More Oscar Changes

The Academy has made some additional changes to the 2009 Oscars, days after announcing that the number of best picture nominations would be doubled.

No award will be presented for best song at next year's ceremony if none of the songs appearing in films are considered good enough, Oscar organizers announced Friday.

According to the Associated Press, rules for the 82nd Oscar show in March will require that at least one song achieve a minimum score of 8.25 on a scale of 6 to 10 in voting by the Academy's music branch.

If no song achieves that score after being voted on by the 230 members of the music branch, no best song Oscar will be awarded. If only one song makes the mark, then that song and the runner-up will be the category's two nominees. The number of nominees can range from two to five.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Academy has also decided to move its testimonial awards to a separate event in November.

Honors, like the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award honoring producers, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and Honorary Awards had traditionally been given out during the main Oscar telecast. Now the recipients will receive their awards at a new, black-tie dinner event for about 500 guests that will include film clips and remarks from the honorees' colleagues.

The Academy said the honorees will also be acknowledged during the broadcast, but the show will not spend as much time highlighting their careers, leaving more room for the longer list of best picture nominees.