Mistake Made In Oscar Contest

Computer error.

Those are familiar words. And they are particularly appropriate to the recent Spokesman-Review Oscar contest since it appears we made a mistake in tabulating our winners.

Sharon John, a movie fan who lives “in the boonies” north of Colville, Wash., actually won the contest on a tie-breaker.

John correctly guessed 18 of the 24 Oscar categories, which tied her with three other readers. John was declared the overall winner because she most closely predicted the number of Oscars “The English Patient” would win (she guessed eight and the film earned nine).

A 37-year-old mother of two who lives in the small town of Evans, Wash., John doesn’t get to see first-run movies on a regular basis. “But I read about them,” she said.

John, whose e-mail entry was overlooked in the initial balloting, received $100 for her efforts. Since it was our mistake, we also paid each of the runners-up $100.

, DataTimes