The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 2015 Focus
First row, middle seat, near the left aisle, with Kate Winslet on the left and Leonardo DiCaprio and Gisele on the right, the absolute focus of attention.

It's obvious that the academy isn't going to waste Anson's resources; to be precise, ABC should be prepared to squeeze every last drop of traffic from Anson.

This seating arrangement is a visual feast and a surefire way to generate buzz. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that ABC deliberately planned this.

Before Anson could even sit down, Martin Scorsese, who had been strolling over, glanced at the group of young people, then at the tightly packed seating, and continued walking forward with a meaningful look on his face. "Oh, you guys better not fall asleep tonight."

Just then, Cate Blanchett walked over, looking for a spot. After confirming the location again, she patted her chest and said, "Luckily, I dodged a bullet. Looks like they don't want to put our whole crew together, otherwise I'd be sitting here suffering. Thanks, Cate."

Blanchett patted Winslet on the shoulder, his tone meant to comfort her, but it sounded suspiciously gloating.

Then, all eyes fell on Anson—

Clearly, it was all Anson's fault, creating wave after wave of hype before the Oscars, with immense pressure crashing down on him.

Without a doubt, Anson became ABC's only lifeline.

Anson, however, preemptively struck, looking innocently at Leonardo and Gisele, "It's all your fault."

Leonardo: ? ? ?
As a result, both Kates looked over, one in front of the other, and nodded in agreement, "That makes sense."

Leonardo was at a loss, "Hey!"

The young people burst into laughter again, thoroughly enjoying themselves. Compared to the average age in other areas of the Kodak Theatre, this place was indeed brimming with youthful energy. Not only the camera lenses, but also the eyes of the other guests couldn't help but turn towards it, feeling the vibrant energy permeating the air.

Then, I finally sat down.

Even after sitting down, Anson still had no room to breathe. Guests kept coming and going to greet him, and Kate and Leonardo were completely relegated to supporting roles, to the point that Anson felt a little embarrassed.

Leonardo appeared remarkably calm, saying, "Because you're the fresh face tonight, and everyone's eager to witness your debut."

Kate added, "Remember what you look like now, and when you go on stage, compare the two side-by-side."

After saying that, Leonardo and Kate gave each other a high five behind Anson's head, without even exchanging glances, demonstrating their mutual understanding.

Kate looked at Anson's smiling face. "So, are you nervous?"

Anson said, "I'm a little worried that if the stage is too spectacular, you won't be able to see the circus, and everyone might leave disappointed."

Kate laughed so hard she almost fell over, and Leonardo became curious as well.

It was only then that Kate realized Leonardo had never seen Anson perform at a Grammy, neither last year nor this year. She couldn't help but rub her hands together excitedly, "You should look forward to it..."

The conversation didn't finish, and the lights went out—

Completely unaware of the passage of time, the awards ceremony was about to begin.

Nevertheless, Kate looked at Leonardo, past Anson, and said in a low voice, "You definitely won't be disappointed."

Leonardo clearly didn't hear, "What?"

Anson approached Leonardo and said, "Be careful, your head might explode."

Sizzle, sizzle.

A murmur of laughter filled the air, and an imported video began playing on the big screen, gradually calming the noise and restlessness of the entire venue.

Then, Chris Rock appeared—

Roar! Roar! Roar! The entire audience erupted in thunderous applause, which continued to rise.

Turning around, I noticed that the guests were actually standing up and applauding one after another, which shows how popular Chris Rock is in Hollywood.

Of course, Chris Rock becoming the host of tonight's Oscars is a typical Hollywood story in itself. After struggling in obscurity for twenty years in the world of fame and fortune, he finally broke through and stood at the center of the world overnight, basking in the baptism of all the applause and lights.

And who wouldn't love a story of a dark horse making a comeback?

Bathed in thunderous applause, Chris remained calm. "Alright, alright, sit down quickly. We still have a four-hour marathon to catch up on our schedule. We don't have time to play tricks here."

His very first sentence was a scathing dig at the Oscars, successfully igniting a frenzy of applause and whistles from the audience.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 77th and final Academy Awards ceremony. We will soon be merging with the Grammys."

Hahaha, hahaha—

The laughter was deafening. Unexpectedly, one sentence after another, Chris seamlessly connected with the hottest topic of February this year.

Without pausing, Chris expertly controlled the rhythm of the stand-up comedy, immediately transitioning to his next joke before the laughter had even subsided.

"Tonight is amazing! Four Black actors are nominated for Oscars! Wow, it's practically the Black Oscars! Is the end of the world finally here?"

Amidst laughter, the live broadcast camera immediately focused on tonight's top favorite, Jamie Foxx.

Jamie was clearly very happy.

"I remember when we were kids, we thought every movie was amazing and a masterpiece. But when we watched them again as adults, we found that our memories seemed to be wrong."

"For example, 'Mabinogi 5' is absolutely terrible!"

I couldn't help but chuckle.

Just when Anson thought Chris was about to use this joke to travel through time, Chris changed the subject, "Do you know why I like the Oscars?"

"I like the Oscars because they are the only awards that don't have a performance stage."

One small detail reveals the incredible pressure Chris and Oscar are under—

While ordinary stand-up comedy is indeed made up of jokes pieced together, truly skilled comedians can often extract a common core from different jokes, using this hidden core to connect all the jokes and push the emotions to a climax.

Throughout Oscar history, comedian Billy Crystal has hosted the event eight times, showcasing his talent for seamlessly blending jokes and the awards ceremony with humor and satire, while also addressing the theme of each year's Oscars to create a unique and engaging experience.

Chris carries a heavy responsibility; he not only needs to surpass Billy Crystal's achievement from last year, but also the Grammy he achieved three weeks ago.

Tremendous stress.

From the very beginning, the disconnect between Chris's jokes was already apparent. Although the jokes were funny, there was no connection between them, and the emotions were not woven together, which was truly regrettable. It remains to be seen whether Chris can turn the tide.

"Really. Nobody performs at the Oscars."

"When you attend the Grammys, someone sings; when you attend the Tony Awards, someone sings and someone dances; when you attend the Source Awards, someone sings, someone dances, and someone shoots."

The Open Source Awards, a legendary award founded by a hip-hop magazine, went astray in its second edition in 1995. Hip-hop artists from both the East and West coasts made outrageous remarks during their acceptance speeches, which ultimately led to a real conflict between the East and West hip-hop communities, resulting in bloodshed.

No one expected that Chris would actually joke about this—

Is this really good?
(End of this chapter)