Billy Crystal is usually the first name on the list when it comes to presenting the Oscars. He’s seen as a safe, dependable pair of hands. But this year Billy Crystal blew the Oscars off.
Flummoxed, the producer of the Oscars ran around in circles for a few months before settling on Jon Stewart as host – a funny guy, but a man who is about as globally famous as Barry Chuckle. Why did Billy Crystal decide to turn down the chance to present the Oscars for the eight-millionth time? He’s finally broken his silence.
You know what you’re getting when Billy Crystal (DVDs) hosts the Oscars –
you’re getting a three-hour song about Jack Nicholson looking quite old
and a great big schmaltzy smile. Pass the Oscar host buck onto anyone
else, however, and you throw yourself into the realm of the unknown.
David Letterman spent much of his time hosting the Oscars screaming
"Oprah, Uma, Oprah, Uma!" like a deranged robot, and Chris Rock singled
out Jude Law for the longest – and best – bout of concentrated heckling
we’ve ever seen. Maybe Jon Stewart will present the Oscars dressed up as a beatboxing gay cowboy – who knows?
But let it never be forgot that Jon Stewart got the Oscars gig
because Billy Crystal turned it down. Why did he turn it down? Reports
claimed that Academy Awards producer Gil Cates repeatedly telephoned
Crystal begging him to host the Oscars right up until Christmas, but
Crystal had other priorities – his one man show, 700 Sundays.
700 Sundays is Billy Crystal’s one man play/extended stand-up
routine/nostalgia-fest all about his childhood. It sounds about as fun as
visiting your auntie’s house to watch a painfully detailed slideshow of
her holiday visiting drawing pin factories in the Ipswich area, but
it’s been a phenomenal critical and commercial success, winning Tony
awards and raking in stacks of cash at the box office. And it’s more
important to Billy Crystal than the Oscars, as he explains:
“I’m so tired at the end of ‘700 Sundays. I didn’t want to go from that into a meeting where
I’m saying, ‘Give me “Brokeback Mountain” jokes.’ It seemed so not what
I wanted to do."
Also,
Billy now has a one-year headstart on writing a hilarious song about
how old Jack Nicholson looks for when he decides to present the Oscars
in 2007.
Read more:
Crystal explains why he won’t be Oscar host – MSNBC
[story by Stuart Heritage]