What's in a name Oscar?...

So they have given up and renamed The Oscars, The Oscars. Yes, The Academy Awards have been officially re-branded as The Oscars as of February 20, 2013. Ho Hum.

The shiny gold Oscar statuette used to be officially named an Academy Award of Merit. Now it’s known - as it’s always been known - as an Oscar. Why Oscar? Well, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the origin of the name is unclear.

One story goes that an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, Margaret Herrick, thought it resembled her Uncle Oscar, said so, and the Academy staff began referring to it as Oscar - librarian to executive director? Perhaps Oscar did the trick for her.

Another take on the tale is that Bette Davis named the award after her first husband, Harmon Oscar Nelson - why not the Harmons or even the Nelsons then?

Yet another version is that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Louis B. Mayer, who dreamt up the Academy to help improve the film industry’s image and to help mediate in labour disputes, named it after something he said to one of his directors. Now this particular director, who shall remain nameless, went massively over budget on a low budget movie. The director was sacked but not until Mayer had declared: “Oh Shit, Can Another Reel? You’re fired!”

Some say Oscar was named after a ginger cat that used to roam the back lot at the MGM studios.

Whatever the tale, the name stuck and now they have put up in lights in the hope that an edgier, more youthful name might prop up what has become a bit of a joke. Hollywood isn’t what it was in the thirties and forties, despite all the botox and how the execs might try to rebrand it. The young are more interested in games and streaming their movies for free. Why would they care about some outdated award ceremony?

And they are so horribly predictable.

And the acceptance speeches are dire.

And the presenters are so scripted and plastic.

And the ceremony is far too long.

My money’s on the cat by the way. Here kitty, kitty, kitty....