White floral Givenchy dress of Audrey Hepburn

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As promised the Oscars was a spectacular night. In the Chapter 11 Theater, Billy Crystal delivered a marvelous opening. Justin Bieber in the middle of Midnight in Paris (promising to bring Billy the 18 to 24 demo) delivered brilliantly. Although I think Billy’s naming Justin a young Frank Sinatra was very generous. Then, the crowd roared at Billy’s joke that no way could ‘Hugo’ be a Scorsese film since “no one got wacked”. The Opening ended with the perfect laugh–Billy impersonating Tin Tin.

Some other fun facts:

According to preliminary Nielsen data from Adweek, ABC’s Oscars presentation averaged 39.3 million total viewers, marking a 4 percent improvement from last year’s 37.9 million. Sunday’s show will rank as the second most watched Oscars in the last five years.

On the advertising front, the Oscars went head to toe with the Super Bowl. Oscar Ads cost 1/2 and delivered a more targeted audience comprising 70% of women, the primary house hold purchaser. Huffington Post featured a great analysis on the effectiveness of advertising during “the Super Bowl for women. “Commercials during the Oscars, means “a less-cluttered environment,” said Liz Goodgold, author of “RedFire Branding.” Instead of experiencing a sense of bombardment by commercials, as in during the Super Bowl, viewers will see only 8 to 10 minutes of advertising an hour during the Oscars, Goodgold said. Prime-time network television usually airs 14 to 16 minutes an hour.

While the Oscars ads don’t create the same pre-event buzz as the Super Bowl, they get enough engagement to justify the cost: the second highest for a televised event, behind commercials during the game, experts said.”

BTW: Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorite actresses and a great example for our young girls that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and comes from the heart.

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