No golden numbers: Oscars audience halved in massive ratings drop
Oscars 2021: Oscars wins
This year's Oscars audience plummeted by more than half to a record low 9.85 million viewers, broadcaster ABC said on Monday -- a staggering if widely expected drop for a ceremony that many viewers found short on humour and star power.
The whopping 58 percent tumble from last year's previous 23.6 million nadirs had been anticipated for Hollywood's biggest night after other award shows held during the pandemic also suffered precipitous declines.
Oscars 2021: Complete list of winners
With movie theatres shut for most of the year, many viewers had not seen or even heard of nominees such as Chloe Zhao's 'Nomadland,'which was the night's big winner with three prizes but which has taken just over $2 million at the domestic box office.
Several blockbuster films whose stars could have drawn interest at this year's Oscars saw their release dates shunted to next year due to the pandemic, from Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" and the mega-budget sci-fi "Dune" to an array of popular superhero titles.
That exodus left an unfamiliar crop of nominees competing at Sunday's ceremony, with Daniel Kaluuya and Youn Yuh-jung winning the supporting acting Oscars a year after Brad Pitt and Laura Dern prevailed.
'Oh my God, he's so heavy and he's so cold': Memorable quotes from the 2021 Oscars
One big name who did win -- but was in bed sleeping some 5,000 miles away in Wales -- was Anthony Hopkins, who was unexpectedly named best actor for 'The Father'in what was the night's final prize.
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The Oscars typically end with the best picture, but producers decided to reorganize the categories and the lack of an acceptance speech at the show's grand finale was criticized by many viewers as anti-climactic.
"At 83 years of age, I did not expect to get this award, I really didn't," said Hopkins in a video posted to his Instagram page from Wales on Monday morning.
"I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman who was taken from us far too early," he added, referring to the late 'Black Panther'star who had been expected to win the best actor for his final role in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.'