Winners Announced:February 22, 2009 Held at: Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, California Host: Hugh Jackman Eligibility Year: 2008
Oscar 2009 Trivia
Slumdog Millionaire took home eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Danny Boyle.
The award for Best Actor went to Sean Penn for his role in Milk, while Kate Winslet won Best Actress for The Reader.
Hugh Jackman’s hosting was notable for its musical numbers, including a spectacular opening medley.
This was the first year since 1989 that the Oscars had a sole host, rather than a duo or a group.
The late Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight, making him the second actor to win a posthumous acting Oscar.
Penélope Cruz won Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, becoming the first Spanish actress to win an Academy Award.
Pixar’s WALL-E won the award for Best Animated Feature, and it was the first Pixar film to be nominated for six Academy Awards.
The ceremony featured a new format for presenting the acting awards: previous winners came on stage to give personal tributes to the nominees.
Japanese drama Departures won Best Foreign Language Film, a surprising win that beat out the favorite, Waltz with Bashir.
2009 Oscar Nominees and Winners
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire – Christian Colson, producer (WINNER) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, producers Frost/Nixon – Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, producers Milk – Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, producers The Reader – Anthony Minghella, Sydney Pollack, Donna Gigliotti and Redmond Morris, producers
Best Director: Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire (WINNER) David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon Gus Van Sant – Milk Stephen Daldry – The Reader
Best Actor: Sean Penn – Milk as Harvey Milk (WINNER) Richard Jenkins – The Visitor as Walter Vale Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon as Richard Nixon Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Benjamin Button Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler as Randy “The Ram” Robinson
Best Actress: Kate Winslet – The Reader as Hanna Schmitz (WINNER) Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married as Kym Buchman Angelina Jolie – Changeling as Christine Collins Melissa Leo – Frozen River as Ray Eddy Meryl Streep – Doubt as Sister Aloysius Beauvier
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight as The Joker (WINNER) (posthumous award) Josh Brolin – Milk as Dan White Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder as Kirk Lazarus Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt as Father Brendan Flynn Michael Shannon – Revolutionary Road as John Givings Jr.
Best Supporting Actress: Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona as María Elena (WINNER) Amy Adams – Doubt as Sister James Viola Davis – Doubt as Mrs. Miller Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as Queenie Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler as Cassidy/Pam
Best Original Screenplay: Milk – Dustin Lance Black (WINNER) Frozen River – Courtney Hunt Happy-Go-Lucky – Mike Leigh In Bruges – Martin McDonagh WALL-E – Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon and Pete Docter
Best Adapted Screenplay: Slumdog Millionaire – Simon Beaufoy based on the novel Q & A by Vikas Swarup (WINNER) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Roth and Robin Swicord based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald Doubt – John Patrick Shanley based on his play Frost/Nixon – Peter Morgan based on his stage play The Reader – David Hare based on the novel Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink
Best Animated Feature Film: WALL-E – Andrew Stanton (WINNER) Bolt – Chris Williams and Byron Howard Kung Fu Panda – Mark Osborne and John Stevenson
Best Foreign Language Film: Departures (Japan) in Japanese – Yojiro Takita (WINNER) The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany) in German – Uli Edel The Class (France) in French – Laurent Cantet Revanche (Austria) in German – Götz Spielmann Waltz with Bashir (Israel) in Hebrew – Ari Folman
Best Documentary Feature: Man on Wire – James Marsh and Simon Chinn (WINNER) The Betrayal – Nerakhoon – Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath Encounters at the End of the World – Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser The Garden – Scott Hamilton Kennedy Trouble the Water – Carl Deal and Tia Lessin
Best Documentary Short Subject: Smile Pinki – Megan Mylan (WINNER) The Conscience of Nhem En – Steven Okazaki The Final Inch – Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 – Adam Pertovsky and Margaret Hyde
Best Live Action Short Film: Toyland (Spielzeugland) — Jochen Alexander Freydank (WINNER) Manon on the Asphalt — Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont New Boy (Ireland) — Steph Green and Tamara Anghie On the Line (Auf der Strecke) — Reto Caffi The Pig (Grisen) — Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
Best Animated Short Film: La Maison en Petits Cubes – Kunio Kato (WINNER) Lavatory – Lovestory – Konstantin Bronzit Oktapodi – Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand Presto – Doug Sweetland This Way Up – Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes
Best Original Score: Slumdog Millionaire – A. R. Rahman (WINNER) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Alexandre Desplat Defiance – James Newton Howard Milk – Danny Elfman WALL-E – Thomas Newman
Best Original Song: “Jai Ho” from Slumdog Millionaire – Music by A. R. Rahman; Lyrics by Gulzar (WINNER) “Down to Earth” from WALL-E – Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; Lyrics by Peter Gabriel “O Saya” from Slumdog Millionaire – Music and Lyrics by A. R. Rahman and M.I.A.
Best Sound Editing: The Dark Knight – Richard King (WINNER) Iron Man – Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes Slumdog Millionaire – Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers WALL-E – Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood Wanted – Wylie Stateman
Best Sound Mixing: Slumdog Millionaire – Resul Pookutty, Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp (WINNER) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten The Dark Knight – Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick WALL-E – Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt Wanted – Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt
Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo (WINNER) Changeling – Art Direction: James J. Murakami; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis The Dark Knight – Art Direction: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Peter Lando The Duchess – Art Direction: Michael Carlin; Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway Revolutionary Road – Art Direction: Kristi Zea; Set Decoration: Debra Schutt
Best Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire – Anthony Dod Mantle (WINNER) Changeling – Tom Stern The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Claudio Miranda The Dark Knight – Wally Pfister The Reader – Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
Best Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Greg Cannom (WINNER) The Dark Knight – John Caglione Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan Hellboy II: The Golden Army – Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz
Best Costume Design: The Duchess – Michael O’Connor (WINNER) Australia – Catherine Martin The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Jacqueline West Milk – Danny Glicker Revolutionary Road – Albert Wolsky
Best Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire – Chris Dickens (WINNER) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall The Dark Knight – Lee Smith Frost/Nixon – Mike Hill and Daniel P. Hanley Milk – Elliot Graham
Best Visual Effects: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron (WINNER) The Dark Knight – Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin Iron Man – John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan
Winners Announced:February 8, 2009 Held at: Staples Center, Los Angeles Host: No official host Eligibility Year: October 1, 2007 – September 30, 2008
Noteworthy Grammy 2009 Trivia
Raising Sand by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss was the evening’s big winner, snagging Album of the Year and Record of the Year for Please Read the Letter.
The night was a triumph for Lil Wayne, who walked away with four Grammys, including Best Rap Album for Tha Carter III.
Coldplay’s Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends snagged three awards, including Song of the Year for Viva La Vida.
This Grammy ceremony was unique in that it featured a 3-D tribute to Michael Jackson, who had passed away the previous year.
Adele won her first two Grammy Awards this year, including Best New Artist, kickstarting her meteoric rise in the music industry.
The night was also significant for Radiohead’s live performance of 15 Step with the USC Marching Band, a groundbreaking collaboration that garnered much attention.
2009 Grammy Winners
Album of the Year: Raising Sand – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Rap Album: Tha Carter III – Lil Wayne
Male Pop Vocal Performance: Say – John Mayer
Record of the Year: Please Read the Letter – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
New Artist: Adele
Rock Album: Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends – Coldplay
Pop Collaboration With Vocals: Rich Woman – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Song of the Year: Viva La Vida – Coldplay
Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: Stay – Sugarland
R&B Album: Jennifer Hudson – Jennifer Hudson
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Rick Rubin
Producer of the Year, Classical: David Frost
Female Pop Vocal Performance: Chasing Pavements – Adele
Pop Vocal Album: Rockferry – Duffy
Pop Instrumental Performance: I Dreamed There Was No War – Eagles
Pop Instrumental Album: Jingle All the Way – Béla Fleck & The Flecktones
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: Viva La Vida – Coldplay
Alternative Music Album: In Rainbows – Radiohead
Solo Rock Vocal Performance: Gravity – John Mayer
Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon
Hard Rock Performance: Wax Simulacra – The Mars Volta
Metal Performance: My Apocalypse – Metallica
Rock Instrumental Performance: Peaches En Regalia – Zappa Plays Zappa
Rock Song: Girls in Their Summer Clothes – Bruce Springsteen
Rap Solo Performance: A Milli – Lil Wayne
Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: Swagga Like Us – Jay-Z and T.I. featuring Kanye West and Lil Wayne
Rap/Sung Collaboration: American Boy – Estelle featuring Kanye West
Rap Song: Lollipop – Dwayne Carter, Darius Harrison, James Scheffer, Stephen Garrett and Rex Zamor
Country Song: Stay – Sugarland
Female Country Vocal Performance: Last Name – Carrie Underwood
Male Country Vocal Performance: Letter to Me – Brad Paisley
Country Collaboration with Vocals: Killing the Blues – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
Country Instrumental Performance: Cluster Pluck – Brad Paisley, James Burton, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert and Steve Wariner
R&B Song: Miss Independent – Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen and Shaffer Smith
Contemporary R&B Album: Growing Pains – Mary J. Blige
Female R&B Vocal Solo: Superwoman – Alicia Keys
Male R&B Vocal Solo: Miss Independent – Ne-Yo
R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: Stay With Me (By the Sea) – Al Green featuring John Legend
Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: You’ve Got the Love I Need – Al Green featuring Anthony Hamilton
Urban/Alternative Performance: Be OK – Chrisette Michele featuring will.i.am
Dance Recording: Harder Better Faster Stronger – Daft Punk
Electronic Dance Album: Alive 2007 – Daft Punk
Bluegrass Album: Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947 – Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
Traditional Blues Album: One Kind Favor – B.B. King
Contemporary Blues Album: City That Care Forgot – Dr. John and The Lower 911
New Age Album: Peace Time – Jack DeJohnette
Contemporary Jazz Album: Randy in Brasil – Randy Brecker
Jazz Vocal Album: Loverly – Cassandra Wilson
Jazz Instrumental Solo: BE-BOP – Terence Blanchard
Jazz Instrumental Album Individual or Group: The New Crystal Silence – Chick Corea and Gary Burton
Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard – The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
Latin Jazz Album: Song for Chico – Arturo O’Farrill and The Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra
Latin Pop Album: La Vida … Es Un Ratico – Juanes
Latin Rock or Alternative Album: 45 – Jaguares
Latin Urban Album: Los Extraterrestres – Wisin y Yandel
Tropical Latin Album: Senor Bachata – Jose Feliciano
Regional Mexican Album: Amor, Dolor y Légrimas: Musica Ranchera – Los Camperos Canciones De Amor – Mariachi Divas
Tejano Album: Viva La Revolucion – Ruben Ramos and The Mexican Revolution
Norteño Album: Raíces – Los Tigres Del Norte
Banda Album: No Es De Madera – Joan Sebástian
Traditional Folk Album: At 89 – Pete Seeger
Contemporary Folk/Americana Album: Raising Sand – Robert Plant and Alison Krauss (Rounder)
Native American Music Album: Come to Me Great Mystery: Native American Healing Songs – Various Artists
Hawaiian Music Album: Ikena – Tia Carrere and Daniel Ho
Zydeco or Cajun Music Album: Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – BeauSoleil and Michael Doucet
Engineering Album, Classical: Traditions and Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago – David Frost, Tom Lazarus and Christopher Willis
Reggae Album: Jah Is Real – Burning Spear
Traditional World Music Album: Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu – Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Contemporary World Music Album: Global Drum Project – Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo
Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Juno – Various Artists
Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Television or Other Visual Media: The Dark Knight
Polka Album: Let the Whole World Sing – Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra
Gospel Performance: Get Up – Mary Mary
Gospel Song: Help Me Believe – Kirk Franklin
Rock or Rap Gospel Album: Alive and Transported – TobyMac
Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album: Thy Kingdom Come – CeCe Winans
Southern, Country, Bluegrass Gospel Album: Lovin’ Life – Gaither Vocal Band
Traditional Gospel Album: Down in New Orleans – The Blind Boys of Alabama
Contemporary R&B Gospel Album: The Fight of My Life – Kirk Franklin
Classical Album: Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny – James Conlon, conductor
Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Down to Earth from WALL-E – Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
Musical Show Album: In the Heights – Kurt Deutsch, Alex Lacamoire, Andres Levin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Joel Moss and Bill Sherman, producers; Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer/lyricist
Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Story Telling): An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore) – Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon and Blair Underwood
Musical Album for Children: Here Come the 123s – They Might Be Giants
Spoken Word Album Children: Yes to Running! Bill Harley Live – Bill Harley
Comedy Album: It’s Bad for Ya – George Carlin
Instrumental Composition: The Adventures of Mutt – Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – John Williams
Instrumental Arrangement: Define Dancing from WALL-E, Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman
Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): Here’s That Rainy Day – Nan Schwartz
Engineered Album, Non-Classical: Consolers of the Lonely – Joe Chiccarelli, Vance Powell and Jack White III, engineers
Remixed Recording: Electric Feel (Justice Remix) – Justice
Surround Sound Album: Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition; Night on Bald Mountain; Prelude to Khovanshchina – Michael Bishop
Opera Recording: Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny – James Conlon, conductor
Orchestral Performance: Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4 – Bernard Haitink, conductor Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra): Piano Music of Salonen, Stucky, and Lutoslawski – Gloria Cheng
Chamber Music Performance: Carter, Elliott: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 5 – Pacifica Quartet
Small Ensemble Performance: Spotless Rose: Hymns to the Virgin Mary – Charles Bruffy, conductor; Phoenix Chorale
Classical Vocal Performance: Corigliano: Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan – Hila Plitmann
Classical Contemporary Composition: Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan – John Corigliano
Classical Crossover Album: Simple Gifts – The King’s Singers
Short Form Music Video: Pork and Beans – Weezer, Mathew Cullen
Long Form Music Video: Runnin’ Down a Dream – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Recording Package: Death Magnetic – Bruce Duckworth, Sarah Moffat and David Turner
Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: In Rainbows – Stanley Donwood, Mel Maxwell and Christiaan Munro
Album Notes: Kind of Blue: 50th Anniversary Collector’s Edition – Francis Davis
Historical Album: Art of Field Recording Volume I: Fifty Years of Traditional American Music Documented by Art Rosenbaum – Steven Lance Ledbetter and Art Rosenbaum, compilation producers
December 1, 2007 – January 4, 2008: No One – Alicia Keys January 5 – March 14: Low – Flo Rida featuring T-Pain March 15 – April 4: Love In This Club – Usher with Young Jeezy April 5 – April 11: Bleeding Love – Leona Lewis April 12 – May 2: Touch My Body – Mariah Carey May 3 – May 23: Lollipop – LilWayne with Static Major May 24 – June 27: Take A Bow – Rihanna June 28 – July 4: Viva La Vida – Coldplay July 5 – August 22: I Kissed a Girl – Katy Perry August 23 – September 5: Disturbia – Rihanna September 6 – September 26: Whatever You Like – T.I. September 27 – October 17: So What – Pink October 18 – October 24: Live Your Life – T.I. with Rihanna October 25 – December 12: Womanizer – Britney Spears December 13, 2008 – February 27, 2009 Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) – Beyonce
(Data is compiled from various charts including Billboard’s “Pop,” “Rock,” “Airplay,” “R&B/Dance” and “Singles” Charts. The “Hot 100” is the primary chart used for this list.)
Beer: During a worldwide hop shortage in 2008, The Sam Adams Brewing Company sold craft brewers their hops at cost to keep them in business and even gave cash loans to small breweries, helping the entire micro-brew industry.
The Top Song was Low by Flo Rida with T-Pain
Influential Songs include: Foundations by Kate Nash, Fifteen by Taylor Swift, The Prayer by Celine Dion and Josh Groban, Leavin’ by Jesse McCartney, and Forever by Chris Brown
The Movies to Watch include WALL-E, Tropic Thunder, Iron Man, Slumdog Millionaire, and The Dark Knight
The Most Famous Person in America was probably Usain Bolt
People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive: Hugh Jackman
Notable books include: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Price of a postage stamp in 2008: 42 cents Zune 120 released: $249.95 Xbox 360 game system: $279.99
The Funny Guy was: Louis C.K. The Funny Late Night Host: Jay Leno
Olympic Gold Medalist and World Record Holder Usain Bolt ate 100 chicken nuggets a day (1,000 total) and still managed to win three gold medals while competing and staying in Beijing, China.
Michael Jackson tried to hang out casually at a club and people watch and was surprised when he heard the DJ play remixes of his songs and said “Wow, I didn’t know that they still played my music [in 2008]”.
The Movie Question: How did they get so many talented actors to join the cast of Mamma Mia?
Year of the Rat The year of the rat is one of the 12 years in the Chinese zodiac cycle. The rat is the first animal in the cycle. The years of the rat include: 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032, 2044, 2056 The year of the rat is associated with intelligence, charm, and a quick wit. People born in the year of the rat are said to be hardworking, ambitious, and good at saving money. They are also said to be adaptable and resourceful, able to make the best of any situation.
Top Ten Baby Names of 2008: Emma, Isabella, Emily, Olivia, Ava, Jacob, Michael, Ethan, Joshua, Daniel
Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols: Scarlett Johansson, Sarah Michelle Geller, Christina Aguilera, Charlize Theron, Megan Fox, Jessica Biel, Beyonce, Marissa Miller, Eva Longoria, Vanessa Hudgens, Rihanna, Hayden Panettiere, Elisha Cuthbert, Eva Mendes, Lindsay Lohan, Ashley Tisdale
Leading Men and Hollywood Hunks: David Beckham, Robert Pattinson, Antonio Sabàto, Jr., Hugh Laurie, Christian Bale, George Clooney, Brad Pitt
“The Quotes” “I can see Russia from my house!” -Comedian Tina Fey, while impersonating Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
“You know, they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick” -Sarah Palin
“You know, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” -Barack Obama
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year: Barack Obama
Miss America: Kirsten Haglund
Miss USA: Crystle Stewart
The Scandals: John Edwards (D) admitted having an affair with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter
The 2008 Chinese milk scandal was a food safety incident in the People’s Republic of China, involving milk and infant formula, and other food materials and components, contaminated with melamine. China reported an estimated 300,000 victims.
Democrat New York governor Eliot Spitzer (aka Client #9) had a scandalous, ongoing tryst with escort Ashley Alexandra Dupre.
Pop Culture Facts & History: A 2008 study of the British authorities’ Convict Transportation Registers from 1788 to 1868 estimated that 22 percent of living Australians had a convict ancestor.
DNA tests were made available to the public.
The Large Hadron Collider went online September 10, 2008.
Cost of a Super Bowl ad in 2008: $2,700,000
The Habit: Showing off your Apple iPod nano 8 GB, Arguing over Team Jacob or Team Edward
2008 Toys inducted to the National Toy Hall of Fame: The Stick, The Baby Doll, The Skateboard
1st Appearances & 2008’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and Presents: Lego Star Wars rebel scout speeder, Hannah Montana Holiday Singing Doll
East End Show – Jersey Boys (Musical) Opened on March 18, 2008 and closed on March 26, 2017
Broadway Show – In the Heights (Musical) Opened on March 30, 2008 and closed on January 9, 2011
Broadway Show – Billy Elliot the Musical (Musical) Opened on November 13, 2008 and closed on January 8, 2012
Best Film Oscar Winner: No Country For Old Men (Presented in 2008)
2008 Entries to The National Film Registry: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (released in 1958) The Asphalt Jungle (released in 1950) Deliverance (released in 1972) Disneyland Dream (released in 1956) A Face in the Crowd (released in 1957) Flower Drum Song (released in 1961) Foolish Wives (released in 1922) Free Radicals (released in 1979) George Stevens’ World War II Footage (released in 1943/1946) Hallelujah! (released in 1929) In Cold Blood (released in 1967) The Invisible Man (released in 1933) Johnny Guitar (released in 1954) The Killers (released in 1946) The March (released in 1964) No Lies (released in 1973) On the Bowery (released in 1957) One Week (released in 1920) The Pawnbroker (released in 1965) The Perils of Pauline (released in 1914) Sergeant York (released in 1941) So’s Your Old Man (released in 1926) The Terminator (released in 1984) Water and Power (released in 1989) White Fawn’s Devotion (released in 1910)
1. The Dark Knight 2. Iron Man 3. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 4. Hancock 5. WALL-E 6. Kung Fu Panda 7. Twilight 8. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa 9. Quantum of Solace 10. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!
2008 Most Popular TV Shows: 1. American Idol Results (Fox) 2. Dancing With the Stars (ABC) 3. CSI (CBS) 4. NCIS (CBS) 5. The Mentalist (CBS) 6. Sunday Night Football (NBC) 7. Desperate Housewives (ABC) 8. Two and a Half Men (CBS) 9. Criminal Minds (CBS) 10. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
Notable Books: A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle Against Medical Advice by James Patterson and Hal Friedman Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler Audition by Barbara Walters The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #4) by Rick Riordan Beautiful Boy by David Sheff Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4) by Stephenie Meyer Brisingr (Inheritance Cycle #3) by Christopher Paolini City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2) by Cassandra Clare Chosen (House of Night #) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast Dewey by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules by Jeff Kinney Eclipse (The Twilight Saga, Book 3) by Stephenie Meyer Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague, Shadow Mountain (Fablehaven #3) by Brandon Mull Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2) by Richelle Mead Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely #2) by Melissa Marr Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1) by Kristin Cashore The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Home by Julie Andrews Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg Losing It by Valerie Bertinelli Mistaken Identity by Don and Susie Van Ryn and Newell, Colleen and Whitney Cerak, with Mark Tabb New Moon (The Twilight Saga Book 2) by Stephenie Meyer The Obama Nation by Jerome R. Corsi Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell Paper Towns by John Green The Revolution by Ron Paul The Shack by William P. Young Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3) by Richelle Mead The Snowball by Alice Schroeder Stori Telling by Tori Spelling StrengthFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath The Summoning (Darkest Powers #1) by Kelley Armstrong The Tales of Beedle the Bard (supplement to the Harry Potter series) by J.K. Rowling Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace – One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson The Time Paradox (Artemis Fowl #6) by Eoin Colfer Tom Cruise by Andrew Morton Too Fat to Fish by Artie Lange with Anthony Bozza Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) by Stephenie Meyer Untamed (House of Night #) by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast Volume IX: Princess Mia / The Princess Diaries: To The Nines by Meg Cabot What Happened by Scott McClellan When You Are Engulfed In Flames by David Sedaris
Sports: World Series Champions: Philadelphia Phillies Super Bowl Champions: New York Giants NBA Champions: Boston Celtics Stanley Cup Champs: Detroit Red Wings U.S. Open Golf Tiger Woods U.S. Tennis: (Men/Ladies) Roger Federer/Serena Williams Wimbledon (Men/Women): Rafael Nadal/Venus Williams NCAA Football Champions: Florida NCAA Basketball Champions: Kansas Kentucky Derby: Big Brown World Cup (Soccer): N/A
Popular and Best-selling Books From 2008: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini Against Medical Advice: A True Story by James Patterson, Hal Friedman Anathem by Neal Stephenson The Appeal by John Grisham Archeron by Sherrilyn Kenyon Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea by Chelsea Handler Audition: A Memoir by Barbara Walters Beautiful Boy by David Sheff Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman Cross Country by James Patterson Dangerous Laughter by Steven Millhauser Dark Curse by Christine Feehan Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs Divine Justice by David Baldacci Double Cross by James Patterson Duma Key by Steophen King Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams The Gate House by Nelson DeMille Hold Tight by Harlan Coben Home by Julie Andrews The Host by Stephenie Meyer Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan The Last Patriot by Brad Thor Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg Losing It by Valerie Bertinelli The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks Mistaken Identity by Don and Susie Van Ryn and Newell, Colleen and Whitney Cerak, with Mark Tabb Moscow Rules by Daniel Silva Netherland by Joseph O’Neill Nothing To Lose by Lee Child The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality by Jerome R. Corsi Odd Hours by Dean Koontz Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul Sail by James Patterson and Howard Roughan Scarpetta by Patricia Cornwell Smoke Screen by Sandra Brown The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski sTORI Telling by Tori Spelling with Hilary Liftin The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet Things That Matter by Charles Krauthammer Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography by Andrew Morton Too Fat to Fish by Artie Lange with Anthony Bozza Tribute by Nora Roberts Twilight: Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri What Happened by Scott McClellan When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris Where Are You Now? by Mary Higgins Clark The Whole Truth by David Baldacci Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz
Winners Announced:February 24, 2008 Held at: Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, California Host: Jon Stewart Eligibility Year: 2007
The Oscars 2008 Trivia
No Country for Old Men was the night’s big winner, taking home four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for the Coen brothers.
Daniel Day-Lewis bagged his second Best Actor Oscar for his role in There Will Be Blood. His method acting gained a lot of attention during the award season.
Tilda Swinton was a surprise winner for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Michael Clayton, beating out favorite Cate Blanchett.
Once’s song Falling Slowly won Best Original Song, and the heartfelt acceptance speech by its songwriters, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, was a highlight of the evening.
The Writers Guild of America strike almost derailed the show, which ended just days before the ceremony. There were fears the show might be picketed or even canceled.
French actress Marion Cotillard won Best Actress as Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose, marking only the third time an Oscar had been awarded for a foreign-language performance.
Jon Stewart invited Markéta Irglová back on stage to finish her acceptance speech after she was played off, a moment that won him accolades for his hosting.
2008 Oscar Nominees and Winners
Best Picture: No Country for Old Men – Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, producers (WINNER) Atonement – Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Paul Webster, producers Juno – Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick and Russell Smith, producers Michael Clayton – Jennifer Fox, Kerry Orent and Sydney Pollack, producers There Will Be Blood – Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Lupi and JoAnne Sellar, producers
Best Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen – No Country for Old Men (WINNER) Julian Schnabel – The Diving Bell and the Butterfly Jason Reitman – Juno Tony Gilroy – Michael Clayton Paul Thomas Anderson – There Will Be Blood
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood as Daniel Plainview (WINNER) George Clooney – Michael Clayton as Michael Clayton Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as Benjamin Barker / Sweeney Todd Tommy Lee Jones – In the Valley of Elah as Hank Deerfield Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises as Nikolai Luzhin
Best Actress: Marion Cotillard – La Vie en Rose as Édith Piaf (WINNER) Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age as Queen Elizabeth I Julie Christie – Away from Her as Fiona Anderson Laura Linney – The Savages as Wendy Savage Ellen Page – Juno as Juno MacGuff
Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem – No Country for Old Men as Anton Chigurh (WINNER) Casey Affleck – The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as Robert “Bob” Ford Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson’s War as Gustav “Gust” Avrakotos Hal Holbrook – Into the Wild as Ron Franz Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton as Arthur Edens
Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton as Karen Crowder (WINNER) Cate Blanchett – I’m Not There as Jude Quinn Ruby Dee – American Gangster as Mama Lucas Saoirse Ronan – Atonement as Briony Tallis Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone as Helene McCready
Best Original Screenplay: Juno – Diablo Cody (WINNER) Lars and the Real Girl – Nancy Oliver Michael Clayton – Tony Gilroy Ratatouille – Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava and Jim Capobianco The Savages – Tamara Jenkins
Best Adapted Screenplay: No Country for Old Men – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy (WINNER) Atonement – Christopher Hampton based on the novel by Ian McEwan Away from Her – Sarah Polley based on the short story “The Bear Went Over The Mountain” by Alice Munro The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Ronald Harwood based on the memoir by Jean-Dominique Bauby There Will Be Blood – Paul Thomas Anderson based on Oil! by Upton Sinclair
Best Animated Feature Film: Ratatouille – Brad Bird (WINNER) Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud Surf’s Up – Ash Brannon and Chris Buck
Best Foreign Language Film: The Counterfeiters (Austria) in German – Stefan Ruzowitzky (WINNER) 12 (Russia) in Russian – Nikita Mikhalkov Beaufort (Israel) in Hebrew – Joseph Cedar Katyn (Poland) in Polish – Andrzej Wajda Mongol (Kazakhstan) in Russian – Sergei Bodrov
Best Documentary Feature: Taxi to the Dark Side – Alex Gibney and Eva Orner (WINNER) No End in Sight – Charles H. Ferguson and Audrey Marrs Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience – Richard E. Robbins Sicko – Michael Moore and Meghan O’Hara War/Dance – Andrea Nix Fine and Sean Fine
Best Documentary Short Subject: Freeheld – Cynthia Wade and Vanessa Roth (WINNER) La Corona – Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega Salim Baba – Tim Sternberg and Francisco Bello Sari’s Mother – James Longley
Best Live Action Short Film: Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) – Philippe Pollet-Villard (WINNER) At Night – Christian E. Christiansen and Louise Vesth (Il Supplente) The Substitute – Andrea Jublin Tanghi Argentini – Guido Thys and Anja Daelemans The Tonto Woman – Daniel Barber and Matthew Brown
Best Animated Short Film: Peter & the Wolf – Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman (WINNER) Even Pigeons Go to Heaven (Même les pigeons vont au paradis) – Samuel Tourneux and Simon Vanesse I Met the Walrus – Josh Raskin Madame Tutli-Putli – Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski My Love (Moya Lyubov) – Alexander Petrov
Best Original Score: Atonement – Dario Marianelli (WINNER) 3:10 to Yuma – Marco Beltrami The Kite Runner – Alberto Iglesias Michael Clayton – James Newton Howard Ratatouille – Michael Giacchino
Best Original Song: “Falling Slowly” from Once – Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová (WINNER) “Happy Working Song” from Enchanted – Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz “Raise It Up” from August Rush – Music and Lyrics by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas “So Close” from Enchanted – Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz “That’s How You Know” from Enchanted – Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Best Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum – Karen Baker Landers and Per Hallberg (WINNER) No Country For Old Men – Skip Lievsay Ratatouille – Randy Thom and Michael Silvers There Will Be Blood – Christopher Scarabosio and Matthew Wood Transformers – Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins
Best Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum – Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis (WINNER) 3:10 to Yuma – Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe No Country For Old Men – Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland Ratatouille – Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane Transformers – Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin
Best Art Direction: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo (WINNER) American Gangster – Art Direction: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Beth Rubino Atonement – Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer The Golden Compass – Art Direction: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock There Will Be Blood – Art Direction: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
Best Cinematography: There Will Be Blood – Robert Elswit (WINNER) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – Roger Deakins Atonement – Seamus McGarvey The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Janusz Kaminski No Country for Old Men – Roger Deakins
Best Makeup: La Vie en Rose – Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald (WINNER) Norbit – Rick Baker and Kazuhiro Tsuji Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – Ve Neill and Martin Samuel
Best Costume Design: Elizabeth: The Golden Age – Alexandra Byrne (WINNER) Across the Universe – Albert Wolsky Atonement – Jacqueline Durran La Vie en Rose – Marit Allen (posthumous nomination) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – Colleen Atwood
Best Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum – Christopher Rouse (WINNER) The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Juliette Welfling Into the Wild – Jay Cassidy No Country for Old Men – Roderick Jaynes There Will Be Blood – Dylan Tichenor
Best Visual Effects: The Golden Compass – Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood (WINNER) Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End – John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier Transformers – Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier
Winners Announced: February 10, 2008 Held at: Staples Center, Los Angeles Host: No official host Eligibility Year: October 1, 2006 – September 30, 2007
Grammy Trivia You Don’t Want to Miss
The night was quite a sweep for Amy Winehouse, who nabbed five awards including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for Rehab.
River: The Joni Letters by Herbie Hancock was the dark horse, winning Album of the Year. This was a big deal because jazz albums rarely capture this title.
Kanye West delivered a memorable performance of Stronger with Daft Punk. This was Daft Punk’s first-ever live television performance.
The Foo Fighters performed in a tent outside the Staples Center, a rather unconventional setting for Grammy acts.
Tina Turner made her return to the Grammy stage after a seven-year hiatus, sharing it with Beyoncé.
Carrie Underwood’s song Before He Cheats snagged two awards and helped solidify her transition from an American Idol winner to a country superstar.
Classical music got a nod with The Kronos Quartet winning Best Chamber Music Performance for their work Ligeti: The String Quartets.
The Best Comedy Album went to Flight of the Conchords for The Distant Future, raising their profile in the entertainment industry.
2008 Grammy Winners
Album of the Year:
River: The Joni Letters – Herbie Hancock
Record of the Year:
Rehab – Amy Winehouse
Song of the Year:
Rehab – Amy Winehouse
New Artist:
Amy Winehouse
Alternative Music Album:
Icky Thump – The White Stripes
Rock Song:
Radio Nowhere – Bruce Springsteen, songwriter (Bruce Springsteen)
Solo Rock Vocal Performance:
Radio Nowhere – Bruce Springsteen
Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals:
Icky Thump – The White Stripes
Hard Rock Performance:
The Pretender – Foo Fighters
Metal Performance:
Final Six – Slayer
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical:
Mark Ronson
Pop Vocal Album:
Back to Black – Amy Winehouse
Female Pop Vocal Performance:
Rehab – Amy Winehouse
Male Pop Vocal Performance:
What Goes Around…Comes Around – Justin Timberlake
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals:
Makes Me Wonder – Maroon 5
Pop Collaboration With Vocals:
Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Pop Instrumental Album:
The Mix-Up – Beastie Boys
Pop Instrumental Performance:
One Week Last Summer – Joni Mitchell
Traditional Pop Vocal Album:
Call Me Irresponsible – Michael Buble
Rock Instrumental Performance:
Once Upon a Time in The West – Bruce Springsteen
Rap Solo Performance:
Stronger – Kanye West
Rap Performance by a Duo or Group:
Southside – Common, featuring Kanye West
Rap Song:
Good Life – Aldrin Davis, Mike Dean, Faheem Najm & Kanye West, songwriters (J. Ingram & Q. Jones, songwriters) (Kanye West Featuring T-Pain)
Country Song:
Before He Cheats – Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters (Carrie Underwood)
Female Country Vocal Performance:
Before He Cheats – Carrie Underwood
Male Country Vocal Performance:
Stupid Boy – Keith Urban
Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals:
How Long – Eagles
Country Collaboration With Vocals:
Lost Highway – Willie Nelson & Ray Price
Country Instrumental Performance:
Throttleneck – Brad Paisley
R&B Album:
Funk This – Chaka Khan
R&B Song:
No One – Dirty Harry, Kerry Brothers & Alicia Keys, songwriters (Alicia Keys)
Contemporary R&B Album:
Because of You – Ne-Yo
Female R&B Vocal Performance :
Alicia Keys
Male R&B Vocal Performance:
Future Baby Mama – Prince
R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals:
Disrespectful – Chaka Khan, featuring Mary J. Blige
Traditional R&B Vocal Performance:
In My Songs – Gerald Levert
Urban/Alternative Performance:
Daydreamin’ – Lupe Fiasco, featuring Jill Scott
Dance Recording:
LoveStoned/I Think She Knows – Justin Timberlake, Nate (Danja) Hills, Timbaland & Justin Timberlake, producers; Jimmy Douglass & Timbaland, mixers
Electronic/Dance Album:
We Are the Night – The Chemical Brothers
Bluegrass Album:
The Bluegrass Diaries – Jim Lauderdale
Traditional Blues Album:
Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen – Live In Dallas – Henry James Townsend, Joe Willie “Pinetop” Perkins, Robert Lockwood Jr. & David “Honeyboy” Edwards
Contemporary Blues Album:
The Road to Escondido – JJ Cale & Eric Clapton
New Age Album:
Crestone – Paul Winter Consort
Contemporary Jazz Album:
River – The Joni Letters – Herbie Hancock
Jazz Vocal Album:
Avant Gershwin – Patti Austin
Jazz Instrumental Solo:
Anagram – Michael Brecker, soloist
Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group:
Pilgrimage – Michael Brecker
Large Jazz Ensemble Album:
A Tale of God’s Will (A Requiem for Katrina) – Terence Blanchard
Traditional Folk Album:
Dirt Farmer – Levon Helm
Contemporary Folk/Americana Album:
Washington Square Serenade – Steve Earle
Native American Music Album:
Totemic Flute Chants – Johnny Whitehorse
Hawaiian Music Album:
Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar – Various Artists, Daniel Ho, George Kahumoku Jr., Paul Konwiser & Wayne Wong, producers
Zydeco or Cajun Music Album:
Live! Worldwide – Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience
Reggae:
Mind Control – Stephen Marley
Traditional World Music Album:
African Spirit – Soweto Gospel Choir
Contemporary World Music Album:
Djin Djin – Angelique Kidjo
Polka Album:
Come Share the Wine – Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra
Gospel Performance: (tie)
Blessed & Highly Favored – The Clark Sisters;
Never Gonna Break My Faith – Aretha Franklin & Mary J. Blige (Featuring The Harlem Boys Choir).
Gospel Song:
Blessed & Highly Favored – Karen Clark-Sheard, songwriter (The Clark Sisters)
Rock or Rap Gospel Album:
Before the Daylight’s Shot – Ashley Cleveland
Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album:
A Deeper Level – Israel and New Breed
Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album:
Salt of the Earth – Ricky Skaggs & The Whites
Traditional Gospel Album:
Live – One Last Time – The Clark Sisters
Contemporary R&B Gospel Album:
Free to Worship – Fred Hammond
Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media:
Love (The Beatles) George Martin & Giles Martin, producers (Apple Records/Capitol Records)
Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media:
Ratatouille – Michael Giacchino, composer
Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media:
Love You I Do (From Dreamgirls) – Siedah Garrett & Henry Krieger, songwriters (Jennifer Hudson)
Musical Show Album:
Spring Awakening – Duncan Sheik, producer; Duncan Sheik, composer; Steven Sater, lyricist (Original Broadway Cast With Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele & Others)
Surround Sound:
Love – Paul Hicks, surround mix engineer; Tim Young, surround mastering engineer; George Martin & Giles Martin, surround producers (The Beatles)
Short Form Music Video:
God’s Gonna Cut You Down – Johnny Cash
Long Form Music Video:
The Confessions Tour – Madonna
Recording Package:
Cassadaga – Zachary Nipper, art director (Bright Eyes)
Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package:
What It Is! – Funky Soul and Rare Grooves (1967-1977) – Masaki Koike, art director
Album Notes:
John Work, III – Recording Black Culture – Bruce Nemerov, album notes writer
Historical Album:
The Live Wire – Woody Guthrie in Performance 1949 – Nora Guthrie & Jorge Arevalo Mateus, compilation producers; Jamie Howarth, Steve Rosenthal, Warren Russell-Smith & Dr. Kevin Short, mastering engineers (Woody Guthrie)
December 16, 2006 – February 23, 2007: Irreplacable – Beyonce February 24 – March 2: Say It Right – Nelly Furtato March 3 – March 9: What Goes Around… Comes Around – Justin Timberlake March 10 – March 23: This Is Why I’m Hot – Mims March 24 – April 6: Glamorous – Fergie April 7 – April 20: Don’t Matter – Akon April 21 – May 4: Give It To Me – Timbaland with Nelly Furtado & Justin Tmberlake May 5 – May 11: Girlfriend – Avril Lavigne May 12 – May 25: Makes Me Wonder – Maroon5 May 26 – June 8: Buy u A Drank (Shawty Snappin’) – T-Pain with Yung Joc June 9 – July 27: Umbrella – Rihanna with Jay-Z July 28 – August 10: Hey There Delilah – Plain White T’s August 11 – September 7: Beautiful Girls – Sean Kingston September 8 – September 14: Big Girls Don’t Cry – Fergie September 15 – September 28: Crank Dat (Soulja Boy) – Soulja Boy Tell’em September 29 – November 9: Stronger – Kanye West November 10 – November 30: Kiss Kiss – Chris Brown with T-Pain December 1, 2007 – January 4, 2008: No One – Alicia Keys
(Data is compiled from various charts including Billboard’s “Pop,” “Rock,” “Airplay,” “R&B/Dance” and “Singles” Charts. The “Hot 100” is the primary chart used for this list.)
The Top Song was Crank That (Soulja Boy) by Soulja Boy Tell’em
The Movies to Watch include Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Enchanted, The Golden Compass and Juno
The Most Famous Person in America was probably Steve Jobs
Notable books include: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling and The Shack by William P. Young
Price of an iPod, 2nd generation: $149.99 Minimum Wage in 2007: $5.85 per hour* *some states higher
Cupid Shuffle by Cupid was the most popular line dance since 1998’s Cha Cha Slide.
The Funny Guys were: Patton Oswalt & Bill Engvall & Frank Caliendo The Other Funny Guy was: Louis C.K.
The Viral Phrase: “I Can Has Cheezburger?” created by Eric Nakagawa (Cheezburger) and Kari Unebasami (Tofuburger)
Top Ten Baby Names of 2007: Emma, Madison, Hanna, Emily, Elizabeth Jacob, Michael, Ethan, Joshua, Daniel
Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols: Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Alba, Eva Longoria, Victoria Beckham, Rihanna, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Biel, Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Ali Larter, Fergie, Megan Fox
Leading Men and Hollywood Hunks: Hugh Laurie, Adam Levine, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt
“The Quote:” “I personally believe the U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and the Iraq everywhere like such as and I believe they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa or should help the Iraq and Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us.” – Miss South Carolina, Lauren Caitlin Upton
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year: Vladimir Putin
Miss America: Lauren Nelson
Miss USA: Rachel Smith
The Scandals: Anna Nicole Smith died from a drug overdose at age 39.
Red Hot Chili Peppers sued Showtime after the Cable TV network named a program ‘Californication’ – a title matching the band’s 1999 album. “For some TV show to come along and steal our identity is not right,” frontman Anthony Kiedis said in a statement. The case was dismissed because the Chili Peppers never trademarked the name.
Rapper Akon had a rather sexy dance with this fourteen-year-old young lady at an “over 18 only” concert in Trinidad. When confronted with the press, along with her preacher father, Danah Alleyne admitted that it wasn’t her best idea.
RIP: A rescue ship at the Titanic sinking pulled a dead infant from the sea who wasn’t able to be identified. The ship’s sailors paid for a graveside monument dedicated to The Unknown Child. In 2007, DNA testing showed the child to be from an English family of six, the Goodwins, who all drowned.
In a KDND radio contest, on January 12, 2007, a woman died after drinking nearly 2 gallons (7.6 liters) of water in over 3 hours in an attempt to win a Nintendo Wii. The contest was called “Hold Your Wee for a Wii,” in which contestants were asked to drink as much water as they could without urinating.
More than a dozen human feet in shoes have washed up along the Pacific Northwest coast since August 2007.
Lisa Nowak, a NASA Astronaut, was arrested for the attempted kidnapping, assault and battery of US Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, the girlfriend of Astronaut William Oefelein, with whom Novak had been romantically involved.
Celebrity Hijinx: Paris Hilton spent 23 days in jail for her DUI.
Britney Spears shaved off her hair
Lindsey Lohan, as of 2007, went to rehab 3 times.
Nerd Legend Freddy Andersson completed Super Mario Bros 3 in only 11 minutes and 3 seconds.
The Weather Channel released a compilation of the music used during their ‘Local on the 8s’ segment. It peaked #1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart for Contemporary Jazz.
Cost of a Super Bowl ad in 2007: $2,600,000
The Cat Video: The Keyboard Cat (real name Fatso) meme video, though uploaded to youtube in 2007, was actually recorded in 1984
Pop Culture Facts & History: The “mmm whatcha say” music used in both the 2007 SNL skit “The Shooting AKA Dear Sister” and in memes across the internet isn’t actually from Jason Derulo’s song Whatcha Say, but really from Imogen Heap’s 2005 song Hide and Seek.
The Keyboard Cat (real name Fatso) meme video, though uploaded to youtube in 2007, was actually recorded in 1984.
In 2004 Eminem dissed Michael Jackson on Just Lose it, in 2007 MJ responded by buying all of Eminem’s Publishing.
When released in France in 2007, Ratatouille was not only praised for its technical accuracy and attention to culinary detail, it also drew the 4th highest opening-day attendance in French movie history.
Deadline reported that, due to Hollywood’s unusual accounting process, the 2007 film Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix lost $167 million despite grossing $938.2 million.
American Astronaut Steven Swanson brought DVD copies of the show Firefly and its movie sequel Serenity to the ISS, where they remain permanently for the crew’s entertainment.
With free classified ads, research has shown that Craigslist cost the newspaper industry $5.4 billion from 2000-2007.
Gerald Ford is the only U.S. President to die in one year and be buried in another. He died on Dec. 26, 2006 and was buried on Jan. 2, 2007.
Nintendo’s classic arcade game Donkey Kong (1981) is so hard that by 2007, only 2 people were known to have completed it. Today, that number is still under 100.
Edison’s DC electric power was still in use in parts of New York City until 2007 when the last systems were finally converted to AC current.
In 1986, calculators represented an estimated 41% of the world’s general-purpose hardware capacity to compute information. By 2007, this had diminished to less than 0.05%.
A man named Oswald Laurence can be heard at the London Underground’s Embankment station, in the City of Westminster, saying “mind the gap”. In 2012 they were planning on changing all voiceovers but decided not to at this station when Laurence’s wife told them that he had passed away in 2007. She loved listening to him when on the way to work.
The-reigning Jeopardy! champion Scott Weiss purposely placed his final bet in such a way as to force the first three-way tie in the game’s history. He said he knew he could have bet more and won the game, but thought it would be fun to force a tie instead.
Donald Duck was used as a logo by a Mexican beverage company called Pascual since 1940. They even changed his name to Pato Pascual (Pascual Duck). Disney sued them in 1980, but the case was not resolved until 2007 when Pascual decided to create their own design for the character.
The original iPhone released in 2007 had no front camera, no App Store, ran on 2G speed, required a 2-year contract, worked with only one carrier, and started out as an idea by Steve Jobs to work as an interactive touchscreen to control a computer.
Facebook’s primary color is blue because Zuckerberg is red-green colorblind.
In 2007, a twin brother was born at 1:32 AM, However, then Daylight Savings Time occurred. His twin sister who was then born at 1:06 AM is considered 26 minutes older.
The Weather Channel released a Smooth Jazz CD based on the music played during its local weather segments; the CD topped Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz charts in 2007.
Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin was only made available as a single in 2007, 36 years after the original release.
Monty Python members Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam led a group of 5,567 people to set a new Guinness World Record for the largest coconut orchestra. They played Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.
Since 2007 artist Florentijn Hofman has created a series of giant rubber duck sculptures that have been on display at major events. In 2014 the duck designs were stolen and have been used for unauthorized giant ducks.
The 2007 film Paranormal Activity is the most profitable film of all time with a 19,749% return on the initial investment of $450,000.
Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007), and The World’s End (2013) are known as ‘The Three Flavors of Cornetto Trilogy” written and directed by Edgar Wright. Each Cornetto flavor (color) represents the themes: Red = blood/gore (Shaun), Blue = cop movie (Fuzz), Green = sci/fi (World’s End).
On March 20, 2007, David Letterman became ill less than an hour before his show was to start. Adam Sandler, who was to be one of his guests that night, filled in for him and hosted the whole show.
The Yongle Encyclopedia was six times larger than the Encyclopædia Britannica despite being written 300+ years earlier. It was regarded as the world’s largest encyclopedia from 1408 to 2007
The NFL sent a cease and desist order to an Indiana Church in 2007 for charging admission to a Super Bowl party that was showing the game on a TV larger than 55 inches thus infringing on the NFL’s copyright laws.
Cost of a Super Bowl ad in 2007: $2,699,963
Super Bowl Public Showing Rules:
For establishments that are not a food service or drinking establishments, you are ok if you:
(A) have less than 2,000 gross square feet of space (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose), or
(B) if you have 2,000 or more gross square feet of space (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose) and—
> if the performance is by audio means only, the performance is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space; or
> if the performance or display is by audiovisual means, any visual portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 4 audiovisual devices, of which not more than 1 audiovisual device is located in any 1 room, and no such audiovisual device has a diagonal screen size greater than 55 inches, and any audio portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space.
If you are a food service or drinking establishment, you are ok if :
(A) you have less than 3,750 gross square feet of space (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose), or
(B) the establishment in which the communication occurs has 3,750 gross square feet of space or more (excluding space used for customer parking and for no other purpose) and—
> if the performance is by audio means only, the performance is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space; or
> if the performance or display is by audiovisual means, any visual portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 4 audiovisual devices, of which not more than one audiovisual device is located in any 1 room, and no such audiovisual device has a diagonal screen size greater than 55 inches, and any audio portion of the performance or display is communicated by means of a total of not more than 6 loudspeakers, of which not more than 4 loudspeakers are located in any 1 room or adjoining outdoor space.
Doomsday Clock: 5 minutes to midnight, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. 2007: “The world stands at the brink of a second nuclear age. The United States and Russia remain ready to stage a nuclear attack within minutes, North Korea conducts a nuclear test, and many in the international community worry that Iran plans to acquire the Bomb. Climate change also presents a dire challenge to humanity. Damage to ecosystems is already taking place; flooding, destructive storms, increased drought, and polar ice melt are causing loss of life and property.”
The Habit: Finishing up the Harry Potter series
2007 Toys inducted to the National Toy Hall of Fame: Atari 2600, Kite, Raggedy Andy
1st Appearances & 2007’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and Presents: Nintendo DS , Sony PS3
Best Film Oscar Winner: The Departed (Presented in 2007)
2007 Entries to The National Film Registry: 12 Angry Men (released in 1957) Back to the Future (released in 1985) Bullitt (released in 1968) Close Encounters of the Third Kind (released in 1977) Dance, Girl, Dance (released in 1940) Dances with Wolves (released in 1990) Days of Heaven (released in 1978) Glimpse of the Garden (released in 1957) Grand Hotel (released in 1932) The House I Live In (released in 1945) In a Lonely Place (released in 1950) The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (released in 1962) Mighty Like a Moose (released in 1926) The Naked City (released in 1948) Now, Voyager (released in 1942) Oklahoma!(released in 1955) Our Day (released in 1938) Peege (released in 1972) The Sex Life of the Polyp (released in 1928) The Strong Man (released in 1926) The Three Little Pigs (released in 1933) Tol’able David (released in 1921) Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son (released in 1969/1971) The Women (released in 1939) Wuthering Heights (released in 1939)
The Big Movies: (according to boxofficemojo) 1. Spider-Man 3 2. Shrek the Third 3. Transformers 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End 5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix 6. I Am Legend 7. The Bourne Ultimatum 8. National Treasure: Book of Secrets 9. Alvin and the Chipmunks 10. 300
2007 Most Popular TV Shows: 1. American Idol (Fox) 2. Dancing With the Stars (Fall, ABC) 3. Desperate Housewives (ABC) 4. House (Fox) 5. CSI (CBS) 6. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) 7. Sunday Night Football (NBC) 8. Survivor: China (CBS) 9. The Moment of Truth (Fox) 10. NCIS (CBS)
Sports: World Series Champions: Boston Red Sox Super Bowl Champions: Indianapolis Colts NBA Champions: San Antonio Spurs Stanley Cup Champs: Anaheim Mighty Ducks U.S. Open Golf Angel Cabrera U.S. Tennis: (Men/Ladies) Roger Federer/Justine Henin Wimbledon (Men/Women): Roger Federer/ Venus Williams NCAA Football Champions: LSU NCAA Basketball Champions: Florida Kentucky Derby: Street Sense
Popular and Best-selling Books From 2007: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan An Inconvenient Book by Glenn Beck and Kevin Balfe The Assault on Reason by Al Gore At the Center of the Storm by George Tenet The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz The Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien The Choice by Nicholas Sparks The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown Double Cross by James Patterson Einstein by Walter Isaacson For One More Day by Mitch Albom Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World by Bill Clinton God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert I Heard That Song Before by Mary Higgins Clark In an Instant by Lee and Bob Woodruff It’s All About Him by Denise Jackson with Ellen Vaughn Innocent in Death by Nora Roberts Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson My Grandfather’s Son by Clarence Thomas Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan Playing For Pizza by John Grisham Plum Lovin’ by Janet Evanovich Power to the People by Laura Ingraham Protect and Defended by Vince Flynn The Quickie by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker The Reagan Diaries by Ronald Reagan Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella Simple Genious by David Baldacci Step on a Crack by James Patterson Stone Cold by David Baldacci “T” is fot Trespass by Sue Grafton The 6th Target by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson Twilight: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer Wonderful Tonight by Pattie Boyd with Penny Junor The Yiddish Policemen’s Union by Michael Chabon You Can Run But You Can’t Hide by Duane Chapman with Laura Morton You’ve Been Warned by James Patterson and Howard Roughan
Winners Announced:February 25, 2007 Held at: Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, California Host: Ellen DeGeneres Eligibility Year: 2006
Oscar Trivia
Ellen DeGeneres hosting marked her first time leading the Oscars. Her casual banter and comedic approach added a unique vibe.
The Departed nabbed Best Picture and was a career milestone for Martin Scorsese. It was his first win for Best Director after many nominations, breaking his Oscar “curse.”
This year’s Oscars saw three African-American actors nominated for lead roles, a significant moment in Oscar history.
Environmentalism was a prominent theme, as the Academy promoted “green” practices for the event. They used eco-friendly materials for stage design and promoted carpooling among attendees.
The Best Foreign Language Film award went to The Lives of Others, beating the hot favorite, Pan’s Labyrinth, which won three other Oscars.
Will Smith, nominated for The Pursuit of Happyness, brought his son Jaden Smith as his plus-one, creating a memorable father-son moment.
An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore’s climate change documentary, won Best Documentary Feature, further spotlighting environmental issues.
The “Academy Award of Merit” is what the Oscar statue is officially called.
2007 Oscar Nominees and Winners
Best Picture: The Departed – Graham King, producer (WINNER) Babel – Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, producers Letters from Iwo Jima – Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, producers Little Miss Sunshine – David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub, producers The Queen – Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, producers
Best Director: Martin Scorsese – The Departed (WINNER) Alejandro González Iñárritu – Babel Clint Eastwood – Letters from Iwo Jima Stephen Frears – The Queen Paul Greengrass – United 93
Best Actor: Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland as Idi Amin (WINNER) Leonardo DiCaprio – Blood Diamond as Danny Archer Ryan Gosling – Half Nelson as Dan Dunne Peter O’Toole – Venus as Maurice Will Smith – The Pursuit of Happyness as Chris Gardner
Best Actress: Helen Mirren – The Queen as Queen Elizabeth II (WINNER) Penélope Cruz – Volver as Raimunda Judi Dench – Notes on a Scandal as Barbara Covett Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada as Miranda Priestly Kate Winslet – Little Children as Sarah Pierce
Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin – Little Miss Sunshine as Edwin Hoover (WINNER) Jackie Earle Haley – Little Children as Ronald James McGorvey Djimon Hounsou – Blood Diamond as Solomon Vandy Eddie Murphy – Dreamgirls as James “Thunder” Early Mark Wahlberg – The Departed as Staff Sergeant Dignam
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Hudson – Dreamgirls as Effie White (WINNER) Adriana Barraza – Babel as Amelia Hernandez Cate Blanchett – Notes on a Scandal as Bathsheba “Sheba” Hart Abigail Breslin – Little Miss Sunshine as Olive Hoover Rinko Kikuchi – Babel as Chieko Wataya
Best Original Screenplay: Little Miss Sunshine – Michael Arndt (WINNER) Babel – Guillermo Arriaga Letters from Iwo Jima – Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis Pan’s Labyrinth – Guillermo del Toro The Queen – Peter Morgan
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Departed – William Monahan based on the film Infernal Affairs (WINNER) Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan – Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips based on characters created by Sacha Baron Cohen Children of Men – Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby based on the book by P. D. James Little Children – Todd Field and Tom Perrotta based on the novel by Tom Perrotta Notes on a Scandal – Patrick Marber based on the book by Zoë Heller
Best Animated Feature Film: Happy Feet – George Miller (WINNER) Cars – John Lasseter Monster House – Gil Kenan
Best Foreign Language Film: The Lives of Others (Germany) in German – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (WINNER) After the Wedding (Denmark) in Danish, Hindi, and Swedish – Susanne Bier Days of Glory (Indigènes) (Algeria) in Arabic – Rachid Bouchareb Pan’s Labyrinth (Mexico) in Spanish – Guillermo del Toro Water (Canada) in Hindi – Deepa Mehta
Best Documentary Feature: An Inconvenient Truth – Davis Guggenheim (WINNER) Deliver Us from Evil – Amy Berg and Frank Donner Iraq in Fragments – James Longley and John Sinno Jesus Camp – Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady My Country, My Country – Laura Poitras and Jocelyn Glatzer
Best Documentary Short Subject: The Blood of Yingzhou District – Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon (WINNER) Recycled Life – Leslie Iwerks and Mike Glad Rehearsing a Dream – Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon Two Hands – Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Rose Behr
Best Live Action Short Film: West Bank Story – Ari Sandel (WINNER) Binta and the Great Idea – Javier Fesser and Luis Manso Éramos Pocos (One Too Many) – Borja Cobeaga Helmer & Son – Søren Pilmark and Kim Magnusson The Saviour – Peter Templeman and Stuart Parkyn
Best Animated Short Film: The Danish Poet – Torill Kove (WINNER) Lifted – Gary Rydstrom The Little Matchgirl – Roger Allers and Don Hahn Maestro – Géza M. Tóth No Time for Nuts – Chris Renaud and Mike Thurmeier
Best Original Score: Babel – Gustavo Santaolalla (WINNER) The Good German – Thomas Newman Notes on a Scandal – Philip Glass Pan’s Labyrinth – Javier Navarrete The Queen – Alexandre Desplat
Best Original Song: “I Need to Wake Up” from An Inconvenient Truth – Music and Lyrics by Melissa Etheridge (WINNER) “Listen” from Dreamgirls – Music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler; Lyrics by Anne Preven “Love You I Do” from Dreamgirls – Music by Henry Krieger; Lyrics by Siedah Garrett “Our Town” from Cars – Music and Lyrics by Randy Newman “Patience” from Dreamgirls – Music by Henry Krieger; Lyrics by Willie Reale
Best Sound Editing: Letters from Iwo Jima – Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman (WINNER) Apocalypto – Sean McCormack and Kami Asgar Blood Diamond – Lon Bender Flags of Our Fathers – Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Christopher Boyes and George Watters II
Best Sound Mixing: Dreamgirls – Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie D. Burton (WINNER) Apocalypto – Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Fernando Cámara Blood Diamond – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ivan Sharrock Flags of Our Fathers – John Reitz, Dave Campbell, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Paul Massey, Christopher Boyes and Lee Orloff
Best Art Direction: Pan’s Labyrinth – Art Direction: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Pilar Revuelta (WINNER) Dreamgirls – Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh The Good Shepherd – Art Direction: Jeannine Oppewall; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau (posthumous nomination) and Leslie E. Rollins Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Art Direction: Rick Heinrichs; Set Decoration: Cheryl Carasik The Prestige – Art Direction: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Julie Ochipinti
Best Cinematography: Pan’s Labyrinth – Guillermo Navarro (WINNER) The Black Dahlia – Vilmos Zsigmond Children of Men – Emmanuel Lubezki The Illusionist – Dick Pope The Prestige – Wally Pfister
Best Makeup: Pan’s Labyrinth – David Martí and Montse Ribé (WINNER) Apocalypto – Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano Click – Kazuhiro Tsuji and Bill Corso
Best Costume Design: Marie Antoinette – Milena Canonero (WINNER) Curse of the Golden Flower – Yee Chung Man The Devil Wears Prada – Patricia Field Dreamgirls – Sharen Davis The Queen – Consolata Boyle
Best Film Editing: The Departed – Thelma Schoonmaker (WINNER) Babel – Douglas Crise and Stephen Mirrione Blood Diamond – Steven Rosenblum Children of Men – Alfonso Cuarón and Álex Rodríguez United 93 – Clare Douglas, Richard Pearson and Christopher Rouse
Best Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall (WINNER) Poseidon – Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chaz Jarrett and John Frazier Superman Returns – Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover and Jon Thum
Eligibility Year: October 1, 2005 – September 30, 2006
Trivia:
The Dixie Chicks were the big winners of the night, taking home five awards including Album of the Year for Taking the Long Way.
Not Ready to Make Nice, also by the Dixie Chicks, won both Record of the Year and Song of the Year, making a strong political statement.
Mary J. Blige was another notable winner, bagging three awards including Best R&B Album for The Breakthrough.
Justin Timberlake snagged two awards, including Best Dance Recording for the hit SexyBack.
The iconic Tony Bennett Duets: An American Classic earned Tony Bennett two Grammys, and it was a unique collaborative project featuring various artists across genres.
The Best New Artist category had an unusual mix of genres represented, with British soul singer Corinne Bailey Rae and American rapper Lupe Fiasco among the nominees. Carrie Underwood took home the prize.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers also had a successful night, winning four awards, including Best Rock Album for Stadium Arcadium.
Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie featuring Wyclef Jean was a notable snub, not winning any awards despite its massive commercial success.
John Mayer won Best Pop Vocal Album for Continuum, further solidifying his status as a pop and blues sensation.
Rick Rubin won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, partly for his work on the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Stadium Arcadium.
2007 Grammy Winners
Album of the Year: Taking the Long Way – Dixie Chicks
Record of the Year: Not Ready to Make Nice – Dixie Chicks
Song of the Year: Not Ready to Make Nice – Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison and Dan Wilson (Dixie Chicks)
New Artist: Carrie Underwood
Female R&B Vocal Performance: Be Without You – Mary J. Blige
Pop Vocal Album: Continuum – John Mayer
Pop Collaboration With Vocals: For Once in My Life – Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder
Country Album: Taking the Long Way – Dixie Chicks
Rap Album: Release Therapy – Ludacris
Rock Album: Stadium Arcadium – Red Hot Chili Peppers
R&B Album: The Breakthrough – Mary J. Blige
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Rick Rubin
Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Duets: an American Classic – Tony Bennett
Female Pop Vocal Performance: Ain’t No Other Man – Christina Aguilera
Male Pop Vocal Performance: Waiting on the World to Change – John Mayer
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal: My Humps – Black Eyed Peas
Pop Instrumental Performance: Mornin’ – George Benson (& Al Jarreau)
Pop Instrumental Album: Fingerprints – Peter Frampton
Rock Instrumental Performance: The Wizard Turns On … – the Flaming Lips
Rock Song: Dani California – Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers);
Solo Rock Vocal Performance: Someday Baby – Bob Dylan
Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal: Dani California – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Hard Rock Performance: Woman – Wolfmother
Metal Performance: Eyes of the Insane – Slayer
Alternative Music Album: St. Elsewhere – Gnarls Barkley
Dance Recording: Sexy Back – Justin Timberlake and Timbaland
Electronic/Dance Album: Confessions on a Dance Floor – Madonna
Rap Solo Performance: What You Know – T.I
Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: Ridin – Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone
Rap/Sung Collaboration: My Love – Justin Timberlake featuring T.I
Rap Song: Money Maker – Christopher Bridges and Pharrell Williams (Ludacris featuring Pharrell)
R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: Family Affair – (Sly and the Family Stone), John Legend, Joss Stone With Van Hunt
Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: God Bless the Child – George Benson and Al Jarreau featuring Jill Scott
R&B Song: Be Without You – Johnta Austin, Mary J. Blige, Bryan-Michael Cox and Jason Perry (Mary J. Blige)
Contemporary R&B Album: B’Day – Beyonce
Traditional Blues Album: Risin’ With the Blues – Ike Turner
Contemporary Blues Album: After the Rain – Irma Thomas
Female Country Vocal Performance: Jesus, Take the Wheel – Carrie Underwood
Male Country Vocal Performance: The Reason Why – Vince Gill
Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal: Not Ready to Make Nice – Dixie Chicks
Country Collaboration With Vocals: Who Says You Can’t Go Home – Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles
Country Instrumental Performance: Whiskey Before Breakfast – Bryan Sutton and Doc Watson
Country Song: Jesus, Take the Wheel – Brett James, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson (Carrie Underwood)
Bluegrass Album: Instrumentals – Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
Contemporary Jazz Album: The Hidden Land – Bela Fleck and the Flecktones
Jazz Instrumental Solo: Some Skunk Funk – Michael Brecker
Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group: The Ultimate Adventure – Chick Corea
Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Some Skunk Funk – Randy Brecker With Michael Brecker, Jim Beard, Will Lee, Peter Erskine, Marcio
Jazz Vocal Album: Turned to Blue – Nancy Wilson
Instrumental Composition: A Prayer for Peace – John Williams, composer (John Williams), from “Munich — Soundtrack.”
Instrumental Arrangement: Three Ghouls – Chick Corea, arranger (Chick Corea), from “The Ultimate Adventure.”
Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): For Once in My Life – Jorge Calandrelli, arranger (Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder), from “Duets: an American Classic.”
Gospel Performance: Victory – Yolanda Adams
Gospel Song: Imagine Me – Kirk Franklin (Kirk Franklin)
Rock or Rap Gospel Album: Turn Around – Jonny Lang
Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album: Wherever You Are – Third Day
Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album: Glory Train – Randy Travis
Traditional Gospel Album: Alive in South Africa – Israel and New Breed
Contemporary R&B Gospel Album: Hero – Kirk Franklin
Short Form Music Video: Here It Goes Again – OK Go
Long Form Music Video: Wings for Wheels: The Making of Born to Run – Bruce Springsteen
Producer of the Year, Classical: Elaine Martone
Classical Album: Mahler: Symphony No. 7 – Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor, Andreas Neubronner, producer (San Francisco Symphony)
Orchestral Performance: Mahler: Symphony No. 7 – Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
Opera Recording: Golijov: Ainadamar: Fountain of Tears – Robert Spano, conductor, Kelley O’Connor and Dawn Upshaw; Valerie Gross and Sid McLauchlan, producers (Women of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra)
Choral Performance: Part: Da Pacem – Paul Hillier, conductor (Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir)
Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Walk the Line – Joaquin Phoenix and Various Artists
Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Memoirs of a Geisha – John Williams, composer
Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Our Town (From Cars) – Randy Newman (James Taylor)
Musical Show Album: Jersey Boys
Musical Album for Children: Catch That Train – Dan Zanes and Friends
Comedy Album: The Carnegie Hall Performance – Lewis Black
New Age Album: Amarantine – Enya
Traditional Folk Album: We Shall Overcome – the Seeger Sessions – Bruce Springsteen
Contemporary Folk/Americana Album: Modern Times – Bob Dylan
Latin Pop Album (tie): Adentro – Arjona Limon Y Sal – Julieta Venegas
Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban Album: Amar Es Combatir – Mana
Tropical Latin Album: Directo Al Corazon – Gilberto Santa Rosa
Mexican/Mexican-American Album: Historias De Mi Tierra – Pepe Aguilar
Tejano Album: Sigue El Taconazo – Chente Barrera
Norteno Album: Historias Que Contar – Los Tigres Del Norte
Banda Album: Mas Alla Del Sol – Joan Sebastian
Latin Jazz Album: Simpatico – the Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project
Native American Music Album: Dance With the Wind – Mary Youngblood
Hawaiian Music Album: Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar — Live From Maui – Various Artists
Reggae Album: Love Is My Religion – Ziggy Marley
Traditional World Music Album: Blessed – Soweto Gospel Choir
Contemporary World Music Album: Wonder Wheel – the Klezmatics
Polka Album: Polka in Paradise – Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra
Spoken Word Album for Children: Blah Blah Blah: Stories About Clams, Swamp Monsters, Pirates and Dogs – Bill Harley
Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books and Story Telling). (Tie): Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis (Jimmy Carter) – Jimmy Carter. “With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together (Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee) – Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee
Recording Package: 10,000 Days – Adam Jones, art director (Tool)
Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: Stadium Arcadium – Flea, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith and Matt Taylor, art directors (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
Album Notes: If You Got to Ask, You Ain’t Got It!” Dan Morgenstern, album notes writer (Fats Waller)
Historical Album: Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry 1891-1922.
Engineered Album, Classical: Elgar: Enigma Variations; Britten: the Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, Four Sea Interludes – Michael Bishop, engineer (Paavo Jarvi and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra)
Engineered Album, Non-Classical: At War With the Mystics – the Flaming Lips and Dave Fridmann, engineers (The Flaming Lips)
Remixed Recording, Non-Classical: Talk (Thin White Duke Mix) – Jacques Lu Cont, remixer (Coldplay)
December 31, 2005 – January 13 2006: Don’t Forget About Us – Mariah Carey January 14 – January 20: Laffy Taffy – D4L January 21 – February 3: Grillz – Nelly featuring Paul Wall, Ali and Gipp February 4 – March 10: Check on It – Beyoncé featuring Slim Thug March 11 – March 17: You’re Beautiful – James Blunt March 18 – March 31: So Sick – Ne-Yo April 1 – April 7: Temperature – Sean Paul April 8 – May 12: Bad Day – Daniel Powter May 13 – June 2: SOS – Rihanna June 3 – June 16: Ridin’ – Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone June 17 – June 30: Hips Don’t Lie – Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean July 1 – July 7: Do I Make You Proud – Taylor Hicks July 8 -August 18: Promiscuous – Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland August 19 – September 8: London Bridge – Fergie September 9 – October 27th: SexyBack – Justin Timberlake October 28 – November 10th: Money Maker – Ludacris featuring Pharrell December 2 – December 15: I Wanna Love You – Akon featuring Snoop Dogg December 30, 2006 – February 23, 2007: Irreplacable – Beyonce
(Data is compiled from various charts including Billboard’s “Pop,” “Rock,” “Airplay,” “R&B/Dance” and “Singles” Charts. The “Hot 100” is the primary chart used for this list.)
World Changing Events: Facebook became open to any over age 13
Twitter.com was launched
The Top Song was Irreplaceable by Beyonce
The Movies to Watch include Dreamgirls, Mission: Impossible III, The da Vinci Code, and Happy Feet
The Most Famous Person in America was probably
Notable books include: The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and Wisdom of Our Fathers by Tim Russert
Price of Hershey Kisses, 14 oz in 2006: $2.50 I Can’t Believe It’s not butter, 15 oz, $2.29
The Funny Guys were: Jim Gaffigan & Demetri Martin The Controversial Funny Guy: Stephen Colbert
The Chicken Noodle Soup dance was popular during late 2006, Crank That (Soulja Boy) by Soulja Boy Tell’em outlasted it.
#TBT: Throwback Thursday is the trend of posting older, nostalgic photos on Thursdays under the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday or #TBT. An old concept, it reached mainstream Pop Culture this year.
Created in 2000, Blu-Ray discs were made available in 2006. They can contain up to 5 times more information than a DVD.
The Message: Founded in 1856, Western Union didn’t stop sending telegrams until 2006.
Top Ten Baby Names of 2006: Emily, Emma, Madison, Isabella, Ava, Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Ethan, Matthew
Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols: Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson, Christina Milian, Keira Knightly, Katherine Heigl, Gisele Bündchen, Stacy Keibler, Eva Longoria, Lindsay Lohan, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Kristen Bell
Hollywood Hunks and Leading Men: Channing Tatum, Hugh Laurie, David Beckham, Justin Timberlake, Antonio Sabàto, Jr., Johnny Depp
Time Magazine’s Man of the Year: ‘You’ (all worldwide web users)
Miss America: Jennifer Berry (Tulsa, OK)
Miss USA: Tara Conner (Kentucky)
The Scandals: Mark Foley, Republican from Florida, was a member of the United States Congress who sent sexually explicit emails to an underage page.
Duke University lacrosse team scandal took place when some members allegedly took advantage of a dancer/stripper. The stripper, we found out later, made up the story.
Terrell Owens supposedly tried to kill himself by taking 35 painkillers.
Zinedine Zidane headbutted Marco Materazzi during the World Cup Final
Celebrity Death: Steve Irwin, TV’s Crocodile Hunter, was killed by a freak stingray accident. He was a hero to millions of children. Stingray injuries are almost never fatal. When Steve Irwin died from a stingray attack in 2006, it was only the second recorded stingray-related death in Australia since 1945.
Pop Culture Facts & History: Russ Heller set a record for listening to Starship’s We Built This City. Russ listened to the song consecutively for 24 hours, reaching 324 listens.
M&Ms created an ad campaign offering 2 million dark chocolate M&Ms for the one who returns “The Scream”, a painting that was stolen in 2004, in Norway. Just days after the campaign, the painting was found by the Norwegian Police.
NASCAR’s Allstate 400 had 36 cars start the race, a NASCAR record.
Skiing is one of the fastest non-motorized sports on land. Skiers can ski faster than a car and this was proven by Simone Origone in 2006 that set a world speed skiing record at 156.2 miles per hour compared to the speed of road cars at 120 miles per hour.
The song Year 3000 was originally released in 2003 by the English pop-punk band Busted, and was covered by the Jonas Brothers in 2006 for their first album.
The first Youtuber was Peter Oakley, known as Geriatric1927, he was the most subscribed youtube account in 2006. On his channel, he talked about his life experiences, such as growing up in the UK during WW2 and experiencing the British inter-war school system. He passed away in 2014 at the age of 86.
In 2006, Katie Melua gave a concert at 303 meters below sea level in one of the legs of the “Troll A” oil rig, earning a Guinness record for “deepest underwater concert”.
After the sale of Pixar to Disney in 2006 Steve Jobs became the largest individual shareholder of Disney with 7% ownership.
iTunes billionth song was downloaded in February 2006. It was Speed of Sound by Coldplay.
We only have 8 planets in the solar system instead of 9, because in 2006 a panel of 424 astronomers in a meeting of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Prague has demoted and reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet.
Russian cosmonaut hit a golf ball in space for an estimated 2.2 billion yard drive, during a spacewalk.
Corn Pops debuted in 1950 as ‘Corn Pops’. Name changed twice in 1951 to ‘Sugar Corn Pops’ then ‘Sugar Pops’. In 1978 it changed back to ‘Sugar Corn Pops’ then finally back to original ‘Corn Pops’ in 1984. In 2006 it became to ‘Pops’ and then back to ‘Corn Pops’ a few months later.
Western Union sent their last telegram in 2006.
Bambi and Bambi II hold the record for the longest gap in between movie sequels, the first being released in 1942, the second being released 64 years later in 2006.
Disney quietly cut ties with McDonald’s in 2006 so as not to be associated with childhood obesity. The last Kid’s Meal toys were Cars and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.
Earning just $462 million at the box office, the 2006 movie Cars earned $10 billion in merchandise sales over the next 5 years.
There is controversy over the first words of Neil Armstrong on the moon: Armstrong said: “That’s one small step for a man…”. “It’s just that people just didn’t hear the ‘a’,” he told the press. In 2006, Peter Shann Ford found evidence that the missing “a” had been spoken after all. #goodluckmrgorsky
William Shatner auctioned off a kidney stone. The $25,000 it fetched was given to Habitat For Humanity.
The first female space tourist was Iranian Anousheh Ansari. She paid $20,000,000 to get onto the International Space Station.
Lambda Lambda Lambda, the fictional fraternity from Revenge of the Nerds, ended up being formed as a real fraternity at the University of Connecticut in 2006
Kongō Gumi was a Japanese construction company that was the world’s oldest continuously ongoing independent company, operating for 1,441 years. In 2005 it had 100 employees and annual revenue of $70m USD. In 2006 they fell on hard times and were absorbed into a larger company.
On Domino Day, November 13, 2009, a total of 4,491,863 dominos were toppled – the record as of this writing…
In October 2000, Heinz introduced colored ketchup products called EZ Squirt, which eventually included green (2000), purple (2001), mystery (pink, orange, or teal, 2002), and blue (2003). The products were discontinued in 2006.
Cost of a Super Bowl ad in 2006: $2,500,000
The Strange: In 1867, a jar was found in Paris containing a human rib among other artifacts, and a label claiming that they belonged to Joan of Arc. Tests conducted in 2006 revealed that they came not from Joan of Arc, but an Egyptian mummy.
In 2006, Disney traded sports broadcaster, Al Michaels, to NBC in return for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a cartoon character Universal took from Walt Disney in 1927.
Napoleon signed the Louisiana Purchase in his bathtub at the Tuileries Palace. An American hotelier in Louisiana bought the tub in 2006 and put it in a hotel in New Orleans for guests to bathe in.
Dick Cheney accidentally shot his (now ex?) friend Harry Whittington in the face. Love Mr. Cheney, or hate him, you don’t mess with this ex-Vice-President.
The Break Ups: Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards Britney Spears and Kevin Federline Paul McCartney and Heather Mills Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown
The Habits: Facebook opened to anyone over 13, with a valid e-mail address. YouTube, MySpace
2006 Toys inducted to the National Toy Hall of Fame: Easy-Bake Oven, Lionel Trains
1st Appearances & 2006’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and Presents: Wii, Elmo TMX, Dora the Explorer Dolls, Apples to Apples
East End Show : The 39 Steps (Play) Opened on September 14, 2006, and closed on September 5, 2015. Wicked (Musical) Opened on September 27, 2006
Broadway Show : Mary Poppins (Musical) Opened on November 16, 2006, and closed on March 3, 2013
Best Film Oscar Winner: Crash (Presented in 2007)
2006 Entries to The National Film Registry: Applause (released in 1929) The Big Trail (released in 1930) Blazing Saddles (released in 1974) The Curse of Quon Gwon (released in 1916/1917) Daughter of Shanghai (released in 1937) Drums of Winter (aka Uksuum Cauyai) (released in 1988) Early Abstractions (released in 1939/1956) Fargo (released in 1996) Flesh and the Devil (released in 1927) Groundhog Day (released in 1993) Halloween (released in 1978) In the Street (released in 1948) The Last Command (released in 1928) Notorious (released in 1946) Red Dust (released in 1932) Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania (released in 1971/1972) Rocky (released in 1976) sex, lies, and videotape (released in 1989) Siege (released in 1940) St. Louis Blues (released in 1929) The T.A.M.I. Show (released in 1964) Tess of the Storm Country (released in 1914) Think of Me First as a Person (released in 1960/1975) A Time Out of War (released in 1954) Traffic in Souls (released in 1913)
The Big Movies: (according to boxofficemojo) 1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest 2. Night at the Museum 3. Cars 4. X-Men: The Last Stand 5. The Da Vinci Code 6. Superman Returns 7. Happy Feet 8. Ice Age: The Meltdown 9. Casino Royale 10. The Pursuit of Happiness
2006 Most Popular TV shows: 1. American Idol Results (Fox) 2. Dancing With the Stars (Fall, ABC) 3. CSI (CBS) 4. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) 5. House (Fox) 6. Sunday Night Football (NBC) 7. Desperate Housewives (ABC) 8. CSI: Miami (CBS) 9. Deal or No Deal (NBC) 10. Survivor: Cook Islands (CBS)
2006 Billboard Number One Songs: December 30, 2005 – January 13, 2006: Don’t Forget About Us – Mariah Carey
January 14 – January 20: Laffy Taffy – D4L
January 21 – February 3: Grillz – Nelly Featuring Paul Wall, Ali, and Gipp
February 4 – March 10: Check on It – Beyoncé featuring Slim Thug
March 11 – March 17: You’re Beautiful – James Blunt
December 30, 2006 – February 23, 2007: Irreplaceable – Beyonce
Sports: World Series Champions: St. Louis Cardinals Super Bowl XL Champions: Pittsburgh Steelers NBA Champions: Miami Heat Stanley Cup Champs: Carolina Hurricanes U.S. Open Golf Geoff Ogilvy U.S. Tennis: (Men/Ladies) Roger Federer/ Maria Sharapova Wimbledon (Men/Women): Roger Federer/Amelie Mauresmo NCAA Football Champions: Florida NCAA Basketball Champions: Florida Kentucky Derby: Barbaro World Cup (Soccer): Italy Sports Honorable Mention: Shaun White, snowboarder
Popular and Best-selling Books From 2006: Angels Fall – Nora Roberts At Risk by Patricia Cornwell The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama Beach Road by James Patterson and Peter De Jonge Black Swan Green by David Mitchell The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Cell by Stephen King The Children’s Hospital by Chris Adrian Cross by James Patterson Culture Warrior by Bill O’Reilly The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Dear John by Nicholas Sparks Dispatches from the Edge by Anderson Cooper Don’t Make a Black Woman Take off Her Earrings by Tyler Perry Fiasco by Thomas E. Ricks The 5th Horseman by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro For Laci by Sharon Rocha For One More Day by Mitch Albom Fun Home by Alison Bechdel Godless: The Church of Liberalism by Ann Coulter Gone by Jonathan Kellerman Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris The Hostage by W.E.B. Griffin The House by Danielle Steel The Husband by Dean Koontz I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders The Innocent Man by John Grisham Judge and Jury by James Patterson and Andrew Gross Lisey’s Story by Stephen King Marley & Me by John Grogan Mary, Mary by James Patterson Next by Michael Crichton Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen The Road by Cormac McCarthy “S” is For Silence by Sue Grafton The Secret by Rhonda Byrne State of Denial by Bob Woodward Teacher Man by Frank McCourt Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich Twilight: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer Twilight of the Superheroes of Deborah Eisenberg Two Little Girls in Blue by Mary Higging Clark Wisdom of Our Fathers by Tim Russert
Held at: Kodak Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Host: Jon Stewart
Eligibility Year: 2005
Trivia:
The ceremony was originally scheduled for February but was pushed back to March due to the 2006 Winter Olympics taking place in Turin, Italy.
Ang Lee won Best Director for Brokeback Mountain, although the film lost out on Best Picture to Crash, a controversial decision that still sparks debates.
Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix both received nominations for their roles in Walk the Line. Witherspoon won Best Actress, making her one of the youngest actresses to win the award.
Memoirs of a Geisha surprisingly took home three Oscars but didn’t win any of the major awards.
George Clooney won Best Supporting Actor for his role in Syriana, marking his first Oscar win.
Philip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor for his transformative role in Capote, setting the stage for future biopic winners.
The Best Animated Feature went to Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, beating out Corpse Bride and Howl’s Moving Castle.
Jon Stewart, primarily known for his television show The Daily Show, made his Oscars hosting debut, and his performance was met with mixed reviews.
The Academy also honored Robert Altman with an Honorary Award, celebrated for his distinct vision and contributions to cinema.
It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp from the film Hustle & Flow won Best Original Song, marking a significant win for hip-hop in the Academy Awards.
Dolly Parton, a multi-genre icon, was also nominated in the Best Original Song category for Travelin’ Thru from Transamerica, highlighting the diversity in musical genres recognized by the Oscars that year.
2006 Oscar Nominees and Winners
Best Picture:
Crash – Paul Haggis and Cathy Schulman, producers (WINNER)
Brokeback Mountain – Diana Ossana and James Schamus, producers
Capote – Caroline Baron, William Vince and Michael Ohoven, producers
Good Night, and Good Luck – Grant Heslov, producer
Munich – Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg and Barry Mendel, producers
Best Director:
Ang Lee – Brokeback Mountain (WINNER)
Bennett Miller – Capote
Paul Haggis – Crash
George Clooney – Good Night, and Good Luck
Steven Spielberg – Munich
Best Actor:
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Capote as Truman Capote (WINNER)
Terrence Howard – Hustle & Flow as DJay
Heath Ledger – Brokeback Mountain as Ennis Del Mar
Joaquin Phoenix – Walk the Line as Johnny Cash
David Strathairn – Good Night, and Good Luck as Edward R. Murrow
Best Actress:
Reese Witherspoon – Walk the Line as June Carter Cash (WINNER)
Judi Dench – Mrs Henderson Presents as Laura Henderson
Felicity Huffman – Transamerica as Sabrina “Bree” Osbourne / Stanley Schupak
Keira Knightley – Pride & Prejudice as Elizabeth Bennet
Charlize Theron – North Country as Josey Aimes
Best Supporting Actor:
George Clooney – Syriana as Bob Barnes (WINNER)
Matt Dillon – Crash as Officer John Ryan
Paul Giamatti – Cinderella Man as Joe Gould
Jake Gyllenhaal – Brokeback Mountain as Jack Twist
William Hurt – A History of Violence as Richie Cusack
Best Supporting Actress:
Rachel Weisz – The Constant Gardener as Tessa Quayle (WINNER)
Amy Adams – Junebug as Ashley Johnsten
Catherine Keener-Capote as Nelle Harper Lee
Frances McDormand – North Country as Glory Dodge
Michelle Williams – Brokeback Mountain as Alma Beers Del Mar
Best Original Screenplay:
Crash – Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco (WINNER)
Good Night, and Good Luck – George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Match Point – Woody Allen
The Squid and the Whale – Noah Baumbach
Syriana – Stephen Gaghan
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Brokeback Mountain – Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana based on the short story by Annie Proulx (WINNER)
Capote – Dan Futterman based on the book by Gerald Clarke
The Constant Gardener – Jeffrey Caine based on the novel by John le Carré
A History of Violence – Josh Olson based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke
Munich – Tony Kushner and Eric Roth based on the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas
Best Animated Feature Film:
Wallace & Gromit – Nick Park and Steve Box (WINNER)
Howl’s Moving Castle – Hayao Miyazaki
Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride – Mike Johnson and Tim Burton
Best Foreign Language Film:
Tsotsi (South Africa) – Gavin Hood (WINNER)
The Beast in the Heart (Italy) – Cristina Comencini
Joyeux Noël (France) – Christian Carion
Paradise Now (The Palestinian Territories) – Hany Abu-Assad
Sophie Scholl – The Final Days (Germany) – Marc Rothemund
Best Documentary Feature:
March of the Penguins – Luc Jacquet and Yves Darondeau (WINNER)
Darwin’s Nightmare – Hubert Sauper
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room – Alex Gibney and Jason Kliot
Murderball – Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro
Street Fight – Marshall Curry
Best Documentary Short Subject:
A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin – Corinne Marrinan and Eric Simonson (WINNER)
The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club – Dan Krauss
God Sleeps in Rwanda – Kimberlee Acquaro and Stacy Sherman
The Mushroom Club – Steven Okazaki
Best Live Action Short Film:
Six Shooter – Martin McDonagh (WINNER)
Cashback – Sean Ellis and Lene Bausager
The Last Farm – Rúnar Rúnarsson and Thor S. Sigurjónsson
Our Time Is Up – Rob Pearlstein and Pia Clemente
The Runaway (Ausreißer) – Ulrike Grote
Best Animated Short Film:
The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation – John Canemaker and Peggy Stern (WINNER)
9 – Shane Acker
Badgered – Sharon Colman
The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello – Anthony Lucas
One Man Band – Andrew Jimenez and Mark Andrews
Best Original Score:
Brokeback Mountain – Gustavo Santaolalla (WINNER)
The Constant Gardener – Alberto Iglesias
Memoirs of a Geisha – John Williams
Munich – John Williams
Pride & Prejudice – Dario Marianelli
Best Original Song:
“It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp” from Hustle & Flow – Music and Lyrics by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard (WINNER)
“In the Deep” from Crash – Music by Kathleen “Bird” York and Michael Becker; Lyrics by Kathleen “Bird” York
“Travelin’ Thru” from Transamerica – Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton
Best Sound Editing:
King Kong – Mike Hopkins and Ethan Van der Ryn (WINNER)
Memoirs of a Geisha – Wylie Stateman
War of the Worlds – Richard King
Best Sound Mixing:
King Kong – Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek (WINNER)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
Memoirs of a Geisha – Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Rick Kline and John Pritchett
Walk the Line – Paul Massey, D.M. Hemphill and Peter Kurland
War of the Worlds – Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ron Judkins
Best Art Direction:
Memoirs of a Geisha – Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau (WINNER)
Good Night, and Good Luck – Art Direction: Jim Bissell; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Art Direction: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
King Kong – Art Direction: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Simon Bright
Pride & Prejudice – Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
Best Cinematography:
Memoirs of a Geisha – Dion Beebe (WINNER)
Batman Begins – Wally Pfister
Brokeback Mountain – Rodrigo Prieto
Good Night, and Good Luck – Robert Elswit
The New World – Emmanuel Lubezki
Best Makeup:
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Howard Berger and Tami Lane (WINNER)
Cinderella Man – David LeRoy Anderson and Lance Anderson
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith – Dave Elsey and Nikki Gooley
Best Costume Design:
Memoirs of a Geisha – Colleen Atwood (WINNER)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Gabriella Pescucci
Mrs Henderson Presents – Sandy Powell
Pride & Prejudice – Jacqueline Durran
Walk the Line – Arianne Phillips
Best Film Editing:
Crash – Hughes Winborne (WINNER)
Cinderella Man – Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
The Constant Gardener – Claire Simpson
Munich – Michael Kahn
Walk the Line – Michael McCusker
Best Visual Effects:
King Kong – Joe Letteri, Brian Van’t Hul, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor (WINNER)
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
War of the Worlds – Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randal M. Dutra and Dan Sudick
Eligibility Year: October 1, 2004 – September 30, 2005
Trivia:
2006 was the 48th edition of the Grammy Awards, and the ceremony lacked an official host, a rare occurrence in the show’s history.
U2 dominated the ceremony, winning five Grammys, including Best Rock Album and Song of the Year for Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own.
Mariah Carey, once considered a pop diva past her prime, made a powerful comeback with The Emancipation of Mimi. She went home with three Grammys, including Best Contemporary R&B Album.
Kanye West, who was no stranger to Grammy controversy, won Best Rap Album for Late Registration. However, he lost Album of the Year to U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, fueling the debate over whether rap albums get the recognition they deserve in major categories.
Alison Krauss & Union Station also had a strong presence, winning all three of the awards for which they were nominated.
Green Day, who had swept the Grammys the previous year with American Idiot, won Record of the Year for Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
It was a big night for R&B and soul, with John Legend winning Best New Artist and Best R&B Album for Get Lifted.
The award for Best Comedy Album was snagged by Chris Rock for Never Scared.
Kelly Clarkson made Grammy history by becoming the first American Idol alum to win a Grammy. She took home two, including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Since U Been Gone.
2006 Grammy Winners
Record of the Year: Boulevard Of Broken Dreams – Green Day
Album of the Year: How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb – U2
Song of the Year: Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own – U2
New Artist: John Legend
Female Pop Vocal Performance: Since U Been Gone – Kelly Clarkson
Male Pop Vocal Performance: From The Bottom Of My Heart – Stevie Wonder
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal: This Love – Maroon 5
Pop Collaboration With Vocals: Feel Good Inc – Gorillaz Featuring De La Soul
Pop Instrumental Performance: Caravan – Les Paul
Pop Instrumental Album: At This Time – Burt Bacharach
Pop Vocal Album: Breakaway – Kelly Clarkson
Dance Recording: Galvanize – The Chemical Brothers Featuring Q-Tip
Electronic/Dance Album: Push The Button – The Chemical Brothers
Traditional Pop Vocal Album: The Art Of Romance – Tony Bennett
Solo Rock Vocal Performance: Devils & Dust – Bruce Springsteen
Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own – U2
Hard Rock Performance: B.Y.O.B. – System Of A Down
Metal Performance: Before I Forget – Slipknot
Rock Instrumental Performance: 69 Freedom Special – Les Paul & Friends
Rock Song: City Of Blinding Lights – U2
Rock Album: How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb – U2
Alternative Music Album: Get Behind Me Satan – The White Stripes
Female R&B Vocal Performance: We Belong Together – Mariah Carey
Male R&B Vocal Performance: Ordinary People – John Legend
R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: So Amazing – Beyonce & Stevie Wonder
Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: A House Is Not A Home – Aretha Franklin
Urban/Alternative Performance: Welcome To Jamrock – Damian Marley
R&B Song: We Belong Together – Mariah Carey
R&B Album: Get Lifted – John Legend
Contemporary R&B Album: The Emancipation of Mimi – Mariah Carey
Rap Solo Performance: Gold Digger – Kanye West
Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: Don’t Phunk With My Heart – The Black Eyed Peas
Rap/Sung Collaboration: Numb/Encore – Jay-Z Featuring Linkin Park
Rap Song: Diamonds From Sierra Leone – Kanye West
Rap Album: Late Registration – Kanye West
Female Country Vocal Performance: The Connection – Emmylou Harris
Male Country Vocal Performance: You’ll Think Of Me – Keith Urban
Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal: Restless – Alison Krauss And Union Station
Country Collaboration With Vocals: Like We Never Loved At All – Faith Hill & Tim McGraw
Country Instrumental Performance: Unionhouse Branch – Alison Krauss & Union Station
Country Song: Bless The Broken Road – Rascal Flatts
Country Album: Lonely Runs Both Ways – Alison Krauss And Union Station
Bluegrass Album: The Company We Keep – The DelMcCoury Band
New Age Album: Silver Solstice – Paul Winter Consort
Contemporary Jazz Album: The Way Up – Pat Metheny Group
Jazz Vocal Album: Good Night, And Good Luck – Dianne Reeves
Jazz Instrumental Solo: Why Was I Born? – Sonny Rollins
Jazz Instrumental Album – Individual or Group: Beyond The Sound Barrier – Wayne Shorter Quartet
Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Overtime – Dave Holland Big Band
Latin Jazz Album: Listen Here! – Eddie Palmieri
Gospel Performance: Pray – CeCe Winans
Best Gospel Song: Be Blessed – Yolanda Adams
Rock Gospel Album: Until My Heart Caves In – Audio Adrenaline
Gospel Choir or Chorus Album: One Voice – Gladys Knight, Saints Unified Voices
Latin Pop Album: Eschucha – Laua Pausini
Latin Rock/Alternative Album: Fijación Oral Vol. 1 – Shakira
Traditional Tropical Latin Album: Bebo De Cuba – Bebo Valdés
Salsa/Merengue Album: Son Del Alma – Willy Chirino
Mexican/Mexican-American Album: México En La Piel – Luis Miguel
Tejano Album: Chicanisimo – Little Joe Y La Familia
Traditional Blues Album: 80 – B.B. King & Friends
Contemporary Blues Album: Cost Of Living – Delbert McClinton
Traditional Folk Album: Fiddler’s Green – Tim O’Brien
Contemporary Folk Album: Fair & Square – John Prine
Native American Music Album: Sacred Ground – A Tribute To Mother Earth – Various Artists
Hawaiian Music Album: Masters Of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar – Vol. 1 – Various Artists (Daniel Ho, Paul Konwiser & Wayne Wong, producers)
Reggae Album: Welcome To Jamrock – Damian Marley
Traditional World Music Album: In The Heart Of The Moon – Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté
Contemporary World Music Album: Eletracústico – Gilberto Gil
Polka Album: Shake, Rattle And Polka! – Jimmy Sturr And His Orchestra
Musical Album for Children: Songs From The Neighborhood – The Music Of Mister Rogers – Various Artists
Spoken Word Album for Children: Marlo Thomas & Friends: Thanks & Giving All Year Long – Various Artists
Spoken Word Album: Dreams From My Father (Senator Barack Obama) – Senator Barack Obama
Comedy Album: Never Scared – Chris Rock
Musical Show Album: Monty Python’s Spamalot
Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Ray – Ray Charles
Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Ray
Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Believe – Polar Express (Josh Groban, performer)
Instrumental Composition: Into The Light – Billy Childs Ensemble
Instrumental Arrangement: The Incredits – Various (Gordon Godwin, arranger)
Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): What Are You Doing For The Rest Of Your Life? Billy Childs, Gil Goldstein & Heitor Pereira, arrangers (Chris Botti & Sting, performers)
Recording Package: The Forgotten Arm – Amiee Mann
Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: The Legend – Johnny Cash
Album Notes: The Complete Library Of Congress Recordings By Alan Lomax – John Szwed, album notes writer (Jelly Roll Morton, performer)
Historical Album: The Complete Library Of Congress Recordings By Alan Lomax Jeffrey Greenberg & Anna Lomax Wood, compilation producers; Adam Ayan & Steve Rosenthal, mastering engineers (Jelly Roll Morton, performer)
Engineered Album – Non-Classical: Back Home – Eric Clapton
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: Steve Lillywhite – How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (U2) , Mr. A-Z (Jason Mraz)
Surround Sound Album: Brothers In Arms – 20th Anniversary Edition – Dire Straits
Engineered Album – Classical: Mendelssohn: The Complete String Quartets Da-Hong Seetoo, engineer (Emerson String Quartet, performers)
Producer of the Year, Classical: Tim Handley-Adams: Shaker Loops (Marin Alsop), Bolcom: Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience (Leonard Slatkin, Christine Brewer & Joan Morris), Brahms: Sym. No. 1 (Marin Alsop & London Philharmonic Orchestra), Daugherty: Philadelphia Stories (Marin Alsop & Evelyn Glennie), Glass: Syms. Nos. 2 And 3 (Marin Alsop & Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra)
Classical Album: Bolcom: Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience – Leonard Slatkin, conductor; Jerry Blackstone, William Hammer, Jason Harris, Christopher Kiver, Carole Ott & Mary Alice Stollak, choir directors; Tim Handley, producer (Christine Brewer & Joan Morris; University Of Michigan School Of Music Symphony Orchestra)
Best Orchestral Performance (Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra): Shostakovich: Sym. No. 13 – Mariss Jansons, conductor (Sergei Aleksashkin; Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks)
Opera Recording: Shostakovich: Sym. No. 13 – Mariss Jansons, conductor (Sergei Aleksashkin; Chor Des Bayerischen Rundfunks; Symphonieorchester Des Bayerischen Rundfunks)
Choral Performance: Bolcom: Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience – Leonard Slatkin, conductor; Jerry Blackstone, William Hammer, Jason Harris, Christopher Kiver, Carole Ott & Mary Alice Stollak, choir directors (Christine Brewer, Measha Brueggergosman, Ilana Davidson, Nmon Ford, Linda Hohenfeld, Joan Morris, Carmen Pelton, Marietta Simpson & Thomas Young; Michigan State University Children’s Choir, University Of Michigan Chamber Choir, University Of Michigan Orpheus Singers, University Of Michigan University Choir & University Musical Society Choral Union; University Of Michigan School Of Music Symphony Orchestra)
Chamber Music Performance: Mendelssohn: The Complete String Quartets – Emerson String Quartet
Small Ensemble Performance (with or without Conductor): Boulez: Le Marteau Sans Maître, Dérive 1 & 2 – Pierre Boulez, conductor; Hilary Summers; Ensemble Intercontemporain
Classical Vocal Performance: Bach: Cantatas – Thomas Quasthoff (Rainer Kussmaul; Members Of The RIAS Chamber Choir; Berlin Baroque Soloists)
Classical Contemporary Composition: Bolcom: Songs Of Innocence And Of Experience – William Bolcom (Leonard Slatkin)
Classical Crossover Album: 4 + Four – Turtle Island String Quartet & Ying Quartet
Short Form Music Video: Lose Control – Missy Elliott Featuring Ciara & Fat Man Scoop
Long Form Music Video: No Direction Home – Bob Dylan, Martin Scorsese, video director; Margaret Bodde, Susan Lacy, Jeff Rosen, Martin Scorsese, Nigel Sinclair & Anthony Wall, video producers
January 1, 2005 – March 4: Let Me Love You – Mario March 5 – May 6: Candy Shop – 50 Cent featuring Olivia May 7 – June 3: Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani June 4 – July 2: We Belong Together – Mariah Carey July 2 – July 8: Inside Your Heaven – Carrie Underwood July 9 – September 16: We Belong Together – Mariah Carey September 17 – November 25: Gold Deggir – Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx November 26 – December 30: Run It! – Chris Brown December 31, 2005 – January 13 2006: Don’t Forget About Us – Mariah Carey
(Data is compiled from various charts including Billboard’s “Pop,” “Rock,” “Airplay,” “R&B/Dance” and “Singles” Charts. The “Hot 100” is the primary chart used for this list.)
The Top Song was We Belong Together by Mariah Carey
The Movies to Watch include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Walk the Line and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Most Famous Person in America was probably
Notable books include: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Price of a gallon of gas in 2005: $2.34 Tylenol Extra Strength tablets: $1.99/24
1 ounce of gold value: $513.00
The Funny Late Night Host: Jay Leno The Funny Late Late Night Host: Craig Ferguson
Charlie the Unicorn is a 2005 animated comedy short film and viral video series created by Jason Steele in Orlando, Florida.
One Red Paperclip is the story of Canadian blogger Kyle MacDonald, who traded his way from a single red paperclip to a house in a series of fourteen online trades over 2005/2006.
The Conversation: Which was better? 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or 1971’s Willy Wonka?
Year of the Rooster The year of the rooster is one of the 12 years in the Chinese zodiac cycle. The rooster is the tenth animal in the cycle. The years of the rooster include: 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029, 2041, 2053, and 2065 The year of the rooster is associated with punctuality, honesty, and hard work. People born in the year of the rooster are said to be confident, hardworking, and have a good sense of timekeeping. They are also reliable, trustworthy, and have a strong sense of responsibility. They are known to be quite independent, and they don’t like to be told what to do. They are also known to be quite punctual and are often early for appointments. They are said to be quite successful in their careers, and they are often able to achieve great things. They are also known to be quite flamboyant and enjoy the spotlight.
Top Ten Baby Names of 2005: Emily, Emma, Madison, Abigail, Olivia, Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Ethan
Fashion Icons and Sex Symbols: Gisele Bündchen, Heidi Klum, Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Alba, Angelina Jolie, Keira Knightly, Jessica Simpson, Lindsay Lohan, Mischa Barton, Charlize Theron, Kate Hudson, Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry, Cate Blanchette, Marcia Cross, Salma Hayek, Reese Witherspoon, Naomi Watts, Nicole Richie, Teri Hatcher, Eva Longoria, Paris Hilton, Gwen Stefani, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sienna Miller
The Heartthrob(s): Matthew McConaughey, George Clooney, Terrence Howard, Anderson Cooper, Chris Evans, Tim McGraw, Denzel Washington, Justin Timberlake, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Christian Bale, David Beckham, Joaquin Phoenix, Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe, Jude Law, Hugh Laurie, Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt
“The Quote:” “I’m the decider” – President George W. Bush
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year: Good Samaritans, Represented by Bono, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates
Miss America: Diedre Downs (Birmingham, AL)
Miss USA: Chelsea Cooley (North Carolina)
The Scandals: Minnesota Vikings boat cruise scandal, in which several players including Fred Smoot, Lance Johnstone, Daunte Culpepper, Mewelde Moore, Darren Sharper, Koren Robinson, Bryant McKinnie, Ralph Brown, Travis Taylor, Moe Williams, Jermaine Wiggins and Zygi Wilf allegedly performed lewd acts on a boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka.
Robert Blake, star of the 70s detective series “Baretta”, was acquitted of his wife’s murder in 2005 after a contentious 4-year legal drama. He was, however, found liable by a civil suit brought by his children.
In 2005, McDonald’s had an ad campaign saying “I’d hit it” about a double cheeseburger, not knowing the slang meant they wanted to have sex with the cheeseburger.
A woman falsely claimed she found a finger in her food at Wendy’s. The fast-food chain suffered an estimated $21 million in lost business. She later revealed, she cooked the finger at her home and then drove it to Wendy’s restaurant in San Jose, where she dropped it into the food.
Albert Gonzalez is an American computer hacker and computer criminal who is accused of masterminding the combined credit card theft and subsequent reselling of more than 170 million card and ATM numbers from 2005 to 2007: the biggest such fraud in history.
Brad Pitt left Jennifer Aniston for Angelina Jolie
December 12, 2005 – Dina and Michael Lohan officially divorced
Tom Cruise ‘Jumped The Couch” on Oprah while expressing how much he loved Katie Holmes.
Michael Schaivo successfully sued to have his brain-damaged wife Terri’s feeding tube removed.
Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba. (Spoiler :Joran van der Sloot did it.)
Duluth, Georgia’s ‘Runaway Bride’ Jennifer Wilbanks came clean to the FBI about her faked kidnapping story.
England’s Prince Harry went to a costume party dressed as a Nazi.
Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Many people on both political sides and up and down the political power tree made mistakes.
Celebrity RIP: Mitch Hedberg died of a cocaine and heroin drug overdose. His death was formally announced on April 1, 2005, leading some to believe it was an April Fools’ Day joke.
Writer Death by Suicide: Hunter S. Thompson
US Politics: January 20, 2005 (Thursday) Second inauguration of George W. Bush
Pop Culture Facts & History: The fasted whack with a Badminton racket was by Fu Haifeng, clocking at 206 MPH.
When Halle Berry won a Worst Actor Razzie Award for her role in Catwoman, she showed up in person to collect the award. She spoke while holding her 2002 Academy Award from Monster’s Ball in one hand and the Razzie in the other.
Danni Boatwright won Survivor: Guatemala
On January 14, 2005, the Cassini spacecraft landed the Huygens probe on the surface of Saturn’s moon, Titan. It is the first probe to land on a surface in the outer solar system, the farthest any man-made spacecraft has landed.
The term “flip phone” was a Motorola trademark until 2005.
The Jeopardy! “Think!” theme was composed by the show’s creator Merv Griffin in less than a minute as a lullaby for his son. By 2005, he had made over $70 million dollars in royalties from that song, the equivalent of a Jeopardy contestant winning every game for about a decade.
Leonardo Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi was sold at a New Orleans art gallery for $10,000 in 2005 and ended up selling for $450,000,000 in 2017. It’s the most expensive painting ever sold.
In 2005, the Temple of the Jedi Order was registered in Texas. It was granted an IRS tax exemption in 2015.
There is over $45 billion on unused gift cards floating around since 2005
New Jersey made the tomato their state vegetable in 2005, justifying the decision with an 1893 ruling by the Supreme Court that although tomatoes are actually fruits, they would be legally considered vegetables.
The longest-lived domestic cat was named Creme Puff. She lived from August 3, 1967, to August 6, 2005, a span of 38 years and 3 days.
In 2005 graffiti artist David Choe was offered $60K to paint multiple murals at Facebook headquarters. He chose to take his compensation in stock which was eventually worth more than $200 million in 2020.
Eric James Torpy was convicted of shooting with intent to kill and robbery. He asked that his sentence be changed from 30 years’ imprisonment to 33 so that it would match Larry Bird’s jersey number. His request was granted.
On April 1st, 2005, NASA pulled an April Fool’s prank telling the world that they had found water on Mars.
When the results began coming in from the March 30, 2005 Powerball drawing, lottery officials suspected fraud was underway because 110 players claimed second prizes of $100,000 or $500,000. All 110 players and the jackpot winner got their numbers from fortune cookies.
Doug Heckman read the EULA before he installed some PC software. The agreement included a clause offering ‘financial compensation’ to licensees who actually read the license agreement. He emailed the company, referred to the clause and the company sent him a check for $1,000
In 2005 Manhattan was home to both the lowest-income ($9,320 household income) and the highest-income ($188,697 household income) census tract in the USA.
Sichuan pepper, commonly used in Chinese cuisine, was banned in the US until 2005.
In 2005 there were so many tropical storms and hurricanes in the Atlantic that we ran out of names and had to start using the Greek alphabet. The last Hurricane was Epsilon (December), while the last tropical storm was Zeta (January). Countless records were broken during this season.
Gene Greytak was a real estate broker who moonlighted as an actor, but he only played and made personal appearances as Pope John Paul II. If you saw the Pope in a movie or on a sitcom before 2005, it was Gene.
Since 2005 it has been illegal to carry more than five dollars worth of pennies and nickels outside of the United States when traveling (due to people melting them down for copper).
In 2005 the Emergency Alert System mistakenly issued an immediate evacuation order for all of Connecticut. 63% of residents surveyed after the incident said they had been “a little or not at all concerned” by the vague message; 1% admitted to taking it seriously and trying to flee the state.
The term “Cyber Monday” was created and coined by Ellen Davis from the Nation Retail Federation, and Scott Silverman on November 28, 2005, after a study revealed that online retailers experienced a surge in sales the Monday after Thanksgiving.
Stephen Hawking wrote a sequel to A Brief History of Time in 2005 called A Briefer History of Time with only 176 pages. The book was updated with newly discovered topics and informs of recurring subjects throughout the book in greater detail
Ted Koppel retired from Nightline on November 22
Dan rather retired from the CBS Evening News on March 9. #Courage
Mark Felt, a 92-year-old retired FBI agent was revealed to be 1972’s “Deep Throat” who helped take down the Nixon presidency.
Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore got married on September 24.
England’s Prince Charles married long-time flame, Camilla Parker Bowles.
The Habits: Sudoku, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook opened up for High School students in September 2005. Watching Penguins and/or Grey’s Anatomy Supersized Sunglasses
Splitsville: Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston (Homewrecker: Angelina Jolie) Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey (mutual) Kenny Chesney and Renee Zellweger (annulled 4 months after the marriage) Jude Law and Sienna Miller (His affair with the nanny, we hear)
No Surprise Here: Mary Kay Letourneau (formerly Schmitz; January 30, 1962 – July 6, 2020) married just-turned-21 Vili Fualaau, the student she met (and had sex with) when he was 12.
Nobel Prize Winners: Chemistry – Robert Grubbs, Richard Schrock, and Yves Chauvin Economics – Robert J. Aumann, and Thomas Schelling Literature – Harold Pinter Peace – Mohamed ElBaradei Physics – Roy J. Glauber, John L. Hall, and Theodor W. Hänsch Physiology or Medicine – Robin Warren, and Barry Marshall
2005 Toys inducted to the National Toy Hall of Fame: Candy Land, Cardboard box, Jack-in-the-box
1st Appearances & 2005’s Most Popular Christmas Gifts, Toys and Presents: Webkinz plush animals, Barbie as Harley Quinn Lindsay Lohan, Hilary Duff, Destiny’s Child, and Raven-Symoné dolls
Broadway Shows: Spamalot (Musical) Opened on March 17, 2005, and closed on January 11, 2009 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Musical) Opened on May 2, 2005, and closed on January 20, 2008
East End Shows: Billy Elliot the Musical (Musical) Opened on May 11, 2005, and closed on April 9, 2016 Jersey Boys (Musical) Opened on November 6, 2005, and closed on January 15, 2017
Best Film Oscar Winner: Million Dollar Baby (Presented in 2006)
2005 Entries to The National Film Registry: Baby Face (released in 1933) The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man (released in 1975) The Cameraman (released in 1928) Commandment Keeper Church, Beaufort, South Carolina (May 1940) (released in 1940) Cool Hand Luke (released in 1967) Fast Times at Ridgemont High (released in 1982) The French Connection (released in 1971) Giant (released in 1956) H2O (released in 1929) Hands Up! (released in 1926) Hoop Dreams (released in 1994) House of Usher (released in 1960) Imitation of Life (released in 1934) Jeffries-Johnson World’s Championship Boxing Contest (released in 1910) The Making of an American (released in 1920) Miracle on 34th Street (released in 1947) Mom and Dad (released in 1944) The Music Man (released in 1962) The Power of the Press (released in 1928) A Raisin in the Sun (released in 1961) The Rocky Horror Picture Show (released in 1975) San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, April 18, (released in 1906) The Sting (released in 1973) A Time for Burning (released in 1966) Toy Story (released in 1995)
The Big Movies: (according to boxofficemojo) 1. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 2. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 4. War of the Worlds 5. King Kong 6. Wedding Crashers 7. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 8. Batman Begins 9. Madagascar 10. Mr. & Mrs. Smith
2005 Most Popular TV Shows: 1. American Idol (Fox) 2. CSI (CBS) 3. Desperate Housewives (ABC) 4. Grey’s Anatomy (ABC) 5. Without a Trace (CBS) 6. Dancing With the Stars (ABC) 7. Survivor: Guatemala (CBS) 8. CSI: Miami (CBS) 9. House (Fox) 10. Survivor: Panama (CBS)
2005 Billboard Number One Songs: January 1, 2005 – March 4: Let Me Love You – Mario
March 5 – May 6: Candy Shop – 50 Cent featuring Olivia
May 7 – June 3: Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani
June 4 – July 2: We Belong Together – Mariah Carey
July 2 – July 8: Inside Your Heaven – Carrie Underwood
July 9 – September 9: We Belong Together – Mariah Carey
September 10 – November 25: Gold Deggir – Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx
December 30, 2005 – January 13, 2006: Don’t Forget About Us – Mariah Carey
Sports: World Series Champions: Chicago White Sox Super Bowl XXXIX Champions: New England Patriots NBA Champions: San Antonio Spurs Stanley Cup Champs: none U.S. Open Golf Michael Campbell U.S. Tennis: (Men/Ladies) Roger Federer/Justine Henin-Hardenne Wimbledon (Men/Women): Roger Federer/Venus Williams NCAA Football Champions: Texas NCAA Basketball Champions: North Carolina Kentucky Derby: Giacomo
Popular and Best-selling Books From 2005: A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon A Deadly Game by Catherine Crier with Cole Thompson A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction by John Stewart Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks Blink by Malcolm Gladwell Blood Brother by Anne Bird The Broker by John Grisham The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt Chill Factor by Sandra Brown The Closers by Michael Connelly The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich The FairTax Book by Neal Boortz and John Linder The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom 4th of July by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova Honeymoon by James Patterson and Howard Roughan Juiced by Jose Conseco Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan Lifeguard by James Patterson and Andrew Gross Light from Heaven by Jan Karon The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link Mary, Mary by James Patterson My Life So Far by Jane Fonda Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd On Bullsh*t by Harry Frankfurt Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan Point Blank by Catherine Coulter Polar Shift by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos Predator by Patricia Cornwell “S” is For Silence by Sue Grafton 1776 by David McCullough The Rising by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins Teacher Man by Frank McCourt True Believer by Nicholas Sparks The Truth (with jokes) by Al Franken Twilight by Stephenie Meyer Witness by Amber Frey The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Million Dollar Baby stole the spotlight, winning Best Picture, Best Director for Clint Eastwood, Best Actress for Hilary Swank, and Best Supporting Actor for Morgan Freeman. “I’m just a girl from a trailer park who had a dream. I never thought this would ever happen.” – Hilary Swank, Best Actress “There are a lot of great movies that have won the Academy Award, and a lot of great movies that haven’t. You just do the best you can.” – Clint Eastwood, Best Director
Jamie Foxx clinched Best Actor for his role in Ray, a biopic on Ray Charles. This award came in the same year Ray Charles was posthumously honored at the Grammys.
Cate Blanchett won Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator, making her the first actor to win an Oscar for portraying another Oscar-winning actor. “I don’t have a sense of entitlement or that I deserve this. You’d be surprised at the lack of competition between nominees – I think a lot of it’s imposed from the outside. Can I have my champagne now?” – Cate Blanchett, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, The Aviator
Martin Scorsese was nominated for Best Director for The Aviator but lost to Clint Eastwood, adding another chapter to his long history of Oscar snubs.
The Incredibles snagged the Best Animated Feature award, beating out Shrek 2 and Shark Tale.
The Best Original Song went to Al Otro Lado del Río from The Motorcycle Diaries, making it the first song in Spanish to win in this category.
Adam Elliot’s Harvie Krumpet won for Best Animated Short Film, which follows the story of a man named Harvie, who has various unfortunate events happen to him throughout his life.
The documentary Born into Brothels, about children living in the red-light district of Calcutta, India, won Best Documentary Feature.
Thomas Newman, nominated for his score for Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, did not win, continuing his streak as one of the most-nominated composers without a win.
2005 Oscar Nominees and Winners
Best Picture: Million Dollar Baby – Clint Eastwood, Albert S. Ruddy and Tom Rosenberg, producers (WINNER) The Aviator – Michael Mann and Graham King, producers Finding Neverland – Richard N. Gladstein and Nellie Bellflower, producers Ray – Taylor Hackford, Stuart Benjamin and Howard Baldwin, producers Sideways – Michael London, producer
Best Director: Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby (WINNER) Martin Scorsese – The Aviator Taylor Hackford – Ray Alexander Payne – Sideways Mike Leigh – Vera Drake
Best Actor: Jamie Foxx – Ray as Ray Charles (WINNER) Don Cheadle – Hotel Rwanda as Paul Rusesabagina Johnny Depp – Finding Neverland as J. M. Barrie Leonardo DiCaprio – The Aviator as Howard Hughes Clint Eastwood – Million Dollar Baby as Frankie Dunn
Best Actress: Hilary Swank – Million Dollar Baby as Margaret “Maggie” Fitzgerald (WINNER) Annette Bening – Being Julia as Julia Lambert Catalina Sandino Moreno – Maria Full of Grace as María Álvarez Imelda Staunton – Vera Drake as Vera Rose Drake Kate Winslet – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as Clementine Kruczynski
Best Supporting Actor: Morgan Freeman – Million Dollar Baby as Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris (WINNER) Alan Alda – The Aviator as Owen Brewster Thomas Haden Church – Sideways as Jack Cole Jamie Foxx – Collateral as Max Durocher Clive Owen – Closer as Larry Gray
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett – The Aviator as Katharine Hepburn (WINNER) Laura Linney – Kinsey as Clara McMillen Virginia Madsen – Sideways as Maya Randall Sophie Okonedo – Hotel Rwanda as Tatiana Rusesabagina Natalie Portman – Closer as Alice Ayres/Jane Jones
Best Original Screenplay: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry and Pierre Bismuth (WINNER) The Aviator – John Logan Hotel Rwanda – Terry George and Keir Pearson The Incredibles – Brad Bird Vera Drake – Mike Leigh
Best Adapted Screenplay: Sideways – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor based on the novel by Rex Pickett (WINNER) Before Sunset – Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke and Kim Krizan based on characters created by Richard Linklater and Kim Krizan for the film Before Sunrise Finding Neverland – David Magee based on the play The Man Who Was Peter Pan by Allan Knee Million Dollar Baby – Paul Haggis based on stories from Rope Burns by F.X. Toole The Motorcycle Diaries – José Rivera based on the books Con el Che por America Latina by Alberto Granado and The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara
Best Animated Feature Film: The Incredibles – Brad Bird (WINNER) Shark Tale – Bill Damaschke Shrek 2 – Andrew Adamson
Best Foreign Language Film: The Sea Inside (Spain) in Spanish, Catalan and Galician – Alejandro Amenábar (WINNER) As It Is in Heaven (Sweden) in Swedish – Kay Pollak The Chorus (France) in French – Christophe Barratier Downfall (Germany) in German – Oliver Hirschbiegel Yesterday (South Africa) in Zulu – Darrell Roodt
Best Documentary – Feature: Born into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids – Ross Kauffman and Zana Briski (WINNER) The Story of the Weeping Camel – Luigi Falorni and Byambasuren Davaa Super Size Me – Morgan Spurlock Tupac: Resurrection – Lauren Lazin and Karolyn Ali Twist of Faith – Kirby Dick and Eddie Schmidt
Best Documentary – Short: Mighty Times: The Children’s March – Robert Hudson and Robert Houston (WINNER) Autism Is a World – Gerardine Wurzburg The Children of Leningradsky – Hanna Polak and Andrzej Celinski Hardwood – Hubert Davis and Erin Faith Young Sister Rose’s Passion – Oren Jacoby and Steve Kalafer
Best Live Action Short Film: Wasp – Andrea Arnold (WINNER) 7:35 in the Morning – Nacho Vigalondo Everything in This Country Must – Gary McKendry Little Terrorist – Ashvin Kumar Two Cars, One Night – Taika Waititi and Ainsley Gardiner
Best Animated Short Film: Ryan – Chris Landreth (WINNER) Birthday Boy – Sejong Park and Andrew Gregory Gopher Broke – Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller Guard Dog – Bill Plympton Lorenzo – Mike Gabriel and Baker Bloodworth
Best Original Score: Finding Neverland – Jan A. P. Kaczmarek (WINNER) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – John Williams Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events – Thomas Newman The Passion of the Christ – John Debney The Village – James Newton Howard
Best Original Song: “Al otro lado del río” from The Motorcycle Diaries – Music and Lyrics by Jorge Drexler (WINNER) “Accidentally in Love” from Shrek 2 – Music by Adam Duritz, Charlie Gillingham, Jim Bogios, David Immerglück, Matt Malley and David Bryson; Lyrics by Adam Duritz and Dan Vickrey “Believe” from The Polar Express – Music and Lyrics by Glen Ballard and Alan Silvestri “Learn to Be Lonely” from The Phantom of the Opera – Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber; Lyrics by Charles Hart “Look to Your Path” from The Chorus – Music by Bruno Coulais; Lyrics by Christophe Barratier
Best Sound Editing: The Incredibles – Michael Silvers and Randy Thom (WINNER) The Polar Express – Randy Thom and Dennis Leonard Spider-Man 2 – Paul N. J. Ottosson
Best Sound Mixing: Ray – Scott Millan, Greg Orloff, Bob Beemer and Steve Cantamessa (WINNER) The Aviator – Tom Fleischman and Petur Hliddal The Incredibles – Randy Thom, Gary Rizzo and Doc Kane The Polar Express – Randy Thom, Tom Johnson, Dennis S. Sands and William B. Kaplan Spider-Man 2 – Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Joseph Geisinger
Best Art Direction: The Aviator – Art Direction: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo (WINNER) Finding Neverland – Art Direction: Gemma Jackson; Set Decoration: Trisha Edwards Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events – Art Direction: Rick Heinrichs; Set Decoration: Cheryl Carasik The Phantom of the Opera – Art Direction: Anthony Pratt; Set Decoration: Celia Bobak A Very Long Engagement – Art Direction and Set Decoration: Aline Bonetto
Best Cinematography: The Aviator – Robert Richardson (WINNER) House of Flying Daggers – Zhao Xiaoding The Passion of the Christ – Caleb Deschanel The Phantom of the Opera – John Mathieson A Very Long Engagement – Bruno Delbonnel
Best Makeup: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events – Valli O’Reilly and Bill Corso (WINNER) The Passion of the Christ – Keith VanderLaan and Christien Tinsley The Sea Inside – Jo Allen and Manolo García
Best Costume Design: The Aviator – Sandy Powell (WINNER) Finding Neverland – Alexandra Byrne Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events – Colleen Atwood Ray – Sharen Davis Troy – Bob Ringwood
Best Film Editing: The Aviator – Thelma Schoonmaker (WINNER) Collateral – Jim Miller and Paul Rubell Finding Neverland – Matt Chessé Million Dollar Baby – Joel Cox Ray – Paul Hirsch
Best Visual Effects: Spider-Man 2 – John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier (WINNER) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Roger Guyett, Tim Burke, John Richardson and Bill George I, Robot – John Nelson, Andrew R. Jones, Erik Nash and Joe Letteri Academy Honorary Award Sidney Lumet — In recognition of his brilliant services to screenwriters, performers and the art of the motion picture.
Eligibility Year: October 1, 2003 – September 30, 2004
Trivia and Notable Moments
The Album of the Year went to Genius Loves Company, a posthumous release by Ray Charles, featuring duets with various artists like Norah Jones and Elton John.
Ray Charles also posthumously won Record of the Year for Here We Go Again, a duet with Norah Jones. This was a poignant moment, celebrating the legendary artist.
Usher’s hit Yeah! featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, making Usher one of the big winners of the night with multiple awards.
Daughters by John Mayer won Song of the Year, with Mayer also taking home Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for the song.
Green Day’s American Idiot won Best Rock Album, and the title track also earned the band a win for Record of the Year. The album was a political statement and a departure from the band’s earlier sound.
Alicia Keys won Best R&B Album for The Diary of Alicia Keys, adding another Grammy to her growing list of accolades.
Kanye West, nominated for 10 awards, took home three, including Best Rap Album for The College Dropout. His track Jesus Walks also won Best Rap Song.
Maroon 5 snagged the Best New Artist award, beating out the likes of Kanye West and Gretchen Wilson.
Los Lonely Boys by Los Lonely Boys won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, while A Song for You by The Temptations secured the award for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
A Boot and a Shoe by Sam Phillips won Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, showcasing the behind-the-scenes technical talent in the music industry.
2005 Grammy Winners
Record of the Year: Here We Go Again – Ray Charles and Norah Jones
Album of the Year: Genius Loves Company – Ray Charles and Various Artists
Song of the Year: Daughters – John Mayer (John Mayer)
New Artist: Maroon 5
Female Pop Vocal Performance: Sunrise – Norah Jones
Male Pop Vocal Performance: Daughters – John Mayer
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal: Heaven – Los Lonely Boys
Pop Collaboration With Vocals: Here We Go Again – Ray Charles and Norah Jones
Pop Instrumental Performance: 11th Commandment – Ben Harper
Pop Instrumental Album: Henry Mancini: Pink Guitar – Various Artists
Pop Vocal Album: Genius Loves Company – Ray Charles and Various Artists
Dance Recording: Toxic – Britney Spears
Electronic/Dance Album: Kish Kash – Basement Jaxx
Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Stardust: The Great American Songbook Volume III – Rod Stewart
Solo Rock Vocal Performance: Code of Silence – Bruce Springsteen
Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal: Vertigo – U2
Hard Rock Performance: Slither – Velvet Revolver
Metal Performance: Whiplash – Motorhead
Rock Instrumental Performance: Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow – Brian Wilson
Rock Song: Vertigo – Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen (U2)
Rock Album: American Idiot – Green Day
Alternative Music Album: A Ghost Is Born – Wilco
Female R&B Vocal Performance: If I Ain’t Got You – Alicia Keys
Male R&B Vocal Performance: Call My Name – Prince
R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: My Boo – Usher and Alicia Keys
Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: Musicology – Prince
Urban/Alternative Performance: Cross My Mind – Jill Scott
R&B Song: You Don’t Know My Name – Alicia Keys, Harold Lilly and Kanye West (Alicia Keys)
R&B Album: The Diary of Alicia Keys – Alicia Keys
Contemporary R&B Album: Confessions – Usher
Rap Solo Performance: 99 Problems – Jay-Z
Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: Let’s Get It Started – The Black Eyed Peas
Rap/Sung Collaboration: Yeah! – Usher featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris
Rap Song: Jesus Walks – C. Smith and Kanye West (Kanye West)
Rap Album: The College Dropout – Kanye West
Female Country Vocal Performance: Redneck Woman – Gretchen Wilson
Male Country Vocal Performance: Live Like You Were Dying – Tim McGraw
Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal: Top of the World – Dixie Chicks
Country Collaboration With Vocals: Portland Oregon – Loretta Lynn and Jack White
Country Instrumental Performance: Earl’s Breakdown – Nitty Gritty Dirt Band featuring Earl Scruggs, Randy Scruggs, Vassar Clements and Jerry Douglas
Country Song: Live Like You Were Dying – Tim Nichols and Craig Wiseman (Tim McGraw):
Country Album: Van Lear Rose – Loretta Lynn
Bluegrass Album: Brand New Strings – Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder
New Age Album: Returning – Will Ackerman
Contemporary Jazz Album: Unspeakable – Bill Frisell
Jazz Vocal Album: R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal) – Nancy Wilson
Jazz Instrumental Solo: Speak Like a Child – Herbie Hancock
Jazz Instrumental Album – Individual or Group: Illuminations – McCoy Tyner with Gary Bartz, Terence Blanchard, Christian McBride and Lewis Nash
Large Jazz Ensemble Album: Concert in the Garden – Maria Schneider Orchestra
Latin Jazz Album: Land of the Sun – Charlie Haden
Gospel Performance: Heaven Help Us All – Ray Charles and Gladys Knight
Rock Gospel Album: Wire – Third Day
Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album: All Things New – Steven Curtis Chapman
Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album: Worship and Faith – Randy Travis
Traditional Soul Gospel Album: There Will Be a Light – Ben Harper and The Blind Boys of Alabama
Contemporary Soul Gospel Album: Nothing Without You – Smokie Norful
Gospel Choir or Chorus Album: Live… This is Your House – The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
Latin Pop Album: Amar Sin Mentiras – Marc Anthony
Latin Rock/Alternative Album: Street Signs – Ozomatli
Traditional Tropical Latin Album: – !Ahora Si! – Israel Lopez “Cachao”
Salsa/Merengue Album: Across 110th Street – Spanish Harlem Orchestra featuring Ruben Blades
Tejano Album: Polkas, Gritos y Acordeones – David Lee Garza, Joel Guzman and Sunny Sauceda
Traditional Blues Album: Blues to the Bone – Etta James
Contemporary Blues Album: Keep It Simple – Keb’ Mo’
Traditional Folk Album: Beautiful Dreamer – The Songs of Stephen Foster – Various Artists
Contemporary Folk Album: The Revolution Starts Now – Steve Earle
Native American Music Album: Cedar Dream Songs – Bill Miller
Hawaiian Music Album: Slack Key Guitar Volume 2 – Various Artists
Reggae Album: True Love – Toots and The Maytals
Traditional World Music Album: Raise Your Spirit Higher – Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Contemporary World Music Album: Egypt – Youssou N’Dour
Polka Album: Let’s Kiss: 25th Anniversary Album – Brave Combo
Musical Album for Children: cELLAbration! A Tribute to Ella Jenkins – Various Artists
Spoken Word Album for Children: The Train They Call The City of New Orleans – Tom Chapin
Spoken Word Album: My Life – Bill Clinton
Comedy Album: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents America: A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction – Jon Stewart and The Cast of the Daily Show
Musical Show Album: Wicked
Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Garden State – Various Artists
Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King – Howard Shore, composer
Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media: Into the West – Annie Lennox, Howard Shore and Fran Walsh, songwriters, track from “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
Instrumental Composition: Past Present and Future – Slide Hampton, composer (The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra), from “The Way – Music of Slide Hampton”
Instrumental Arrangement: Past Present and Future – Slide Hampton, arranger (The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra), from “The Way – Music of Slide Hampton”
Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s): Over the Rainbow – Victor Vanacore, arranger (Ray Charles & Johnny Mathis), from “Genius Loves Company”
Recording Package:): A Ghost is Born – Peter Buchanan-Smith and Dan Nadel, art directors (Wilco)
Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package: Once in a Lifetime – Stefan Sagmeister, art director (Talking Heads)
Album Notes: The Complete Columbia Recordings of Woody Herman and His Orchestra and Woodchoppers (1945-1947) – Loren Schoenberg, album notes writer (Woody Herman and His Orchestra)
Historical Album: Night Train to Nashville: Music City Rhythm and Blues, 1945-1970 – Daniel Cooper and Michael Gray, compilation producers
Engineered Album – Non-Classical: Genius Loves Company – Robert Fernandez, John Harris, Terry Howard, Pete Karam, Joel Moss, Al Schmitt and Ed Thacker, engineers
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical: John Shanks
Remixed Recording, Non-Classical: It’s My Life (Jacques Lu Cont’s Thin White Duke Mix) – Jacques Lu Cont, remixer (No Doubt)
Surround Sound Album: Genius Loves Company – Robert Hadley and Doug Sax, surround mastering
Engineered Album – Classical: Higdon: City Scape Concerto for Orchestra – Jack Renner, engineer (Robert Spano)
Producer of the Year, Classical: David Frost
Classical Album: Adams: On the Transmigration of Souls – Lorin Maazel, conductor John Adams and Lawrence Rock, producers
Best Orchestral Performance (Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra): Adams: On The Transmigration Of Souls – Lorin Maazel, conductor (Brooklyn Youth Chorus & New York Choral Artists New York Philharmonic, Nonesuch Records)
Opera Recording: Mozart: Le Nozze Di Figaro – Rene Jacobs, conductor Patrizia Ciofi, Veronique Gens, Simon Keenlyside, Angelika Kirchschlager and Lorenzo Regazzo Martin Sauer, producer (Various Artists Concerto K. Joln)
Choral Performance: Berlioz: Requiem – Robert Spano, conductor Norman Mackenzie, choir director (Frank Lopardo, tenor Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus Atlanta Symphony Orchestra)
Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (with Orchestra): Previn: Violin Concerto ‘Anne-Sophie’/Bernstein: Serenade – Andre Previn, conductor Anne-Sophie Mutter, violin (Boston Symphony Orchestra and London Symphony Orchestra)
Chamber Music Performance: Prokofiev (ArrPletnev): Cinderella – Suite for Two Pianos/Ravel: Ma Mere L’Oye – Martha Argerich, piano and Mikhail Pletnev, piano
Small Ensemble Performance (with or without Conductor): Carlos Chavez – Complete Chamber Music, Vol2 – Jeff von der Schmidt, conductor Southwest Chamber Music
Classical Vocal Performance: Ives: Songs (The Things Our Fathers Loved the Housatonic at Stockbridge, etc) – Susan Graham, mezzo soprano
Classical Contemporary Composition: Adams: on the Transmigration of Souls – John Adams (Lorin Maazel Brooklyn Youth Chorus and New York Choral Artists New York Philharmonic)
Classical Crossover Album: LAGQ’s Guitar Heroes – Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
Short Form Music Video: Vertigo – U2
Long Form Music Video: Concert for George – Various Artists
Hey Ya! by OutKast (December 13, 2003 – February 13, 2004): This vibrant and catchy track was a genre-blending phenomenon, capturing the essence of fun and danceability.
The Way You Move by OutKast featuring Sleepy Brown (February 14 – February 20): A smooth, groovy number that complemented the high energy of Hey Ya! with its soulful rhythm and catchy beats.
Slow Jamz by Twista featuring Kanye West and Jamie Foxx (February 21 – February 27): A perfect blend of rap and R&B, this song highlighted Twista’s rapid-fire rap style alongside Kanye’s production and Jamie Foxx’s smooth vocals.
Yeah! by Usher featuring Lil’ Jon and Ludacris (February 28 – May 21): This track was a club banger with a distinctive beat, marked by Usher’s smooth vocals, Lil Jon’s crunk sound, and Ludacris’s charismatic verse.
Burn by Usher (May 22 – July 9): A soulful R&B ballad showcased Usher’s emotive singing, dealing with the pain of a breaking relationship.
I Believe by Fantasia Barrino (July 10 – July 23): Fantasia’s powerful and inspiring performance on this track was a testament to her vocal prowess, making it a memorable and uplifting song.
Confessions Part II by Usher (July 24 – August 6): Another hit from Usher, this song delved into themes of infidelity and the complexities of relationships, marked by his expressive singing.
Slow Motion by Juvenile featuring Soulja Slim (August 7 – August 20): This track brought a smooth, laid-back sound to the charts, highlighting Juvenile’s distinctive New Orleans style.
Lean Back by The Terror Squad featuring Fat Joe and Remy Martin (August 21 – September 10): A hip-hop anthem with a catchy chorus and easygoing rhythm, making it a club staple.
Goodies by Ciara featuring Petey Pablo (September 11 – October 29): Ciara’s debut single, this song was a blend of crunk and R&B, introducing her unique dance moves and fresh sound.
My Boo by Usher and Alicia Keys (October 30 – December 11): A beautiful duet that combined the soulful voices of two R&B superstars, exploring themes of nostalgia and young love.
Drop It Like It’s Hot by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell (December 11 – December 31, 2004): Known for its minimalist production and Snoop Dogg’s laid-back rap style, this song was a smooth end to the year’s chart-toppers.
(Data is compiled from various charts, including Billboard’s “Pop,” “Rock,” “Airplay,” “R&B/Dance,” and “Singles” Charts. The “Hot 100” is the primary chart used for this list.)
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