71st Academy Awards

The 71st Academy Awards ceremony was the last to take place at Los Angeles County Music Center, and was Whoopi Goldberg's third time hosting the Awards. It was the first time the ceremony took place on a Sunday. The Academy Award ceremony ran extremely long, due largely to extended acceptance speeches. Notable films included Shakespeare in Love, which received 13 nominations and won 7 awards, Saving Private Ryan, which received 11 nominations and won 5 awards, and Life Is Beautiful, which received 7 nominations and won 3 (including Best Actor and Best Foreign Language Film). The 71st Academy Awards saw the show's first "official" pre-show, as the Academy attempted to compete with the likes of E!'s Joan Rivers and other red carpet denizens. The show attracted 45.63m viewers, a 18% decline to the previous years 57.25 million, yet a high rating compared to most other ceremonies. This was the first time that two people have been nominated for Academy Awards for playing the same person... full article at wikipedia