Oscars slowly moving up the Hollywood calendar?

Oscars red carpet: 2012

The problem with the Oscars is that there is little suspense on the night. After weeks of awards shows at which actors, directors, journalists and producers crown their own winners - and their lists usually look pretty similar - there is very little left for the doyen of awards, Oscar, to say. We still cover, watch and gawk on the red carpet, but the show itself feels stale.
One solution would be to steal the thunder of the other awards shows by staging, what should be Hollywood's biggest night, earlier in the year. We could be edging closer to that.  The Academy has announced that next year's show will still fall on the final Sunday of February (Feb 24, 2013) although, interestingly, the nominations will be revealed earlier than ever before, on January 15. And for the first time, the Academy will be using electronic voting - a system which has already been embraced by other organizations, such as BAFTA. It signals a desire by the Academy to speed up the process and perhaps in the not-too-distant future, the ceremony will move a tad closer to January - which seems a fitting time to honor last year's best movies. Such a move would certainly throw the cat among the pigeons for the other awards bashes. But so be it, it is means the Oscars become exciting again.

Surprise witness testifies for Sheridan side at 'Housewives' trial

Lawyers in this bizarre case - which offers a tantalizing glimpse at the real-life drama behind the scenes of a hit TV show - will present their closing arguments today
Surprise witness testifies for Sheridan side at 'Housewives' trial