Oscars

Groundbreaking actress-singer Diahann Carroll ("Julia," "Claudine") was an 18-year-old New York model when her singing career took off. Her break came when she won a talent show called, appropriately enough, "Chance of a Lifetime" in January 1954 on the old DuMont Network. Besides the cash prize, she was booked at the famed Latin Quarter nightclub. By year's end she had made her film debut in Otto Preminger's "Carmen Jones" with Dorothy Dandridge and Harry Belafonte and her Broadway bow in the Truman Capote-Harold Arlen musical "House of Flowers" with the legendary Pearl Bailey.

In a move to expand the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences membership's involvement in Oscar voting, the organization announced Saturday during its first general membership meeting that it will allow all members to vote in the foreign-language film and documentary short categories. This changes the previous rule that required members to see the nominated films in both categories in a theater in order to vote. The academy's board of governors approved a plan that will now allow members to see the nominated documentary pieces in either a theatrical screening or on a DVD. The announcement was made at a meeting in Beverly Hills at the academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater and simulcast to locations in Emeryville, Calif., and New York City.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is aiming to expand and diversify its ranks by relaxing a cap on membership that has restricted new admittances since 2004. The academy has about 5,800 voting members; in recent years, fewer than 200 people have been invited to join annually. The number of openings is essentially determined by how many members have retired, resigned or died. In the last decade, the overall ranks have not grown by more than 30 members a year. Academy leaders say they are not loosening the qualifications for membership.

Whether it leads to one of boxing's great careers remains a point of intrigue, but the boldness Saul "Canelo" Alvarez carries into the ring is something the sport doesn't often witness from a 22-year-old. "It speaks volumes that at 22 - this fighter who is Mexico's favorite champion and boxing's next superstar - he wants to fight the very best out there," Alvarez's promoter and mentor Oscar De La Hoya said. Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 knockouts) won the World Boxing Council super-welterweight title in March 2011, and he'll defend his belt for the sixth time Saturday night against World Boxing Assn.

The 2014 Golden Globe Awards will be held on Sunday, Jan. 12, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. announced Thursday. The broadcast will come four days before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveils its Oscar nominees. Nominations for the 71st annual Golden Globes will be announced on Dec. 12. THE ENVELOPE: The awards insider This year, the Golden Globes telecast was held three days after the Oscar nominations were unveiled -- taking a bit of wind out of the Foreign Press Assn.'s sails.

After the coffee. Before wishing it was Friday already. The Skinny: Be sure and watch TNT's "Southland" tonight. It may be the series finale. "Nashville" is a repeat so you have my permission. Wednesday's stories include Craig Zadan and Neil Meron being tapped for the second year in a row to produce the Oscars. Also, movie theater owners want fewer R-rated films. Daily Dose: A reminder of Google's stalking prowess. A few days ago I clicked on a Brooks Brothers ad. Soon after, every page I visited and my own social network pages were filled with Brooks Brothers ads via Google.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has hired Craig Zadan and Neil Meron for an encore performance as Oscar producers, retaining them for the 2014 broadcast after this year's show garnered solid ratings. The move is unusual because the job of hiring the show's producers traditionally belongs to the incoming president, who won't be chosen until the end of July. But current President Hawk Koch, whose one-year term will end this summer, made the decision with the support of the 43-member Board of Governors.

Jennifer Hudson has two Oscars at home. One is the Academy Award she won for her supporting role as Effie in "Dreamgirls. " The other is a dog. During her appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," Hudson said she names her dogs after awards she has won. In addition to the male Pomeranian named Oscar, she has a female Pomeranian named Grammy, which she named right before she received her first Grammy Award. Oscar and Grammy's baby is named "Dreamgirl. " She told Kimmel she wants two other dogs: "I want to name them Emmy and Tony.

Olympian Oscar Pistorius was seen "partying it up" at a Johannesburg restaurant last weekend, according to South Africa's Sunday Times. The paper quotes witnesses who spotted he double-amputee sprinter knocking back shots and flirting with women. Many people said that's not the way someone awaiting trial for the alleged murder of his girlfriend should behave. "He was greeting a couple and then gave the woman a little pat on her backside. It was just so inappropriate," the woman told the Sunday Times.

A spaceship-like, 1,000-seat theater may be the most striking feature of the Motion Picture Academy's planned film museum at LACMA, but the organization has also revealed a bevy of other details about what the six-story, 290,000-square-foot facility opening in 2017, will include. Some highlights: Ground Floor: This will consist of a public piazza, the museum lobby, a cafe and a gift store. The piazza will connect the film museum to the rest of the LACMA campus. The academy says "a majestic red carpet and Cannes-style grand staircase" will take visitors into the soaring 1,000-seat, domed "premiere theater," to be named for David Geffen, who has pledged $25 million to the $300-million museum.