Organizers of Hollywood's biggest night are white-knuckled as they brace for more unscripted moments that could anger television viewers or throw the finely calibrated global telecast off schedule.
With a worldwide television audience in the hundreds of millions, the temptation to use the event as a platform for political statements has proved irresistible for past winners.
Boos rang out around the Kodak Theater in 2003 when maverick filmmaker Michael Moore launched a vitriolic attack on then-US president George W. Bush for waging war in Iraq.
But Moore was only following the tradition of turning the Oscars podium into a bully pulpit.
Arguably, the most famous example came in 1973, when a woman calling herself Sacheen Littlefeather stood before the stunned audience to collect Marlon Brando's best actor Oscar for "The Godfather."
Littlefeather promptly refused to collect the award on Brando's behalf to protest the movie industry's treatment of native Americans.
Four years later, Vanessa Redgrave drew gasps and boos from the Oscars faithful when she thanked the Academy for honoring her in "Julia" despite "the threats of a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums."
Oscars presenter Paddy Chayefsky chastised her to much applause: "I am sick and tired of people exploiting the Academy Awards for the propagation of their own personal propaganda.
"I would like to suggest to Miss Redgrave that her winning an Academy Award is not a pivotal moment in history, does not require a proclamation, and a simple 'thank you' would have sufficed."
Sometimes, the choice of awards recipients can stoke controversy.
The decision to grant director Elia Kazan a lifetime achievement award in 1999 divided the glitterati, with dozens of stars refusing to rise or applaud, in protest at the filmmaker's decision to cooperate with the authorities during the 1950s communist witch-hunts.
- Streakers and kisses -
Politics aside, Oscars night has been littered with memorable one-offs.
In 1974, a naked man invaded the stage as actor David Niven was hosting the show, prompting him to quip: "The only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping... and showing his shortcomings."
More recently, Italian Roberto Benigni euphorically leapt from seat-back to seat-back when he won best foreign film for "Life Is Beautiful" in 1999 -- the same year Gwyneth Paltrow famously sobbed her way through her victory speech.
Then in 2003, actor Adrien Brody stunned viewers and superstar Halle Berry by kissing her passionately on the lips as she presented his best actor statuette, creating an Oscars signature moment.
In 2011, Melissa Leo forgot she was on primetime television when accepting her best supporting actress Oscar for "The Fighter."
Referring to Kate Winslet's past win, she said: "When I watched Kate two years ago, it looked so (...) easy," clamping her hand to her mouth almost immediately. ABC bleeped out the expletive on the time-delayed live broadcast.
The following year, Sacha Baron Cohen turned up in character as the star of his then film "The Dictator," holding a golden urn purportedly containing the ashes of late North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il -- which he proceeded to "accidentally" pour down the front of a visibly-irritated celebrity host Ryan Seacrest.
And this year? Who knows. We'll have to wait for Sunday night... -- Agence France-Presse
source: gmanetwork.com
