The Academy Awards The academy Awards are accolades presented anually by AMPAS. Are made for recognize excellence of directors, actors and writers. It is also the oldest award ceremony in the media. There are Grammy Awards (for music), Golden Globe Awards (all forms of

visual media), and Emmy Awards (for television) too. The Awards show holds the distinction of having won the most Emmys in

history, with 38 wins and 167 nominations.

1st Academy Award The 1st ceremony was

held on 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honor outstanding film achievements.

was hosted by actor Douglas Fairbanks and director William C. deMille.

History The first awards were

presented as a private brunch with an audience of about 270 people.

Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other personalities.

Winners had been announced three months earlier of their triumphs; but that was changed in the second ceremony of the Academy Awards in 1930.

Since 2002, the awards have been broadcast from the Kodak Theatre.

History: First best actors The first Best Actor awarded

was Emil Jannings, for his performance in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh.

Since the fourth ceremony, the professionals were honored for a specific performance in a single film.

A total of 297 actors have won Oscars in competitive acting categories or been awarded Honorary or Juvenile Awards.

Nomination Since 2004, Academy

Award nomination results have been announced to the public in late January.

Prior to 2004, nomination results were announced publicly in early February.

Voters 1 The AMPAS maintains a

voting membership of 5,835 as of 2007.

Actors constitute the largest voting bloc of the Academy's composition.

Votes have been certified by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Voters 2 All AMPAS members

must be invited to join by the Board of Governors.

New membership proposals are considered annually.

Rules A film must open in the

previous calendar year, it must be defined as a minimum of 40 minutes, except for short subject awards. Producers must submit an Official Screen Credits online form before the deadline.

Rules For most categories, members from each of

the branches vote to determine the nominees.There are some exceptions though in the case of certain categories. All voting members are eligible to select the nominees for that category. The members of the various branches nominate those in their respective fields. The winners are then determined by a second round.

Ceremony 1 The major awards are

presented at a live televised ceremony, most commonly in February or March following the relevant calendar year.

Black tie dress is the most common outfit for men.

The elegant dresses is the most common outfit for woman.

Ceremony, televised The Awards show was

first televised on NBC in 1953.

The Academy Awards is televised live across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, etc.

The ceremonies were moved up to late February or early March starting in 2004.

Ratings Historically, the "Oscarcast"

has pulled in a bigger haul. The most watched ceremony, was the 42nd Academy Awards. By contrast, ceremonies honoring films that haven’t performed well at the box office tend to show weaker ratings.

The Best Picture winner of that particular ceremony was another low-budget, independently financed film.

Academy awards ceremonies and ratings.

Venues In 1929, the 1st Academy Awards were presented at a

banquet dinner at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, then at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, years later in the Academy Award Theater and from 1950 to 1960, the awards were presented at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre also in the NBC International Theatre and then at the NBC Century Theatre. Years later, he Oscars moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California.

Finally, in 2002, Hollywood's Kodak Theatre became the permanent home of the awards.

Academy Awards of Merit

Retired Awards

Proposed awards

Best Casting: rejected in 1999

Best Stunt Coordination: rejected in 1999; rejected in 2005

Best Title Design: rejected in 1999

Special Academy Awards These awards are

voted on by special committees, but the individual selected to receive the special award may decline the offer. They aren’t always presented on a consistent annual basis.

Current special awards

Academy Honorary Award: since 1929

Academy Scientific and Technical Award: since 1931.

Gordon E. Sawyer Award: since 1981.

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award: since 1956.

Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award: since 1938.

Retired special awards

Academy Juvenile Award: 1934 to 1960

Academy Special

Achievement Award 1972 to 1995

Criticism The Oscars are generally voted on by members of the

entertainment industry, in addition, several winners critical of the Academy Awards have boycotted the ceremonies and refused to accept their Oscars.

Unfortunately, the critical worth, artistic vision, cultural influence, and innovative qualities of many films are not given the same voting weight.

The Academy Awards have also come under criticism for having a bias towards certain types of performances and film genres.

Other major events surrounding the Academy Awards Major events held annually

leading up to the awards show include:

25th Independent Spirit Awards

The 8th annual "Night Before"

Elton John's AIDS fundraiser viewing party

The Governors' Ball is the official after party

The Vanity Fair after party