We’ve had the Golden Globes, Baftas and Screen Actors Guild Awards, but the crowning moment of 2021’s very unusual awards season is now upon us. Yep, it’s Oscars time.
This year’s Academy Awards have seen a great showing for UK talent, with Daniel Kaluuya, Olivia Colman, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Riz Ahmed, Carey Mulligan, Sacha Baron Cohen and Emerald Fennell among the British stars who’ve been recognised by the Motion Picture Academy.
But how can people in the UK show their support and watch the ceremony live on Sunday 25 April? Well, here’s a quick guide on how to get the best out of the Oscars in 2021…
Let’s start with the Oscars red carpet. Is there actually going to be one, and how do we watch it?
Most awards shows have been largely remote in 2021, with only a handful of stars actually putting in an appearance in person.
Fortunately for those who love a red carpet moment, the Oscars is apparently putting a ban on people taking part over Zoom, meaning we can expect a fairly star-studded showing on the red carpet (there’ll also be a separate UK-based venue for stars in Britain who want to get involved, so expect a separate London-centric red carpet too).
As is always the case, E! has us covered with the red carpet, with Giuliana Rancic and co interviewing the nominees and presenters as they make their way into the venue.
This will air live on E! from 10pm on Sunday night until midnight, after which there’ll also be a special show titled Red Carpet Rundown, taking us all behind the scenes of how this year’s ceremony was able to go ahead given the circumstances.
Frankly, we’ll be using this extra hour between the red carpet and ceremony to make sure we have enough snacks and caffeine to get us through the rest of the night’s festivities, but each to their own.
And then there’s the actual Oscars ceremony. What time does that start, and how can we watch the show in the UK?
Unlike most international awards shows, the Oscars isn’t just shown on TV here, UK film fans can actually watch it live.
The fun starts at 1am on Sky Cinema’s dedicated Oscars channel, but NOW subscribers will also be able to watch the three-and-half-hour ceremony on the streaming platform (you can also sign up for a seven-day free trial).
For those who don’t fancy staying up until the wee small hours, downing coffee during Best Sound and Best Acting to make sure you don’t miss Best Actress and Best Picture, Sky will also be showing an abridged highlights show on Monday evening at 7pm on the Sky Cinema Oscars channel. It’ll then be repeated at 9pm on Sky 1.
Of course, you can also keep checking Huffpost UK over the course of the night, as we’ll be keeping you up to speed with all the latest goings on from both the red carpet and the main ceremony.
While we’re chatting Oscars… how on earth is it actually going to work in 2021?
To tell you the truth, we don’t actually know, but organisers have promised a “completely different” kind of show this year.
The Academy said in a statement that their “plan is that this year’s Oscars will look like a movie, not like a television show”, which sounds very intriguing, but also a little vague.
Elaborating in an interview with Vulture, director Glenn Weiss said: “You can expect a really great celebration. We’re honouring storytellers. So, what better way to honour storytellers than to become storytellers and make everybody at home come into the room and be part of it?
“So when everyone at home watches the show, they just feel a little bit more connected, a little bit more into it, a little bit more part of the story.”
“Without making a direct comparison to any moment from any Oscar show, I can tell you with a lot of confidence that this isn’t going to feel or look like any of the Oscar shows that you’ve seen,” he explained.
For the third year running, the Academy Awards will not have a host in 2021, and will take place at Los Angeles Union Station (yes… the actual train station) rather than its usual home at the Dolby Theater.
While we have no idea what it all means, it sounds like those staying up until four in the morning will, at the very least, have something nice to look out as a reward for their persistence.