What to expect from a small, cautious, in-person Oscar night
No hosts, except a host of big-name celebs — and two separate locations
That golden guy is back.
After a pandemic-plagued past year and the weirdest awards season ever, Oscar returns like never before on Sunday with the 93rd Academy Awards. Amid COVID-19 protocols and probably a lot of masks, awards will be handed out to the best of the best in Hollywood. Chloé Zhao’s roadtrip “Nomadland” leads a wideranging field of best picture candidates, a diverse crop of acting contenders is a positive shift away from the #OscarsSoWhite controversy of years past, and late beloved actor Chadwick Boseman seems poised to receive a posthumous Academy Award.
While the Oscars usually have some surprises in store, let’s dig into what you need to know for this year’s telecast.
What time are the Oscars and where can I watch?
Sunday’s Academy Awards air on CTV at 8 p.m. Immediately beforehand, there’s “Oscars: Into The Spotlight” for the preceding 90 minutes.
That special showcases the nominees, presenters, and performers as they get ready for the big night.
Confirmed performers include Celeste, H.E.R., Leslie Odom, Jr., Laura Pausini, Daniel Pemberton, Molly Sanden and Diane Warren. CTV.ca and the CTV App will also have a live stream of the awards show, including all awards and speeches, and an on-demand replay of the broadcast.
Where are the Oscars taking place?
Produced by Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher and Steven Soderbergh, the event is changing locations this year.
It will primarily be held at Los Angeles’ historic Union Station, with additional events at the show’s traditional home, the Dolby Theatre, as well as international locations via satellite.
Will there be a red carpet?
Yes! Red-carpet coverage will be part of “Oscars: Into the Spotlight” pre-show special but like everything during COVID, it’s not the norm. Gone will be the crowds and crowded press lines.
Only nominees, their guests and award presenters will be in attendance — having gone through multiple rounds of testing and a required quarantine period.
“It’s not a traditional (Oscar) red carpet, it’s a teeny-tiny red carpet,” said Sher, revealing more show details with Soderbergh over the weekend. “It’s a very small footprint for safety reasons, obviously.”
And in terms of dress code, think gowns rather than the pandemic-era hoodies and pyjamas that have dotted awards shows like the Golden Globes. Oscar organizers, in an email to attendees, said they are “aiming for a fusion of Inspirational and Aspirational,” where “formal is totally cool if you want to go there, but casual is really not.”
Who is hosting?
For the third year in a row, the show’s going hostless, a move that so far has been pretty successful. In 2019, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph cracked jokes while insisting to the global audience that they were not hosting, and last year’s Oscars leaned into musical appearances from A-listers like Elton John, Billie Eilish, Janelle Monae and Eminem.
Who is performing?
All five nominated songs will be performed in their entirety as part of the Oscar pre-show.
And there’s some name acts on the bill: Grammy-winning artist H.E.R. is performing a version of the song “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” and Leslie Odom Jr. — also a nominee for supporting actor — is singing “Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami.”
The Academy is hooking up fans of “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga,” too: Swedish singer Molly Sanden is performing “Husavik” on location in actual Husavik, Iceland.
Who will present awards? So far, the “cast” list is pretty Oscar-worthy itself: All of last year’s acting winners — Brad Pitt, Laura Dern, Joaquin Phoenix and Renée Zellweger — are presenting, as well as fellow Alisters Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Harrison Ford, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Rita Moreno, Reese Witherspoon, Zendaya and 2020 Best Director winner Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite”).
“In keeping with our awardsshow-as-a-movie approach, we’ve assembled a truly stellar cast of stars,” the Oscar producers said in a statement last week. “There’s so much wattage here, sunglasses may be required.”