Oscars 2021: When are the 93rd Academy Awards and how to watch the ceremony live in the UK
This year’s rather unusual film awards season culminates with the Oscars in late April. But what can we expect from the 2021 Academy Awards - and how much will Covid change Hollywood’s big night?
When is the 2021 Oscars ceremony?
The ceremony for the 93rd Academy Awards takes place on April 25 in the US, airing live on US TV station ABC at 8pm Eastern Daylight Time (midnight on April 26 UK time). The spring celebration is a marked delay from its usual date in February.
How can I watch the 2021 Oscars in the UK?
Sky Cinema will air the event in full on its sub-channel Sky Cinema Oscars, followed by a highlights reel on Sky One. The Sky coverage will also be streamed online through Now TV. Existing Sky TV customers can sign up Sky Cinema for £11 a month, or you can pay £11.99 a month for Now TV’s Sky Cinema Pass. Although there’s a handy loophole for the latter: you can get a seven-day free trial.
Where will the 2021 Oscars ceremony take place?
The ceremony will be held outdoors in a courtyard at downtown railway hub Union Station in Los Angeles. According to veteran Oscars director Glenn Weiss and first-time producers Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher and Steven Soderbergh (an apt choice: the director of Contagion), there will also be some “additional show elements” coming live from the Dolby Theatre – which usually hosts the Oscars ceremony.
In a joint statement, the producers stressed that they want the telecast to “look like a movie, not a television show.” So, expect some ambitious elements – perhaps musical performances or comic skits from the Dolby.
Who is hosting the 2021 Oscars?
The Oscars haven’t had a host for the past two years; the last host was Jimmy Kimmel in 2018. It looks like there will not be a host in 2021 either, but instead a reliance on multiple awards presenters to keep the show on the road.
Will nominees actually attend the 2021 Oscars ceremony?
In the main: yes. The producers are urging nominees to show up at what they call “an intimate, in-person event” - and Zoom participation is limited (avoiding the disasters of the Golden Globes). However, the Academy has made a concession for international nominees owing to Covid travel concerns. For the Brits, there will be a London broadcast hub.
Only nominees, their guests and the presenters will be invited to this scaled-down ceremony. Organisers are also enlisting celebrities for video interviews to be taped ahead of time and broadcast during the show.
Who will present the awards at the 2021 Oscars?
We don’t yet know who the presenters are, although we’ll likely see the usual mix of A-list actors and directors, including winners from last year - like Joaquin Phoenix, Renée Zellwegger, Brad Pitt and Laura Dern.
What Covid measures are in place for the 2021 Oscars?
The producers have said that they are treating the event like an active movie set. That means an on-site Covid safety team administering PCR tests, and lots of rules in place for those attending - presumably involving mask wearing and social distancing.
Will there still be speeches during the 2021 Oscars?
Fear not: the tearful, rambling, occasionally political and always OTT acceptance speeches are a go. However, the producers have urged winners to “read the room” and “tell a story”, rather than just listing off names, and to bear in mind that organisers are “aiming for a feeling of casual exchange and good humour”.
Will the 2021 Oscars be glamorous?
Absolutely. While some awards shows have embraced lockdown fashion (i.e. pyjamas as daywear), the Academy Awards are holding firm. The dress code, per the producers, is “a fusion of Inspirational and Aspirational, which in actual words means formal is totally cool if you want to go there, but casual is really not.” In other words, ditch the hoodie and dust off that tux.
Will there still be 2021 Oscars parties?
Not as such. But there will be a 60-minute, pre-show virtual event from Elton John (who won the Best Original Song Oscar last year for Rocketman), raising money for his AIDS Foundation. Neil Patrick Harris will host, alongside John and David Furnish, with a stripped-back performance from Dua Lipa. The special will be hosted on virtual platform Cisco Webex, streamed in the US on April 25 and elsewhere (including the UK) on April 26. You can purchase tickets via Ticketmaster.
Vanity Fair is also going online with a charity event series to benefit the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s Covid relief efforts. Their Cocktail Hour Live will take place April 13-15, offering a mix of interviews, performances, panel discussions and cast reunions. A-listers confirmed include Serena Williams, Michael B Jordan, Gal Gadot, Glenn Close, and Mank nominee Amanda Seyfried.
Who is eligible for the 2021 Oscars?
The awards honour films released between January 1 2020 and February 28 2021. The Academy’s board of governors voted to temporarily allow films that were first released via streaming services or video on demand to be eligible, if they were originally scheduled to have a theatrical release. That means films which haven’t yet been released in cinemas, due to Covid, are still considered.
Who is nominated at the 2021 Oscars - and who will win?
This year’s list of nominees has already made history. There are two women in the Best Director category: Chloé Zhao for Nomadland and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman, with Zhao hotly tipped to win the award - as is Nomadland for Best Picture. There are also nine actors of colour nominated, including the first Asian-American up for Best Actor, Minari’s Steven Yeun.
We may well see a diverse list of winners, too, with the late Chadwick Boseman favourite to win a posthumous Best Actor Award for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and Daniel Kaluuya leading the race for Best Supporting Actor for Judas and the Black Messiah. Adding to a good haul for the Brits, we may well see Ferrell nab a Best Original Screenplay trophy and/or Sacha Baron Cohen take Best Adapted Screenplay for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, following their Writers Guild Awards wins.
Also in the mix are David Fincher’s Mank, which picked up an impressive 10 Oscar nominations; The Father, starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, with six nods; Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, with six; the Riz Ahmed-starring Sound of Metal, also with six; and Best Actress challenges from Andra Day in The United States vs Billie Holiday, and Vanessa Kirby in Pieces of a Woman.
And might the silly spoof Eurovision Song Contest: The story of Fire Saga scoop Best Original Song? Stranger things have happened...
Where can I watch the 2021 Oscar-nominated films?
Good news: we’ve got a handy guide waiting for you, so you can get up to speed ahead of the ceremony and pick your own winners at home.
