Welcome to the Academy Awards

They come every year, and every year I get just as excited as the last. I sit on the couch, in my comfy

clothes, making bets with my dad, phone in hand, texting my friend the play by play of the winners, partly wishing I could wear those beautiful gowns all the time and partly thinking, I’m so glad I can breath in my sweats.

It’s hard to believe that The Oscars haven’t always been the big extravaganza that they are today, but that was the case on May 16, 1929, the night of the first Academy Awards. That night only 270 people attended the awards with tickets only costing $5 and the winners were announced three months earlier. Public interest in the show grew after the first show, and the second show had a one-hour radio broadcast and the winners were kept a secret until the award ceremony. In 1953 the first televised ceremony let millions enjoy the show and it has been that way ever since.

Today, the red carpet for The Oscars usually starts at six or seven, with the ceremony starting at eight and is supposed to run until 11 p.m. but lets face it, it always runs late because of long speeches. For the last 10 years The Oscars have been pulling in between 32 to 43 million viewers each year.

This year, with Ellen DeGeneres hosting and big name Hollywood actors and actresses attending, and no real front runners to win the big awards meaning the night will be full of surprises, I’m sure they will have no trouble pulling in good ratings.