Calm down – it was only a prize-giving

The already legendary Oscars mix-up – in which the Best Picture award was mistakenly given to La La Land – has sent shock waves across the world. At least that’s the impression we’ve all been given. On the BBC News website, the confusion was granted the sort of prominence usually afforded major disasters, in case any of us were in any doubt just how serious this was.

After all, a small group of actors and filmmakers believed they had won an award for the best part of a minute, before learning that, actually, they hadn’t (unless you count all the other Oscars they won).

The man who hurriedly corrected the mistake even adopted his most portentous voice as he told the shocked audience “this is not a joke. Moonlight is best picture”, in the same way you might send a crowd into panic by shouting THIS IS NOT DRILL as the fire alarm sounds.

Some are even comparing this high drama to that time Terry Wogan announced the wrong winner of the competition to represent the UK at the Eurovison Song Contest (I think we can all remember exactly what we are doing when that happened. Watching something else).

Only the history books will decide, or the comments section on YouTube at least.

But I suppose the envelope error at least knocked aside coverage of all the other stuff we have to endure whenever film-making types get together for some mutual backslapping.

So we have mercifully been spared too much of the inevitable political posturing, of which there was plenty by all accounts.

And there was very little focus on the overpriced attire of the nominees, who are generally quite comfortable giving us fingerwagging lectures on poverty and inequality while carrying the price of a house on their back.

Maybe next year.