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Oscars Change the Rules Again

New voting system might change which movie wins Best Picture

Hot on the heels of its controversial decision to expand the Best Picture Oscars to 10 nominees, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced a major change in the voting. Starting with next year’s awards, instead of voting for one movie as the best of the year, Academy members will be asked to rank each of the 10 nominees in preferential order, from 1 to 10, and the Academy will then award points for first-place votes, second-place votes, and so on. The Academy says that this system was picked to avoid “fragmentation” of the voting, because with 10 nominees, it’s possible for a movie to win with a very small percentage of votes. But using this system, which is similar to the way MVPs are picked in sports, the movie that gets the most No. 1 votes might actually lose the award if another film racks up enough No. 2 and No. 3 mentions. Of course, since the voting is secret, no one will ever know one way or the other. One thing is for sure: the Oscars just got a lot more confusing, and your Oscar pool just got harder to win.

The Wrap

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