Posted by Bud on February 13, 2010 at 22:58:21:
Up the Academy: Out-guess Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips, New York Times' A.O. Scott on Oscars and vie for prizes
Think you're better able to size up the Oscar electorate than the New York Times' A.O. Scott and/or the Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips? There may be something in it for you.
Disney-ABC Domestic Television, which distributes the Chicago-based syndicated TV show "At the Movies," has announced an "Out-Pick the Critics" competition. Those who guess more Academy Award winners than the show's current reviewers over 24 competitive categories will be eligible to win prizes.
There are actually two contests. Those who participate are invited to challenge both Scott and Phillips' individual picks. Assuming the critics don't ace their picks, those with more correct choices will be placed in a random drawing to determine a single prize-winner vs. each critic.
The winner of the Scott contest is to get Sony Bravia 46� LCD HD television. The winner of the Phillips contest will win a Sony Blu-ray disc player and 25 Blu-Ray DVDs. A Disney-ABC spokeswoman acknowledged the retail value of the TV is around $1,200, about $25 more than the DVD prize package.
Entries, in the form of an online ballot, may be submitted on the show's Web site from 2 p.m. Chicago time on Feb. 26 to 2 a.m. on March 6, the night before the Academy Awards are presented. Contest results will be be announced on "At the Movies" on the weekend of March 13.
For more details and official rules, such as the requirement that you be able to take a phone call between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. on March 8, check atthemoviestv.com. "At the Movies," which traces its roots to the thumbs up/thumbs down days of the Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert and the Tribune's late Gene Siskel, is produced at Disney-ABC-owned WLS-Ch. 7 under supervision from ABC Media Productions.