SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN
Update your diary as Marion McMullen looks at events to look forward to in 2021
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THE Olympic flame is finally expected to be lit in Tokyo on July 23, after the Games were w postponed in 2020 because of the pandemic. Lord Seb Coe, president of World Athletics, left, said: “There’ll be b adaptations and changes... h but they are absolutely determined to stage these Games.” The organisers are spending £670 million on Covid safety measures.
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HOLLYWOOD is gearing up for an unprecedented awards season in 2021. The Oscars have been moved ed from February to April and streamed films without a theatrical run will be eligible this year. The Golden
Globes and Screen Actors Guild have said the same. Movies earning an early Oscar buzz include Mank with Gary Oldman, above, Nomadland, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Father and Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods.
3
THE Eurovision Song Contest will takes place in Rotterdam in The Netherlands in May. The 2020 competition was sadly cancelled due to the coronavirus, so the UK’s entry, James Newman, missed out on his chance to compete. Executive producer Sietse Bakker said that they hoped to “welcome the participants, press and fans to Rotterdam in May; physical if possible, virtual if necessary”.
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THE pandemic saw Wimbledon cancelled for the first time since the Second World War, but it is hoped it will be game, set and match for the 134th championships from June 28. Swiss tennis star Roger Federer, left, has said he hopes to be fit enough to take part. The Australian Open is scheduled to take place on February 8.
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THE twice-delayed James Bond film No Time To Die now has a release date of April 2 and will mark the final outing of Daniel Craig, right, as 007. The film is directed by Kiwi talent Cary Joji Fukunaga and has a script cowritten by Fleabag writer and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
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OTHER planned movie releases to watch out for include Black Widow, starring Scarlett Johansson, pictured below, on May 7, Top Gun: Maverick with Tom Cruise on July 2 and Death On The Nile with Kenneth Branagh on September 17.
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THE RHS Chelsea Flower Show is hoping everything will be blooming lovely for their event starting on
May 18.
One of the themes at the world’s greatest flower show will be sanctuary gardens and designer Naomi Ferrett-Cohen will be creating Finding Our Way – An NHS Tribute Garden.
8
FOOTBALL’S delayed European Championships are scheduled to take place from June 11. UEFA Euro will see all 12 host cities staging the same fixtures as originally planned and the mascot for the tournament is a football character named Skillzy, pictured.
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THE re-scheduled UN Climate Change Conference is to take place in Glasgow from November 1, while Dubai will now host the 2020 World Expo from October
1 until March
31, 2022.
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DIANA ROSS, Celine Dion, Barry Manilow, Paloma Faith and Steps are among those planning arena tours in 2021. Steps say: “Performing live has always been our favourite part of being in Steps. We had the most fun of our career on the last tour and we’re already planning for the next one to be our biggest spectacle yet.”