE OSCAR HOST WITH THE MOST TO LIVE UP TO.Byline: David Kronke Television Writer Billy Crystal describes hosting the Academy Awards ceremony as serving as ``the captain of show business for one night.'' Crystal, who returns for his eighth hosting gig, has made two routines famous: a song-and-dance medley med·ley n. pl. med·leys 1. An often jumbled assortment; a mixture: "That night he dreamed he was traveling in a foreign country, only it seemed to be a medley of all the countries he'd ever been to and spoofing (1) Faking the sending address of a transmission in order to gain illegal entry into a secure system. See e-mail spoofing. (2) Creating fake responses or signals in order to keep a session active and prevent timeouts. the best-picture nominees and sequences in which he appears in clips from nominated nom·i·nate tr.v. nom·i·nat·ed, nom·i·nat·ing, nom·i·nates 1. To propose by name as a candidate, especially for election. 2. To designate or appoint to an office, responsibility, or honor. films interacting with the characters. But he's keeping mum on whether he'll resurrect those bits tonight. ``If I told you what we were going to do, that wouldn't be right,'' a coy coy adj. coy·er, coy·est 1. Tending to avoid people and social situations; reserved. 2. Affectedly and usually flirtatiously shy or modest. See Synonyms at shy1. 3. Crystal said at a January press conference for the production. ``We're still feeling out a couple other things, but we're trying to do some new things or some old things better.'' Writing gags for every conceivable contingency is a challenge, he said, but they can all get tossed out the window if something memorable occurs during the ceremony. ``I have 104 writers backstage,'' he joked, adding, more seriously, ``I usually keep two. We write thousands of jokes. It's almost like creating a football playbook with options. If this one wins, I can say this; if that one wins - and we bank it all. ``And then hopefully you don't need any of them,'' he continued. ``The best nights are when you're free and it comes to you right then and there. The Jack (Palance push-up) night, when he did that, I went, 'Oh, thank you.' '' While Crystal tends to get high marks for his hosting duties, the oppressive length of the production is routinely derided. ``We're very conscious of the time of the show, as we always are,'' Crystal said. ``We also have to honor people who passed last year who were giants. We're talking about how to be respectful re·spect·ful adj. Showing or marked by proper respect. re·spect  ful·ly adv. to the memory of Katharine Hepburn and Bob Hope and Gregory Peck. We
lost some incredible giants. So they have to be treated respectfully re·spect·ful adj. Showing or marked by proper respect. re·spect ful·ly adv. and
still maintain within it a sense of fun and glamour at the same
time.''
Joe Roth, who is producing the Oscar ceremony for the first time, adds, ``I don't think it's possible to do the show in less than 3 1/2 hours.'' So make sure you're watching from a comfy com·fy adj. com·fi·er, com·fi·est Informal Comfortable. comfy Adjective [-fier, -fiest] Informal comfortable Adj. 1. seat. David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: no caption (Billy Crystal and Oscar) |
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