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 . . .