The 93rd Academy Awards tomorrow night — with crowds of A-listers making their way up the red carpet in the late afternoon Los Angeles sunshine and then celebrating late into the night at the iconic Vanity Fair party — would usually be expected to provide a much-needed shot of glamour for the world.
But this Sunday’s Oscars might as well be renamed the Odd-scars.
For what is planned is a pared-back, part-virtual version of the ceremony in three different countries, with partying banned and a distinctly dour selection of nominated films to boot.
Factor in a frazzling time-zone difference — the ceremony starts at 5pm on Sunday U.S. time so it will be after 1am on Monday in the UK before a single envelope is opened — and you have a recipe for a £29 million night which may make history for all the wrong reasons, as ALISON BOSHOFF explains . . .