[Chapter 840: Unprecedented]
Billy Crystal opened the awards ceremony with a lively medley of songs, roasting all the nominated films.
The first presenter was the legendary Hollywood actress Julie Andrews, known for her roles in Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. She took the stage to present the Honorary Oscar to director Mike Kidd. Eric didn't know the director, who was in his eighties, but he remembered the previous Honorary Award recipient, Kirk Douglas, who was Michael Douglas's father.
The second award of the night was for Best Costume Design, relating to Titanic. Julia Roberts stepped onto the stage as a presenter, introducing the nominees. At that moment, the auditorium seemed to quiet down significantly.
While nearly everyone predicted that Titanic would be the biggest winner of the night, the result was not set in stone just yet; uncertainty lingered.
The nominated films were clearly less exquisite in terms of costume design compared to Titanic. If Titanic didn't take this initial win, it would cast a shadow over the remaining thirteen nominations.
"The nominees for the Oscar for Best Costume Design are Sandy Powell for Shakespeare in Love; Paul Brown for Angels & Insects; Ruth Myers for Emma; Alexandra Bryne for Hamlet; and Deborah Scott for Titanic."
Glamorous clips of the respective films flashed on the big screen. Julia opened the envelope before her and peeked at the result but didn't immediately lean into the microphone. Instead, she instinctively glanced at Eric, a smile on her face that seemed to say, "Look what I've got."
Eric quickly caught on, seizing the opportunity before the live camera turned towards them, he gestured to Julia discreetly.
Although some in the audience noticed this brief moment, most assumed this smile was merely a congratulatory exchange.
With Eric's silent cue, Julia smiled casually into the microphone and announced, "The Oscar goes to Deborah Scott for Titanic."
As expected, the auditorium erupted into loud applause.
In the back of the auditorium, a woman in her forties jumped up excitedly, hugged her husband, and then made her way to the front to congratulate the creative team of Titanic with handshakes and hugs. Eric, sitting in the middle of the third row, stood up and reached out to shake hands with Deborah Scott, congratulating her.
Following this opening win for Best Costume Design, Titanic went on to also win Best Editing, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects, bringing its tally to four Oscars in less than half an hour.
After another unrelated award for Best Foreign Language Film was given, the composed Pierce Brosnan took the stage to introduce Celine Dion's performance of the Titanic theme song, My Heart Will Go On.
The heavenly music echoed throughout the prestigious Civic Auditorium, leading Eric to assume that the next award presented would be for Best Original Song. Instead, it was Nicolas Cage who stepped up to introduce the nominees for Best Actress.
The five nominees did not present a clear frontrunner. Under normal circumstances, if Titanic hadn't taken the spotlight, Julia might have had a strong chance of winning, especially given Miramax's powerful PR capabilities.
However, in light of Titanic's strong showing, Miramax had withdrawn PR efforts for Shakespeare in Love to conserve funds and resources, significantly decreasing Julia's chances.
As for Rachel Weisz, while her performance far eclipsed that of Leo DiCaprio, for a newcomer in Hollywood, a nomination for Best Actress was already a significant honor. Winning the award, however, was at least much less likely than for Julia.
The PR strategy set by Firefly did not focus much attention on Rachel's nomination either.
In the end, the Best Actress Oscar went to Frances McDormand for Fargo. This Hollywood star had originally burst onto the scene with the Coen brothers' cult classic, Blood Simple, and years later, won the Oscar again for a film by the same directors, marking a beautiful narrative.
Titanic added two more Oscars to its collection with wins for Best Art Direction and Best Original Screenplay.
When Cameron walked off the stage amidst loud applause, Eric glanced at his watch, noting that the ceremony had just crossed the one-hour mark. It seemed that the organizers had been quite strategic in order of awards to boost ratings.
Eric assumed the Best Original Song award, which was related to him, might be presented around the hour-and-a-half or two-hour mark.
...
As his thoughts wandered, the next presenter, Courtney Love, began announcing the nominees for Best Makeup. Eric sat up straight; winning this award was crucial for Titanic to potentially break the all-time Oscar record of 11 wins held by Ben-Hur.
Among Titanic's fourteen nominations, with the exception of Rachel's Best Actress nod (which had little hope), the outcome of its total wins was contingent on two more variables: Best Supporting Actress and Best Makeup.
Titanic had a notable advantage for costume design, but it faced stiff competition in makeup, particularly from Universal's summer hit The Nutty Professor. Eddie Murphy's impressive portrayal of an over-weight character through makeup was a formidably strong contender.
Only three films received nominations for Best Makeup: Titanic, The Nutty Professor, and Star Trek: First Contact.
After introducing the nominees, Courtney Love opened her envelope, and Eric instinctively squeezed the hand of the girl beside him.
"Then, the Oscar goes to..." Courtney paused with a small smile, building suspense before announcing, "Tina Earnshaw, Greg Cannom and Simon Thompson for Titanic. Congratulations!"
The auditorium erupted in applause once again as the three winning makeup artists made their way to the stage. This was Titanic's seventh Oscar, and the attendees were nearly in a state of numbness, many unaware of what this win truly signified for Titanic.
After congratulating the three makeup artists, Eric returned to his seat, where he was met with excited glances from Cameron and the two producers, Jon Landau and William Stuart.
The six Oscars won before the Best Makeup award clearly indicated that the Academy had acknowledged Titanic's massive commercial success. The biggest question that remained was whether it could surpass the 11 Oscars of Ben-Hur.
After securing the uncertain Best Makeup award, most guests and viewers awaiting the final results still might not comprehend the full significance of this win. However, the Titanic creative team and PR consultants, having simulated numerous outcomes during the PR phase, fully understood the implications.
Winning a Best Makeup award almost assuredly indicated Titanic would likely receive 12 Oscars, thereby creating a new historical record at the Oscars.
...
As Eric had guessed, when the ceremony reached the two-hour mark, the legendary Hollywood star Goldie Hawn presented the Best Original Song award.
Initially, Eric had hoped to share the award with Cameron and James Horner. After all, he had merely provided the lyrics and melody; the arrangement and recording were entirely done by Cameron and James. Now, with Eric's stature, it mattered little whether he solely held an Oscar; however, at the time of application, Cameron and James declined co-attribution. The PR team believed it would be more advantageous for promotional purposes and follow-up publicity for Eric to be the sole name on the award.
Before this award, Madonna had performed You Must Love Me from Evita, a song that posed the biggest threat to My Heart Will Go On. It was clearly another well-crafted strategy from the Oscars to generate suspense.
Goldie Hawn quickly opened the envelope and announced, "The Oscar goes to Eric Williams for My Heart Will Go On."
The applause erupted, louder than any since the beginning of the evening, with some cheers coming from the crowd.
Eric smiled, rising to embrace the girl beside him before leaving his seat to greet Cameron, Jon Landau, William Stuart, Rachel, and others one by one before gracefully stepping onto the stage.
Accepting the Oscar from Goldie Hawn, Eric hugged the timeless first-generation American sweetheart and approached the microphone.
As Eric stood before the microphone, the previously subsided applause surged back to enthusiastic levels.
"Thank you, thank you all," Eric graciously expressed his gratitude, patiently waiting for the applause to die down. He then lifted the Oscar, joking, "I feel I should clarify; actually, I'm a director."
After a brief silence, the audience quickly caught on to Eric's self-deprecating humor, bursting into laughter.
Eric was indeed a director, and no one doubted that he was one of the best in Hollywood. However, funnily enough, both times he had stood on the Oscars stage, the awards had nothing to do with Best Director.
While delivering his acceptance speech, Eric couldn't help but recall a playful joke made with the girl beside him while trying on clothes a couple of days ago. He wondered if he might end up winning every minor Oscar by the end of the night. While he had little hope for acting awards, he remained optimistic about categories like Best Screenplay and Best Editing.
After his brief speech, Eric walked backstage with Goldie Hawn.
...
After sitting in the auditorium for two hours, it was uncomfortable for anyone. Eric didn't rush back, finalizing the engraving for his Oscar before posing for a quick photo opportunity. He then made his way to the lounge.
Several guests were lazily lingering in the lounge, having skipped the auditorium. Oscars had designated seat fillers, who occupied seats when the guests left, preventing any conspicuous empty spots. Thus, as long as one did not pay close attention, the audience wouldn't notice when a guest slipped away.
As Eric entered, the guests eagerly gathered around to greet him. After all, Eric was not just a director; anyone getting familiar with him could expect unexpected benefits down the line.
Eric had just exchanged a few words with Al Pacino when a gentle female voice called from behind him.
"Hey, Eric, congratulations."
Eric turned to see Madonna, who had just performed You Must Love Me on stage, now quickly changed into a more comfortable outfit, smiling back at him.
Eric politely reached out to shake Madonna's hand, saying, "Thank you, Ms. Ciccone, your performance was fantastic too."
Madonna held Eric's hand, seemingly a little displeased, replying, "Oh, Eric, you can just call me Madonna."
Madonna...
Eric sweat a little; it would have been far easier to just call her "Queen."
Realizing her hand lightly scratched his palm, Eric suddenly snapped back to reality, noticing Madonna's cheerful gaze upon him. Awkwardly releasing her hand, he shrugged and said, "Sorry, Mad... uh, Madonna."
Eric's knowledge of Madonna was akin to someone saying, "Hey, let's make sure we wear proper clothes," so he didn't have a special feeling toward the star.
Madonna seemed intrigued by him. She pointed to a sofa in the corner of the lounge, saying, "Eric, how about we sit over there?"
Eric instinctively wanted to refuse but suddenly remembered the Yahoo Music Store opportunity and nodded in agreement.
Not to mention, Madonna was undeniably one of the biggest stars in music, on par with Michael Jackson. If the Yahoo Music Store could secure online sales rights to Madonna's music, it would undoubtedly advance the progress of music online sales platforms significantly.
They settled onto the sofa in the corner, where Madonna instructed her assistant to fetch coffee, then resumed examining Eric with keen interest, noticing his empty hands. She chuckled, "Eric, where's your Oscar?"
"Oh, my assistant put it away," Eric said, nodding toward Peter Rich standing nearby.
Madonna joked, "Ha! If I won, I'd hold onto that Oscar all night."
Eric teased back, "So you bring a pile of Grammy awards to bed every time, huh?"
Madonna shot him a playful look, responding coyly, "You want to see me in bed with a pile of awards?"
Eric shook his head immediately, saying, "Not interested."
Madonna paused, then burst into laughter, saying, "That's just heartbreaking, Eric. Speaking of which, My Heart Will Go On is certainly going to be a big winner at next year's Grammys. Maybe you'll get an invite. I mean, you should have received one years ago for New Divide. I still have that single! It's too bad you seem to have never cared."
"That's your domain; I won't intrude on the excitement," Eric said, not wanting Madonna to steer the conversation. He intended to bring up the Yahoo Music Store when a flurry of activity began near the stage entrance.
Peter Rich rushed over, saying, "Mr. Williams! Stuart just won Best Supporting Actress."
Surprised, Eric stood up. After winning Best Makeup, he hadn't held high hopes for Best Supporting Actress.
After all, competing against Gloria Stuart were legendary Golden Age star Lauren Bacall. In terms of credentials and fame, Gloria couldn't compare. Furthermore, if Titanic could nab all 12 awards, everyone was already thrilled.
Unexpectedly, this award had a chance just like Rachel's for Best Actress.
Once he calmed down, Eric asked Peter Rich, "How many has it won now?"
"Ten," Peter said, then added, "Next up for Titanic are Best Score, Best Director, and Best Picture."
The nominations for James Horner's Best Score, Cameron's Best Director, and the ultimate Best Picture -- by this point, what suspense could remain?
There was no question; Titanic was on track to win an unprecedented total of 13 Oscars!
*****
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