Former Beatle Paul McCartney, reflecting on Hollywood’s patriotic mood after the September 11 hijack attacks, said on Monday it was important that Americans won this year’s Oscars.
McCartney, who along with compatriot Sting lost out to Randy Newman in the best original song category, said: “This year – with what happened in America – I think maybe it was kind of important that a lot of Americans had to win.”
“And you know I don’t blame them – I wouldn’t take that away from them,” he told Sky News after the show where he had made his Oscar debut performing “Vanilla Sky” to a worldwide audience.
“If I was an American voting – which most of the voters were – it is the year for America and why not?” McCartney said.
And he had no hard feelings about losing to Newman who was ending a 15-Oscar losing streak when finally capturing the coveted award for his song “If I Didn’t Have You” from “Monsters, Inc.”
The 59-year-old McCartney said: “If I had to lose to anyone, Randy was the man because he has been nominated 16 times. He is a great guy and I am a big fan of his anyway.”
The former Beatle took just 10 minutes to write “Vanilla Sky while sitting at the kitchen table and he said: “I wrote it very quickly so it wasn’t like what I thought was my greatest song ever. I was very pleased it got in there.”
McCartney, who is currently preparing for his first American tour in almost 10 years, is to marry former model Heather Mills in New York in June.
