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We may not all agree with the outcome each year, but there can be little doubt that the annual Academy Award (Oscars) is the most captivating of all Entertainment awards with the most at stake.
The Academy Awards are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and are intended to award the feats of directors, actors, and writers. The Awards are not without criticism and controversy. The voting members in the Academy are industry participants so films that typically have the most people from the industry working on them are nominated. Even William Friedkin, an Oscar winner himself and the producer of the awards show has publicly criticized the Awards as "the greatest promotion scheme that any industry ever devised for itself." But this does not stop the Awards from being the most watched event on television in the world.
The grand and glitz awards ceremony is possibly the most widely covered by media all over the world. In fact, the Oscars precede all the other award ceremonies such as the Grammy Awards, Emmy Awards and Golden Globes. These ceremonies are modeled on the Oscars.
The inaugural Academy Awards ceremony took place on Thursday, May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood and was hosted by actor Douglas Fairbanks and director William C. deMille. James Franco and Anne Hathaway will be co-hosting the 83rd Academy Awards ceremony on February 27, 2011.
Another interesting fact is that since 1950, the winners don't actually own the Oscar statuettes and may not sell them without offering them to the Academy for $1.
Bookmakers typically offer Oscars betting odds for the following markets:
- Best film
- Best actor
- Best actress
- Best director
- Best supporting actor
- Best supporting actress
You can select a bookmakers using our Odds selector to the right, view their odds, and visit their site to place a bet.
