Oscar® introduces the “F-You Cam”®

“To anyone who grew up in the suburbs anywhere, a dream like this seems vaguely ludicrous. But this moment is directly connected to those childhood imaginings.”

Russell Crowe may be a pampered primadonna prick, but he’s a heck of an actor and he knew how to give an Oscar® acceptance speech. The Academy Awards Show® is our favorite boring telecast of the year, but what makes it a more difficult trip are those winners® who take out the long laundry lists to thank lots of anonymous people who could be mentioned in a full-page ad in the trades the following day.

The Oscar® producers don’t like it either, because it makes a toothless show even more boring and cuts into the ratings– especially in a year full of no-name movies and a show in which they reportedly won’t let the year’s comedy sensation do his Borat act. So they’ve got a plan. They’re allotting 45 seconds for acceptance speeches, then urging winners can go backstage and read their lists of names into a new Thank-You Cam®. The video of their comments will be broadcast moments later online– and remain their for an entire year– until the next Oscar® show.

That’s one way for Hollywood to deal with its Internet competion. But don’t count on it working. Hollywood’s all about status, and the ones relegated to the backstage online tier will feel as slighted as Chad Lowe.

Where you can view that F-You Cam®… predictions… and some Oscar® show spoilers… after the jump…
The backstage cam® will be up and running at Oscar.com®.

Hollywood’s top reporter Nikki Finke has some show spoilers here (Don’t read them if you want to be surprised).

Yesterday, Tabloidbaby.com® made a few controversial Oscar® predictions (we’re never right on those).

Big prediction: Don Knotts will receive the greatest applause in the Dead Celebrities® segment– unless Anna Nicole Smith is featured (she made a movie or two).

Someone has selected this Oscar® Acceptance Speech from 1980 as the best of all time.

And they’re warning that this may be the longest Oscar® show of all time.

–Tabloid Baby®