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It's Soooo LA For The Oscars
It's Possible To See Stars on Hollywood's Biggest Night
Acticle by "The Bartender," who lives in Los Angeles and who has attended one of the Oscar parties.
The buildup is in all the papers, TV news stations talk about the nominees and the gowns the women will be wearing on the red carpet.
In Hollywood, the grandstands go up and that red carpet is laid out in front of the Kodak Theater. Hollywood Blvd., is closed to traffic much of the week and the buzz builds like a symphony orchestra reaching for climatic crescendo.
The Oscars are in L.A., and for anyone across the country – or the world – who wonders what it's like to be here when this event takes place, here's your inside story.
The footprints at Mannh's Chinese Theater get a lot of tourist foot traffic.
In Hollywood, it is impossible to escape Oscar Fever. Everyone sees it, everyone talks about it and the city takes on a special feeling for its most special night. Big billboards are up on buildings – but not too big, or else the new city attorney will come down hard, he did in 2010– and tourists are marveling at the footprints in front of Mann's Chinese Theater and searching for their favorite stars along the Walk of Fame.
Just five days before Oscars Night in 2010, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce added the 2,402nd star to the Walk of Fame, honoring Andrea Bocelli, followed by the 5th annual Los Angeles Italia Film, Fashion and Art Fest. Oscar Fever, indeed.
– NOT ALL OF L.A. HAS OSCARS FEVER –
Oh, baby! Hollywood is full of cebrity look-alikes.
But not all of LA is in Hollywood. Very little of it, in fact. Walk down the streets of Santa Monica, past the t-shirt vendors and performers on Venice Beach or cruise the Sunset Strip, and there will be very little evidence the Oscars are taking place just a few miles away.
The next-best place to find Oscar vibe is at LA Live downtown, which s fast becoming a central gathering place for the city, a kind of Times Square in L.A. To be sure, it's not there yet, but its popularity is growing.
Los Angeles is a very spread-out city. One of its strengths is its diversity, so while some are so caught up in the Oscars they show up just hoping to get a glimpse of a celebrity, people in other parts of Southern California would prefer to be surfing.
In LA, the Oscars mean more to the city because celebrities are part of the everyday life here, be it chance encounters at a store or restaurant or seeing them on the locals news for whatever reason. They are common guests on the KTLA and Fox 11 morning news shows.
But for the Academy Awards, Hollywood is the place to be in the city without question. It's like the Rose Bowl parade is to Pasadena, the Grand Prix is to Long Beach. Except it's the biggest of them all because of the huge international audience.
– BEING IN HOLLYWOOD & SEEING CELEBRITIES –
Lisa Kudrow and Jon Lovitz on a Hollywood Red Carpet.
[MAP
for Hollywood & Highland]
Seeing the scene at the Academy Awards is possible, although not as simple as in the past when people camped out in front of the Shrine for a chance to get a seat in the bleachers.
The Kodak Theater is located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd., at the corner of Hollywood and Highland. A few years ago, the city redeveloped this area and it is now an entertainment and shopping center. It is just down from Mann's Chinese Theater, which is always crowded wth celebrity look-alikes who love to pose for tourist photos (they do charge for this, by the way; it's how they make their living).
Bleacher seats to watch the celebrities arrive at the Academy Awards are free but very limited. So limited, in fact, people have to apply on-line. In September.
Celebrities start to show up between 3:30 and 4 p.m., with most of the big names arriving fashionably on time – that is, on time enough to be seen and noticed, knock off a few interviews on the red carpet and get to their seats inside. This starts about 4:30. One potential damper on this year's event is that rain is predicted for Sunday. Forecasters are hoping it ends by mid-morning but warn regardless, the temperatures are going to be cool (upper 40s, low 50s).
When the curtain goes up, people in Los Angeles are either at the show (which is not likely, as many B-list celebrities are even turned away because the Kodak Theater less capacity than the old Shrine Auditorium and since tickets are non-transferable don't expect to even scalp a ticket) or in front of their TV sets.
So what about crashing the famous parties after the awards gave been given out and the end of the show? Well, it's entirely possible for those with a knack for such things, but highly unlikely. Many are private events at restaurants scattered throughout L.A. – remember, this is a very spread-out city – and the best one can hope for is to find a spot, line up outside and get a glimpse of a winner holding his or her new Academy Award.
The Bartender can be reached at bartender@pubclub.com
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