Mediacorp To Show Oscars 2021 Ceremony Live On Apr 26

Mediacorp will air the 93rd Annual Academy Awards live via meWATCH and Channel 5, Apr 26 (Mon), 6.30am (SGT), starting with the red carpet arrivals, followed by the three-hour main show at 8am.

The Oscars are usually held in February but thanks to the COVID-19 crisis, are pushed back to April this year. Held in Los Angeles, it will be broadcast from the Dolby Theatre, which has been the home of the Oscars since 2002, and, er, Union Station (don’t ask).

While most award shows — like the Emmys and the Golden Globes — have gone the virtual way during the pandemic, Oscars 2021 will be an in-person ceremony. The only people allowed to attend will be the nominees themselves, their guests, and the presenters.

The show’s producers — Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher, and Jesse Collins — had originally barred nominees not attending the Oscars in LA from accepting awards via Zoom.

The ‘No Zoom’ rule was intended to bring some normalcy back to the awards show season amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but that didn’t go down well with nominees who live or shooting outside the US.

The rule was subsequently relaxed with the producers setting up European “hubs” in cities including London and Paris where nominees can participate in person. More cities are expected to be announced later.

Mank, David Fincher’s drama about the making of Citizen Kane, leads the Oscar race with the most nominations of 10, while Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Nomadland, Sound of Metal, The Father, The Trial of the Chicago 7 scored six nods each.

This year’s Oscars saw a record number of history-making nods, including more than one woman being nominated in the Best Director category for the first time; and the first Muslim (Sound of Metal’s Riz Ahmed) and Asian American (Minari’s Steven Yeun) performers vying for Best Actor. (Click here for the full nomination list.)

For a third consecutive year, the Oscars will be host-free. At time of writing, no word on who will be presenting.

Quick recap: the Oscars will be simulcast live on meWATCH and Channel 5 on Monday (Apr 26), 6.30am (SGT), with the Red Carpet coverage (same-day encore on Channel 5, 6pm), followed by the main show at 8am (same-day encore on Channel 5,10.30pm). An ‘international version’ will air on May 1 (Sat), Channel 5, 11.30am. The show will be available for catch up on meWATCH till May 19.

Meanwhile, how many of the Oscar-nominated movies have you seen? Click here if you need some help.

Photo: TPG News/Click Photos