The 92nd Oscars were unique for being the earliest date the show aired (February 9, 2020). The 93rd Oscars will be making news for the opposite reason, a much later than usual show date. Due to the pandemic that has ravaged the world, the uncertainty over the Oscars happening were legitimate.
Today’s announcement sets the new date of the 2021 Oscars, moving it from the previous slated date of February 28 to Sunday, April 25, 2021. The ceremony will still air on ABC. That’s a late spring show date, that will allow voting periods to be pushed back also. Here is the breakdown of it from The Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences:
Academy key dates for the 2020/2021 Oscar season are as follows:
Preliminary voting begins | Monday, February 1, 2021 |
Preliminary voting ends | Friday, February 5, 2021 |
Oscar Shortlists Announcement | Tuesday, February 9, 2021 |
Nominations voting begins | Friday, March 5, 2021 |
Nominations voting ends | Wednesday, March 10, 2021 |
Oscar Nominations Announcement | Monday, March 15, 2021 |
Oscar Nominees Luncheon | Thursday April 15, 2021 |
Finals voting begins | Thursday April 15, 2021 |
Museum Gala | Saturday, April 17, 2021 |
Finals voting ends | Tuesday, April 20, 2021 |
Oscars Oscar | Sunday, April 25, 2021 |
Museum Public Opening | Friday, April 30, 2021 |
Additionally, the highly anticipated Academy Museum will open to the public on Friday, April 30, 2021. It was originally scheduled to open on December 14, 2020.
REAL TALK:
Seems like the Academy took a lot into consideration to announce these changes. Certainly things must remain fluid, due to the pandemic and chances of another outbreak.
It just wasn’t feasible to open the museum this December. End of April 2021, seems a lot more likely. As far as the Oscars, I’m glad they moved the date. Even though February is still ways away, moving it towards the end of April gives some proper room for movies to be released and voters not to be rushed.
Personally I found this years awards season to be chaotic and overly fast-paced. In a span of a month, dozens of awards shows were crammed and awards fatigue was very real. Start of February is way too early for the Oscars.
The issues we are facing in society currently must be at the forefront. We still have a long way to get back to any sort of normal. It was smart to push back the awards season, due to more pressing issues in the world.
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