Oscars Orchestra Inconsistent, Ineffective in Getting Winners to Stop Talking

The National Post has a nifty infographic that illustrates how long each of the acceptance speeches went at last night's Academy Awards ceremony. What's interesting is not how long some of the winners spoke for (though Melissa Leo's two minute, 40 second speech was certainly longer than it needed to be). What's remarkable is how inconsistent the Academy orchestra was in starting its play-off music—the notorious cue to winners that it's time to stop thanking your agent and get off stage.

Why was Colin Firth allowed to take more than two minutes on his thank-yous with no musical interruption, while the band struck up after Toy Story 3 producer had been talking for less than a minute? Not that the music seemed to make much of a difference: Best Adapted Screenplay winner Aaron Sorkin talked over the band for nearly a minute before he walked off the stage.

National Post

See the full Oscar Speeches Dissected infographic at the National Post.