LOS ANGELES, Feb 23, (RTRS): Bigger stars, more music and edgier comedy are on the menu for Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, when the most coveted awards in the movie industry are handed out during a glittering Academy Awards show. Producers of the three-hour Oscar telecast at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre are promising a faster-paced show and more face time with first-time host Seth MacFarlane, while honoring the best films not just of 2012 but also of decades past.
“We have more performances on that stage than we can ever remember there being in the past. And we are not trotting people out just to sing and dance. Every single thing you see on that stage will be related to movies,” said Craig Zadan, who is producing the Oscar telecast for the first time with Neil Meron.
“We have devised ways that we are hoping will make the pacing faster ... That doesn’t mean we are not going to give as much weight to honoring the winners, but there has been a lot of dead space in the show (in the past),” Zadan told Reuters.

Before then, Zadan and Meron have assembled an array of performers and presenters that almost outshine the actors, actresses, directors and screenwriters who have been waiting since early January to see if they will go home with a golden Oscar.
They include A-listers Barbra Streisand, Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, John Travolta and Jennifer Aniston, along with younger stars Daniel Radcliffe, Kristen Stewart and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
But don’t count on seeing all six surviving James Bond actors on stage for the planned special 50th anniversary tribute to the British secret agent’s illustrious movie career.
“We have a tribute to James Bond which is really exciting and thrilling, but it never included the concept of six guys coming out and standing there awkwardly on the stage,” Zadan said, quashing speculation that Daniel Craig, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, Roger Moore, Sean Connery and George Lazenby would unite on Sunday.

The nominations for “Les Miserables,” where Anne Hathaway is tipped to win Best Supporting Actress, has opened the door to a celebration of the last decade of musicals.
The tribute will feature Hathaway, her Oscar-nominated co-star Hugh Jackman, as well as “Dreamgirls” and “Chicago” Oscar winners Jennifer Hudson and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
MacFarlane, the creator of provocative animated TV series “Family Guy,” will also be showing off his vocal skills, and spending more time on stage than has been traditional for Oscar hosts.
“What happens a lot in the past is that the host comes on, talks for a lot, and then disappears for half an hour. We are not doing that. We are having Seth be there a lot, out there introducing things, and that allows for more pacing and comedy,” said Zadan.
 

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LOS ANGELES: It was an extra starry, musical day at the Dolby Theatre as Adele took the stage first Friday, followed by the cast of “Les Miserables,” singing together of the first time.
Oscar nominees Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway, along with co-stars Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham-Carter, Sasha Baron-Cohen, Eddie Red-mayne, Aaron Tveit and Samantha Barks rehearsed their performances on the Oscar stage. They were backed by members of the musical’s stage productions from London and Broadway.
“Les Miserables” director Tom Hooper sat in the front row of the theater as his cast sang.
Moments earlier, Adele dazzled the tiny audience of show workers with her performance of the James Bond theme “Skyfall.”
“I need a lot more reverb on me,” she said after her first run. “You might need to get a new reverb machine.”
The 24-year-old multiple Grammy winner arrived wearing a black tunic, black leggings and flats, with no makeup and her hair in a ponytail.

“I’m going to have very high heels on the night, guys,” she announced from the microphone, sipping tea between verses.
“Do you need the dresses?” she asked, and a team of stylists brought out the gowns Adele is considering for her Oscar performance.
The dress producers favored? “It’s very heavy — I mean I struggle to stand in it,” Adele said. “Come and feel how heavy it is, so you don’t think I’m a wimp!”
She performed her Oscar-nominated song five times before leaving the theater. “It’s been good, yeah?” she asked producer Neil Meron, who nodded in approval. Just after Adele wrapped, the star-studded “Les Miserables” cast took the stage. Hathaway chatted with Bonham-Carter as Jackman sang a capella. Then Hathaway checked her microphone with a quick verse. “Ooh, that was flat,” she said. The entire cast assembled for a final run-through when Jackman spontaneously began singing “My Bonny Lies over the Ocean.” “My bonny lies over my daddy,” the ensemble responded, breaking into laughter. Other stars rehearsing Friday included Jennifer Hudson, who is set to perform a song from “Dreamgirls” at Sunday’s ceremony.