Academy Awards suggest daylong celebration Sunday

[February 25, 2012]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Academy Awards are the film industry's biggest night of the year, and movie fans deserve their own Oscar celebrations.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and ABC, which broadcasts the Academy Awards, suggest Oscar Sunday ought to be like Super Bowl Sunday -- a day devoted to fun, food and a beloved, shared pastime.

While most movie lovers won't serve the more than two dozen dishes Wolfgang Puck has planned for Oscar's official after party and can't summon legendary crooner Tony Bennett, who is set to perform the Governors Ball, they can get in on the fun by approaching their at-home soiree with glamorous Oscar flair.

Marc Friedland, who designed the award-winners envelope used on stage during the Oscar telecast, created a series of online party invitations to coincide with this year's show. With the new Evite invitation, Oscar fans can use the show's official logo to tout their own Oscar-night parties.

"This is the first time ever the academy has sanctioned the Oscar trademark," Friedland said Thursday as he showed off his designs to reporters during the academy's annual food and beverage preview.

He offers tips for your own Oscar bash on the new Postmark.com site -- Play Oscar bingo! Have guests pair pajamas with black ties! He also provides a downloadable bingo card and ballot for Oscar pools.

Meanwhile, the show's official Champagne, Moet & Chandon, has formulated a special show-night drink recipe: Sour mix, Hum botanical spirits and Champagne, garnished "with a single rose petal." Mix it up at home with cranberry juice and sparkling wine or water and as many rose petals as you can find.

Guests at Oscar's Governors Ball will munch on pork belly dumplings, smoked salmon on Oscar-shaped flatbreads, bite-sized Kobe sliders, lobster tacos and more than a dozen other dishes. The post-show party has been deconstructed this year: Instead of a formal, sit-down dinner, the Governors Ball will be more of a cocktail party, with small plates, tall tables and lots of socializing.

"When they sit still for three hours or more, they want to mingle," said Cheryl Cecchetto, who produces the annual party. Servers at the event will wear custom-made uniforms created by costume designer Jeffrey Kurland, chairman of the Governors Ball.

So why not don a bow tie while serving whatever appetizers you might have on hand to your Oscar party guests? After all, Oscar Sunday is Hollywood's most glamorous night.

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Online:

http://www.postmark.com/

http://www.oscars.org/

[Associated Press; By SANDY COHEN]

AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/APSandy.

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