The world of film will once again descend on Hollywood in under a week’s time, for the 95th annual Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars. Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the ceremony for the third time, following stints in 2017 and 2018.
Last year’s dramatic ceremony was overshadowed by the infamous moment when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock. Let’s see how many times that will be brought up this year. Will Smith received a 10-year ban from any Academy functions and events because of his behaviour. We can only hope for a peaceful ceremony this year.
The big player this year is ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once,’ leading the nominations in an impressive eleven categories. Michelle Yeoh’s main competition for best actress is Cate Blanchett, nominated for her performance in ‘TÁR,’ as too are Michelle Williams for ‘The Fablemans,’ Ana De Armas for ‘Blonde,’ and Andrea Riseborough for ‘To Leslie.’ Riseborough’s nomination has already stirred up some controversy, leading the Academy to launch an investigation into the film’s campaign ethics.
Austin Butler has been nominated in the category of Best Actor for his role in ‘Elvis,’ and fan favourite Brendan Fraser has been nominated for his role in ‘The Whale.’ Colin Farrell has been nominated for ‘The Banshees of Inisherin,’ Bill Nighy for ‘Living,’ and Paul Mescal for ‘Aftersun.’ For the first time in 88 years, all five nominees for Best Actor are first-time Nominees.
Composer, John Williams has become the oldest person in history to be nominated for an Oscar at age 90, and with this being his 53rd nomination, he has also broken his own record as the most Oscar-nominated living person.
As always, music will interlude the presentation of the awards on the night. This year there is a star-studded lineup of musical artists performing all the nominated songs from the past year’s best movies.
American actress, Sofia Carson will perform “Applause” from the film ‘Tell it Like a Woman,” Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava are singing “Naatu Naatu” from ‘RRR.’ Scottish musician David Byrne is joined by Stephanie Hsu and the electronic band Son Lux in performing “This Is a Life” from ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once,’ and fresh off the Superbowl stage, Rihanna will sing “Lift Me Up” from ‘Black Pantha: Wakanda Forever.’
Veteran musician, Lenny Kravitz will also perform a special tribute during the In Memoriam segment, honouring the many talented artists who passed in the past year.
Steven Speilberg has been nominated for three awards on the night, and if victorious, could possibly take his oscar count to six in total, adding to the three he already won for films ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993) and ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998).
A varied list of presenters has also been announced, notably consisting of Emily Blunt, Hugh Grant, Nicole Kidman, Glenn Close, Dwayne Johnson, and Sigourney Weaver.
The 95th annual Academy Awards will be broadcast live from 1:00 pm NZST on TVNZ 2, with coverage of the red carpet starting from 11:30 am NZST.
