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7 x fun facts about the oscars

In exactly one week it will be time for the biggest tobogganing spectacle of the year; the Academy Awards ceremony. At this point, we can only speculate on who will eventually go home with the beloved golden males under their arms and what the stars will pull out of the closet, but there are some things we do know for sure. Here are the most curious Oscar facts in a row.

1. None of the 2014 winners are nominated
None of last year's great heroes, Lupita Nyong'o, Cate Blanchett, Matthew McConaughey or Jared Leto are nominated for an Oscar this year. There is clearly a breath of fresh air blowing through Hollywood, because for more than half of the nominees, including Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Emma Stone, Rosamund Pike , Benedict Cumberbatch, Steve Carell, J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette, this is their first Oscar nomination ever.

2. The goodie bag is worth €50,000
The Oscar nominees not awarded the big prize will be consoled with a swag bag in which some €50,000 worth of goodies are stored. In previous years, the contents were sometimes even worth double that, but for several years now, the US tax authorities have also been keeping an eye on the bags and it is seen as taxable income.

3. Meryl Streep may achieve record
Acting legend Meryl Streep has been nominated this year for the 19th time in her career thanks to her role in Into the Woods. If she wins, she will be equal to Katherine Hepburn, the only actress ever to receive four Oscars.

4. Oscar winners never really own the statuette
Every Oscar winner must sign an agreement stating that if you ever want to sell your award, you must first offer it to the Academy for $1. Before this rule existed, Steven Spielberg bought Bette David's Oscar for over €500,000.

5. The most fun side job ever
The Kodak Theatre, where the Oscar ceremony takes place, has 3,332 seats. Of course, there are always people who don't show up. This is what the now-famous seat fillers are hired for, whose job is to make the auditorium look full for €100 an hour.

6. “And the Oscar goes to...”
“And the winner is...” is the phrase used until 1989 to describe the Oscar winners to announce. This has since been changed to “And the Oscar goes to...”, presumably because this is what the losers feeling less bad would give.

7. The 45-second rule
After the ceremony lasted more than four hours in 2002, the organisers took action and introduced the 45-second rule for thank-you speeches. Stars who still did not finish thanking their colleagues, mother and god after 45 seconds were brutally cut off by the orchestra.

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7 fun facts about the oscars

In exactly one week, it will be time for the biggest red carpet spectacle of the year: the Academy Awards ceremony. Right now we can only speculate about who will walk away with the coveted gold statues and what the stars will wear, but there are some things we do know for sure. These are the most curious Oscar facts.

1. None of the 2014 winners are nominated
None of last year's big heroes, Lupita Nyong'o, Cate Blanchett, Matthew McConaughey or Jared Leto, are nominated for an Oscar this year. Clearly a fresh wind is blowing through Hollywood because more than half of the nominees, including Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Emma Stone, Rosamund Pike , Benedict Cumberbatch, Steve Carell, J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette, have ever been nominated before.

2. The goodie bag is worth €50,000
The Oscar nominees who don't go home with the big prize, will be consoled with a swag bag containing some €50,000 worth of goodies. In previous years that bag was sometimes worth double that amount but in recent years the American treasury has been keeping an eye on the bags as taxable income.

3. Meryl Streep may set a record
Acting legend Meryl Streep has been nominated for the 19th time in her career, this time for her role in Into the Woods. If she wins, she will stand next to Katherine Hepburn, who was the only actress ever to receive four Oscars.

4. Oscar winners never really own the statue
Every Oscar winner must sign an agreement that if they ever want to sell their award, they first have to offer it to the Academy for $1. Before this rule was enforced, Steven Spielberg acquired Bette David's Oscar for more than €500,000.

5. The best after-school job ever
The Kodak Theatre, where the Oscar ceremony is held, has 3,332 seats. And of course there are always people who don't show up. The now famous seat fillers make it seem as if all seats are full for the amount of €100 per hour.

6. “And the Oscar goes to...”
“And the winner is...” is the phrase that was used to announce the Oscar winners until 1989. It has since been changed to “And the Oscar goes to...”, probably to make the losers feel better.

7. The 45 seconds rule
After the ceremony took over four hours in 2002, the organisation introduced thed 45-seconds rule for thank you speeches. Stars who haven't finished thanking their colleagues, mother and God after 45 seconds are brutally interrupted by the orchestra.