As with everything else over the last year, the Oscars look a little different in 2021.
The 2020 Academy Awards were one of the last events to go down before the world entered lockdown for the coronavirus. After being pushed back all the way to April, the 2021 Oscars — just like every other award show we’ve had amid the pandemic — will be a little different this year.
Instead of their usual home of the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, the event is primarily being held at a train station — Union Station in Los Angeles, to be exact. There will also be virtual appearances from around the world throughout the evening, while the Best Song nominees were all performed during the pre-show.
There was a red carpet, albeit one held on a much smaller scale and, for the third year in a row, the show is without a host. The presenters — being dubbed the “cast” of the show — include Brad Pitt, Renee Zellweger, Reese Witherspoon, Zendaya, Viola Davis, Laura Dern, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Joaquin Phoenix and Harrison Ford. It’ll be one star-studded show!
Going into the night, there are a ton of first-time nominees up for big wins. Those who earned their first noms this year include the late Chadwick Boseman — the seventh performer ever to receive a posthumous nomination — Riz Ahmed, Steven Yeun, Leslie Odom Jr., Paul Raci, Lakeith Stanfield, Andra Day, Vanessa Kirby, Maria Bakalova, Amanda Seyfried and Yuh-Jung Youn. Viola Davis’ nom, meanwhile, makes her the first Black woman to be get a second nomination — ever — in the Best Actress category and the most nominated Black woman in Oscar history. It’s also the second time two Black woman — Davis and Andra Day — have been nominated in the category, following Cecily Tyson and Diana Ross way back in 1973.
We’ll keep track of all the night’s most buzzed about moments right here!
Regina King Opens the Show
The show kicked off with Regina King strutting her stuff into Union Station, as the “opening credits” began. The camera followed her all the walk into the main stage area, as all the night’s presenters names flashed on the screen. She then had the honor of starting the show.
“It has been quite a year and we’re still smack dab in the middle of it. If things had gone different this week in Minneapolis, I might have traded in my heels for marching boots,” she began, referring to the guilty verdict in the case of Derek Chauvin. “I know that a lot of you people at home want to reach for your remote when you feel like Hollywood is preaching to you. But as a mother of a Black son, I know the fear that so many live with and no amount of fame or fortune changes that. But, tonight, we are here to celebrate.”
She then explained how they’re able to do the awards without masks, reminding viewers that movie sets are allowed to do it and that’s how they’re handling the Oscars. She said they’d all been vaccinated, tested, re-tested and would be following all protocols. “When we’re rolling, masks off,” she said, “When we’re not rolling, masks on.”
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