I don't watch the Academy Awards as much as I did earlier in my life.
One thing I always enjoyed watching on the Oscars broadcast was the annual video tribute to the people in the entertainment industry who have died in the previous year — but I was extremely disappointed last spring when the Oscars left Farrah Fawcett off the segment honoring those who died in 2009.
I don't know why she was omitted. I have my suspicions. And, as a result, I don't think I will watch the Oscars next spring — or in the foreseeable future.
However, I will continue to watch the annual video tributes that are put together by Turner Classic Movies. They are typically brief, understated and complete.
I've only seen the latest tribute (attached to the top of this post) online, but I look forward to seeing it on a bigger screen.
It certainly seems a worthy successor to other TCM tributes, like the one that aired at the end of 2008.
The song, in case you're interested, is called "God Only Knows." The performer is Joe Henry.
That's a trademark, I guess, of TCM's annual tributes. The music that is used tends to be from someone who hasn't received a lot of attention from the mainstream listeners.
Sometimes, I suppose, that exposure provides a bit of a boost to their careers.
The 2010 tribute is done to the song "Headlight" by Sophie Hunger, a Swiss–born folk singer who is slated to release an album for the North American market in April.
The 2007 version was set to the song "Promise" by Badly Drawn Boy.
In fact, you can see a certain continuity in the musical style, even though the performers change from year to year.
I don't know who did the music for the 2006 video.
But it was effective, don't you think?
Nor do I know who did the music for the 2005 video. But I think it also was effective.
There is a suitably melancholy strain that runs through the TCM videos.
And almost no one gets left out.
Watch for the latest if you are watching TCM this holiday season.
