After last night's show, I'm reminded of this exchange from The West Wing, over the annual presidential pardon of a turkey at Thanksgiving:
C.J.: They sent me two turkeys. The most photo-friendly of the two gets a Presidential pardon and a full life at a children's zoo. The runner-up gets eaten.
BARTLET: If the Oscars were like that, I'd watch.
That might add some excitement to the night...
ETA:
I think over at TWOP, someone referred to it as "the world's worst popularity contest".