When the curtain raises on the biggest hyped film awards ceremony in the world, the Academy Awards on Sunday, apart from the customary revelry the audience will be up for many surprises in this edition. Hollywood history and use technology will engage the fans more than ever this year. Here are some:
Male, Female Duo as hosts: For the first time a male-female duo will physically share the same Oscar stage in the history of the awards.
Virtual Reality Set: This year the traditional set idea is done away completely and a world of virtual reality via a series of ‘projections’ will colour the stage. This will constantly be changing the look of the stage.
No Movie Montages: There would be no movie montages to salute a category as it is considered taking a lot of show’s running time. There will only be clips from the 10 best picture nominees and a few introduction segments.
No 5-Presenter Testimonial: The tradition of using five presenters to offer testimonials about each of the best actor and actress nominees will go away this year.
The Return of Nominated Song Performances: The tradition of performing nominated songs that was scrapped last year will be reinstituted. Randy Newman will perform his ‘We Belong Together,’ from Toy Story 3; Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, will sing the duet ‘I See the Light’ on the Tangled soundtrack, Gwyneth Paltrow will perform ‘Coming Home’ in Country Strong. AR Rahman will perform for ‘If I Rise’ from 127 Hours.
The Oscars telecast will go live in over 200 countries worldwide on Sunday, February 27 at 8PM EST. In India, February 28 at 6.30AM.
