BUZZMETER: 3 pundits tie for best Oscars predix
Surprise nominations in several of the top Oscar races muted the success rate of the Buzzmeter. With 32 panelists making 5 picks across the 6 main categories, the collective result was 665 correct out of 960 possibilities for an average score of 69 percent — or just under 21 out of 30 per pundit.
Again I tied for first place with Dave Karger, chief Oscarologist for Entertainment Weekly, netting 25 out of 30 nominees right. But a third pundit tied us both this time: Kris Tapley of Variety.com and InContention.com. Coming in at 24 correct were six pundits: Jill Bernstein (Entertainment Weekly), Jack Mathews (New York Daily News), Steve Pond (author of "The Big Show"), Clay Smith (Entertainment Tonight/The Insider), Anne Thompson (Variety.com), and Susan Wloszczyna (USA Today).
Special mention must be made of the efforts of Wloszczyna who got all five correct in each of the supporting actor, actress and picture races and Bernstein who foresaw the five nominees for supporting actress and picture.
No pundit correctly forecast all five of the lead actor, actress or director nominees. Indeed, Jeff Wells of Hollywood-Elsewhere.com was the only pundit to predict the lead actor nod for Tommy Lee Jones for "In the Valley of Elah." As a group, we scored 108 out of 160 for that category.
Pete Hammond (The Envelope), Edward Douglas (Comingsoon.net) and Kris Tapley were the only three to foresee a lead actress nomination for Cate Blanchett for "Elizabeth: The Golden Age." The group score was 105 out of 160.
Anthony Breznican (USA Today), Scott Feinberg (AndTheWinnerIs) and Carrie Rickey ((Philadelphia Inquirer) were the only three to predict a nod for "Juno" director Jason Reitman. The collective score for this category was our lowest, coming in at only 102 out of 160.
Twelve of the pundits predicted the slate of supporting actor nominees and this was also our best category as a group with 132 out of 160. For supporting actress, four pundits got the category correct while the collective score was 121 and for best picture, three pundits were spot on while the group scored 120.
To see the individual predictions of the Buzzmeter panelists, CLICK HERE , then click on the link marked "Individual Panelist's Rankings." These scores reflect the rankings logged the week of Jan. 13, 2007 — maneuver through the weekly predix using the drop-down menu at top.
Starting Monday, all 32 Envelope panelists will make their picks for the Oscar winners, and update their selections throughout the weeks leading up to the awards ceremony.
