An Oscar Comeback: ‘And the Winner Is …’

2 minute read
Bryan Alexander

Observant viewers of the 82nd Academy Awards broadcast on March 7 might have noticed something even more surprising than The Hurt Locker’s near sweep of honors or the absence of Farrah Fawcett from the roll call of deceased celebrities. For the first time since 1989, winners were back.

Rather than using the politically correct, nonjudgmental phrase that has been foisted on viewers for more than two decades–“And the Oscar goes to …”–presenters this year introduced each winner with the blunt, old-fashioned but perfectly accurate phrase “And the winner is …”

Why the switch? No one at the Motion Picture Academy would give any explanation, though officials acknowledged that it was a decision made by the show’s producers, Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman, with an O.K. from the Academy.

The broadcast originally stopped using the “winner” formulation after then producer Allan Carr banned the phrase, noting at the time that the Oscars “were not about winning or losing but about achievement.” Other awards shows, which followed suit, were quick to notice the new return to form. “It was kind of jolting,” says John Leverence, a senior vice president of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which gives out TV’s Emmy Awards. The rationale for the common “and the [insert award name here] goes to …” format is twofold: it plugs the honor continuously, and it doesn’t make losers feel any worse than they already do. “There’s just a little bit of negative spin on saying, ‘Oh yeah, this guy won this. The rest of you guys, by implication, did not win–hence are losers,'” says Leverence.

The Grammy and Emmy ceremonies have no plans to change from their “award goes to” phrasing, according to representatives of both organizations. As for the 2011 Oscars? That’s a decision for the producers who will be in charge next year. “It’s not permanent,” a show spokesperson tells TIME.

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