83rd Oscar Telecast on February 27, 2011 Marred by Lackluster Hosting, Poor Preparation

The 83^rd Academy Awards was held at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles on February 27, 2011 with hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway. In interviewing 10 different people who watched the awards show, these were their comments:

Scott Wilson, 42, of Chicago, Illinois commented: "I wasn't really blown away by the hosting. I thought the hosts were just taking up space."

Annie Rhodes, 37, of Iowa City, Iowa said, "I thought that James Franco acted like kind of a d***. He came off as a doofus. But the worst part was that Gwynneth Paltrow was flat when she sang. That surprised me. Also, Helen Mirren, when she was speaking French, didn't speak it very well."

Pamela Lamprecht, 66, of Des Moines, Iowa, commented, "Why did they have 'Toy Story' in the same category for Best Picture with pictures that have real actors in them? I don't think animated films should be placed in the same category as films with human actors, because there's a lot more to acting then just a voice.

Also, I think that there were not enough nominated songs. As Randy Newman said in his acceptance speech, why couldn't the Academy find one more song to nominate? I felt that hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco were not excellent hosts like Billy Crystal (who hosted 8 times) or Bob Hope (who hosted 18 times). In the brief appearance that Billy Crystal made, we could all see what we were missing. Anne Hathaway's sole function seemed to be to parade around as a clotheshorse, although she was superior to James Frano. James Franco didn't add anything at all. Very disappointing. I thought they were both going to sing and dance and do skits, like Jimmy Fallon did at the Emmys. The hosting was the worst I've seen. People who are nominated (and know they've been nominated weeks in advance) shouldn't get up there and stutter and stammer around. The actor nominees should be able to speak coherently in complete sentences for at least a few seconds. Example: Melissa Leo. She used profanity and commented on the people in the balcony. It was one of the worst acceptance speeches I've ever heard. Colin Firth did well."

Dr. John Rhodes, 67, of Des Moines said, " We (the viewers) were robbed! I thought Anne Hathaway was charming, but left a lot to be desired as a hostess."

NATALIE PORTMAN

Emily Rhodes, 23, of Des Moines, Iowa, said: "Fifty-one year-od Melissa Leo's win really surprised me, because people usually love youth. I was really happy about Natalie Portman's win. The documentary 'Gasland' was really good. The hosts were duds."

Stacey Wilson, 23, of Nashville, Tennessee said, "I thought Natalie Portman deserved to win. She not only had to meet the mental demands of the role, she had to meet the physical demands of the role. I saw 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' about the graffiti artist Banksey. It was interesting. I can't believe it was nominated this year, because it seems like it was a long time ago that I saw it."

GWYNNETH PALTROW

Emmie Futrell, 23, of Nashville, Tennessee, said, "This is the first Oscar broadcast I've ever watched, and I really enjoyed watching all the red carpet stuff. That blue space-age outfit that Anne Hathaway wore was my least favorite dress. " Emmie, whose boyfriend is a member of the up-and-coming Nashville band "Moon Taxi" said, "I was surprised that Gwynneth Paltrow was flat when she sang. I think it's one of those cases where she has power. She is married to Chris Martin of 'Coldplay.' She's generally in the right vocal range, but tonight, she was bad."

Emmie and I did agree that Gwynneth looked great in her all-gold outfit as she walked the red carpet prior to the show.

Anne Rhodes, 37, of Iowa City, Iowa said, "Gwynneth Paltrow was flat when she sang, and James Franco acted like he was stuck on himself. The only good line he got in was when he dressed in drag (as Marilyn Monroe) and said that Charlie Sheen had just texted him."

HOSTING SUB-PAR

Craig Wilson, 65, of East Moline, Illinois, said, "The hosts acted like they were a couple of amateurs. They should have had somebody who demonstrated some talent as a host."

Jessica Henderson, 35, of Bridgeport, Illinois, said, "We expected Natalie Portman to win, and we were glad that the song from 'Toy Story' won."