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cheek by jowl

How Did the State of the Union Stack Up Against the Oscar Nominations Announcement?

Two things can dominate a news cycle over all else: Hollywood and the president. So what are the odds of both holding two of their biggest announcements — Oscar nominations and the State of the Union — on the same day? Today's newspapers are filled with articles analyzing yesterday's presentations separately, but perhaps they're better looked at side to side. Granted, Mo'Nique didn't go on quite as long as President Obama, but there were still surprising overlaps.


  Oscar Nominations Press Conference State of the Union Address
Purpose To set the agenda for the next month in Hollywood politicking To set the agenda for the next year in Washington politicking
Presenters President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Tom Sherak and 2010 Oscar winner Mo'Nique 2008 election winner, President Barack Obama
President's Tie Black Blue
Guests 400-plus members of the international media 400-plus members of Congress; the Justices of the Supreme Court; the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Cabinet; Kathy Proctor, a 55-year-old student at Forsyth Technical Community College; Diego Vazquez, a college freshman; Gary and Robert Allen, roofers; the family of Christina Taylor Green; Al Franken.
Dress Color of Choice Mo'Nique: silver-gray Michelle Obama: dove gray
TV Audience Fans of movies, people wondering where their usual eight-thirty morning-show cooking segment went Fans of democracy, people wondering where NCIS: Los Angeles went
Categories Ten (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Screenplay, Best Foreign Film, Best Animated Film, Best Director, Best Picture) Eight (Cooperation, Research and Innovation, Education, Infrastructure, Spending, International Conflicts, Governmental Reform, the American Dream)
Length Five minutes An hour
Interruptions for Applause One-ish Around 70
Refrains The King's Speech "Win the future."
Snubs Christopher Nolan, The Town Anti-health-care Republicans, gun control
Surprises Javier Bardem Doubling our exports?!
Zuckerberg Shout-outs The Social Network's eight nominations "We're the nation of Edison and the Wright Brothers, of Google and Facebook."

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Photo: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images, Alex Wong/Getty Images

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