The Oscars have never failed to provide us with memorable and sometimes strange moments throughout its existence. Be it when John Travolta pronounced Idina Menzel’s name wrong by introducing her as ‘Adela Dazeem’, or how La La Land won Best Picture and then…didn’t (the presenters were given the wrong envelope, instead of the one announcing “Moonlight” as the Best Picture). The 2021 Academy Awards were strange for sure as it was held in the middle of a pandemic and it was not without some weird moments. Let me elaborate.
The 93rd Academy Awards, which honoured the best films of 2020 and early 2021, was held on 25th April 2021. The ceremony was held two months later than originally planned due to the ongoing pandemic. It was conducted over multiple venues this time instead of the usual Dolby Theatre. The ceremony was met with criticism and was the least viewed Oscars in history.
The show saw the in-person attendance of celebrities who dazzled on the Red Carpet, but more on that later.
The nominees were announced on March 15th 2021 by Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas in a global livestream. “Nomadland” took home three awards including Best Director, Best Picture and Best Actress, making Chloe Zhao the second woman to win Best director, and Frances McDormand the first person in history to win the Best Actress as well as the Best Picture award for producing the movie.
Breaking from tradition, the Best Actor and Actress awards were presented after the Best Picture. This led viewers to speculate that Chadwick Boseman would win the Best Actor award posthumously for his performance in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom". But the award was given to Anthony Hopkins for his performance in “The Father”, leading to a very abrupt ending of the show as he was not in attendance. Although he offered to accept via Zoom, he was denied. This move by the Academy to change the order of the awards and denying Hopkins’ request was criticized and deemed as disrespectful to both Hopkins and Boseman. In addition to this, the “In Memoriam” segment, which remembers the members of the industry who passed away recently, drew a lot of criticism because of the pace of the video and the song choice. It was considered too fast, upbeat and inappropriate to honour the dead. Irrfan Khan and Chadwick Boseman were among those who were remembered.
Now for the Red Carpet. The show had some amazing looks, wholesome as well as meme-worthy moments.
Amanda Seyfried and Zendaya were among the best dressed.
Halle Berry amazed in a dreamy outfit and sported a new bob, which took the internet by storm. Memes popped up about her haircut but the actress took it all in good humour.
Frances McDormand and Chloe Zhao who won Best Actress and Best Director
Riz Ahmed stole everyone’s hearts by fixing his wife’s hair. While styling his wife’s hair he said “I’m the official groomer”, a comment which flooded twitter with posts from this cute moment.
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