Putting pizzazz back in the Oscars

This years Oscars telecast was the lowest-rated ever which has left a lot of folks scratching their heads wondering what they can do to get the audience back. Obviously trying to find that perfect host or combination of hosts isn't the answer. I have seen a couple of suggestions, neither of which I liked.

The first involved directly involving the audience by adding one more Oscar -- a viewer's choice Oscar -- that is voted on by the public at large and announced at the end of the show. That to me trivializes the entire proceedings and don't we already have some kind of viewers choice awards show? Why try to duplicate that?

The second involved a method of slowly eliminating the best picture nominees throughout the show by saying something like, "Finishing 10th in the voting was .... " toward the beginning of the show until, at the end, I'm presuming you only have two contenders left when you announce the best picture nominee. That one doesn't bother me as much as the first idea, but I don't think it will fly with the producers of the individual best picture nominees. How would you like the world to know your film came in last place? Plus, I'm betting the show loses 90 percent of its viewership the moment Inception and Toy Story 3 are eliminated from contention.

Here's my idea. Why not have a worldwide Oscar pool? Offices have 'em. Just about everyone who hosts an Oscar party except moi has one. The Academy prints official ballots that are only available at theaters showing an Oscar nominated film and they are handed out with each ticket purchased for an Oscar nominated film. They are filled out and can either be mailed individually by the person completing the ballot or dropped into a box at the theater which will mail them before a prescribed deadline.

In order to be eligible, a person must select his or her choice in every category. To be able to win, the submitted must pick every category correctly. At the start of the show, the total number of ballots received are flashed on the screen. After the first Oscar is handed out, the number of people still in the running are flashed on the screen. The same after the second Oscar and so on. I can see the suspense mounting for this as the numbers get smaller. Will there be a winner?

If there is one person who gets all the categories correct, that person will receive a one week all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles for two that will culminate with the two having front row seats at the next year Oscars presentations. (If the show's producers can find a way to get them on stage I'm betting they'll receive a warmer reception than the president of the Academy -- jeez, what a waste of time that is.) They will also be wined, dined, partied and given tours by others in the movie industry in the week leading up to the Oscars. If there is more than one person who gets all the categories correct, a drawing will be held to determine the winner right after the completion of the Oscar telecast. The winner will be notified by a telephone call placed by one of the four acting Oscar winners that night and a tape of the call will be early in the Oscar telecast the following year. Those who nailed all the categories but did not win the drawing would receive a platinum pass for two that allows free admission for the next year at all participating theaters.

I'd love to hear from those with a better idea.