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26 Feb 2007

ellen and melissa put gay back into the oscars this year

Nowhere as gay as the last but the 79th Annual Academy Awards is for the first time hosted by an openly gay host Ellen DeGeneres and lesbian singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge's who won Best Song for her global warming anthem, ''I Need to Wake Up,'' highlighted not only the environmental issue but also same-sex marriages.

Although the Oscars this year was nowhere as gay as the last, comedian and chat show host Ellen DeGeneres made history as its first openly gay host in its 79-year history and is only the second woman to host the event solo, with Whoopi Goldberg being the first in 2002.

From the top: host Ellen Degeneres, Degeneres with partner actress Portia de Rossi (right), Best Original Song winner Melissa Etheridge with wife Tammy Lynn Michaels (right).
The 49-year-old, who currently hosts an award-winning weekday talk show, came out 10 years ago in her sitcom Ellen and became the first openly gay lead character on a US prime-time television. That year, she appeared on the cover of TIME magazine with the simple but groundbreaking headline: "Yep, I'm Gay."

Despite being known for her trademark tailored suit style, she revealed that Oscar producers and designers had tried to get her in a dress for the big event.

"There was some pressure with people wanting me to wear a gown. That's understandable; it's a glamorous night. But a gown is just not what I'm most comfortable in. It's not what works best for me," she said.

Hosting the twice-delayed Emmy Awards in November 2001 just two months after the tragedy of 9/11, she won wide approval amidst criticism that the awards show should be further postponed or cancelled by saying: "We're told to go on living our lives as usual because to do otherwise is to let the terrorists win, and really, what would upset the Taliban more than a gay woman wearing a suit in front of a room full of Jews?"

In 2005 DeGeneres was again selected to host the Emmy Awards, this time just three weeks after Hurricane Katrina.

Drawing on the ethnic diversity of acting nominees, among them five blacks, two Latinas and an Asian, DeGeneres did not miss the chance to remind viewers worldwide of the inequality some people face.

"What a wonderful night, such diversity in the room, in a year when there's been so many negative things said about people's race, religion and sexual orientation. And I want to put this out there: If there weren't blacks, Jews and gays, there would be no Oscars. Or anyone named Oscar, when you think about that."

Out lesbian singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge caused a stir by shutting out all three Dreamgirls (nominations) to take a man home. "This is the only naked man that will ever be in my bedroom," Etheridge jested with reporters backstage.

She took home the Best Original Song award for "I Need To Wake Up," a song she penned for the documentary An Inconvenient Truth which won Best Documentary Feature. The film chronicles former Vice President of the United States Al Gore's campaign to warn the world about global warming.

When Etheridge's name was announced, she kissed her partner Tammy Lynn Michaels on the lips and onstage referred to Michaels as her wife. Although they consider themselves married, same-sex unions are not legally binding in their home state California.

Discussing the kiss with reporters backstage, Etheridge said: "I have not been one to kiss my partner in public just for sensationalism, I was kissing her because that's what you do, you kiss your loved one when you win an Oscar, that's what I grew up believing."

Big winners of the evening included British actress Helen Mirren, who took home the Best Actress award for The Queen, in which she played Queen Elizabeth, the current monarch of England; and Best Actor Forrest Whitaker for his role in The Last King of Scotland.

Martin Scorsese won the best director Oscar - the first time in seven tries in his career - for The Departed which snagged four awards including the Best Picture prize beating nominees Babel, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen and Letters from Iwo Jima.

Here are the winners in full:

Actress in a Leading Role
Helen Mirren, The Queen

Actor in a Leading Role
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Actor in a supporting role
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine

Actress in a supporting role
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
The Departed

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Little Miss Sunshine

Directing
The Departed

Best Picture
The Departed

Documentary feature
An Inconvenient Truth

Documentary short subject
The Blood of Yingzhou District

Art Direction
Pan's Labyrinth

Music
Babel

Sound Mixing
Dreamgirls

Music (Song)
An Inconvenient Truth

Sound Editing
Letters from Iwo Jima

Foreign Language Film
The Lives of Others

Film Editing
The Departed

Visual Effects
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Animated Feature
Happy Feet

Short Film
West Bank Story

Short Film (Animated)
The Danish Poet

Costume Design
Marie Antoinette

Makeup
Pan's Labyrith

Reader's Comments

1. 2007-02-27 00:56  
Well done to all the Oscar nominees and their respective winners. In keeping the Oscars inclusive of gay people since last years Brokeback Mountain, its nice to see nuances from the host Ellen DeGeneres and Oscar winner Melissa Etheridge keep the queer presence there.
2. 2007-02-27 01:19  
Channel 5 cut out Etheridge calling Tammy her "wife" in the repeat telecast. What a disgrace.
3. 2007-02-27 02:51  
Hurray! Keep it up keep it up keep telling the world that gay people...

are in fact

people!

Raise the pride flag.

Congrats to the oscar winners!
4. 2007-02-27 10:55  
uh, wasn't the queer presence strong last year with jon stewart as host? you don't have to be gay to be queer-friendly, as stewart (host of the ueber-liberal daily show) proved.

oh yeah - you want real progress in the film industry? wait till an A-list star comes out of the closet and stays an A-lister. hollywood may be run by the gays, jews and blacks, but on the outside it's still pure WASP.
5. 2007-02-27 12:45  
Did Channel 5 even screen the kiss? I totally missed it.
6. 2007-02-27 15:31  
No kiss on Channel 5...

Censoring the 'wife' part is ridiculous, say if a Muslim man decides to thank both (or 3 or 4 of) his wives in his acceptance speech, will countries that outlaw polygamy censor him?! It's unconscionable to censor one's public mention or acknowledgment of his/her family just because you have different religious or political beliefs.
7. 2007-02-27 17:40  
Totally agree with suede. But unfortunately, MDA and our censors are still taking the MOST conservative approach available.

And whenever there is doubt over the potential "negative impact(s)", the modus operandi is to cut/delete/censor, rather than take a risk and face possible comments/critique later.

They were probably thinking: "Show two women kissing on public, free-to-air TV? CANNOT!!! What if our young, innocent and promising children and teenagers see it, decide to follow that practice, and throw our traditional Asian values to the wind?!"

Little do they know that the younger Singaporeans have many ways and means to access such "objectionable" materials.....

Like that, how to be a truly global city?! *sigh*
8. 2007-02-27 22:49  
"If there weren't blacks, Jews and gays, there would be no Oscars. Or anyone named Oscar, when you think about that."

I just love this sentence..
9. 2007-02-28 03:26  
see, that's the thing abt Channel 5. they cut out lots of things. that's y I always watch the LIVE version rather than the encore...

...dunno why they even cut out the Costume Design category, it was a funny presentation by Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt with Meryl Streep pretending to in her MIRANDA expression in the audience.

damn, Channel 5...might as well boycott it. heck, even the News are bias!
10. 2007-03-01 15:34  
With all the DVDs available overseas and free stuff on the Internet, why waste ur time watching shallow and biased rubbish loaded with ads from local channels? Get a life, a really OUT life without Channel 5, 8 and all that crap!
11. 2007-03-01 21:21  
hey i think u miss out jodie foster presenting .. surely a gay pride night
12. 2007-03-01 21:56  
local censorship laws really disgusts me. they have no sense of respect for others at all.
13. 2007-03-13 10:58  
As the 1st time host, Ellen was somewhat disappointing. Her comic timing was off-ish.

I hope they bring back Billy Crystal.

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