When are the Oscars 2021? Full list of nominations, award ceremony date, UK show time – and how to watch live

The 93rd Oscars ceremony – which takes place this weekend (25 April) – is set to take place with an in-person event at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, while some live elements of the show will be included from the event’s usual home of the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Other major awards shows which have had virtual elements amid the health crisis have suffered sharp ratings declines.

The Golden Globes sank to a 13-year low in viewing figures and the Grammys recorded its lowest-ever viewership; commentators have predicted the Oscars may be in for a similar drop in viewers.

So what is the Oscars doing to combat this? Who is nominated? And which stars will be in attendance?

Here is everything you need to know about it.

What will the show look like this year?

In a letter sent to nominees, producers initially ruled out nominees appearing via Zoom, and said the Academy will accept awards on behalf of any winner unable to make the show.

The letter stated: “For those of you unable to attend because of scheduling or continued uneasiness about travelling, we want you to know there will not be an option to Zoom in for the show.

“We are going to great lengths to provide a safe and ENJOYABLE evening for all of you in person, as well as for all the millions of film fans around the world, and we feel the virtual thing will diminish those efforts.”

But the Academy has since said it will set up hubs at international locations for stars unable to make it to Los Angeles; it will allow British nominees to take part in the Oscars from London.

What Covid precautions are in place?

The body is still encouraging anyone who can safely and legally travel to Los Angeles for the ceremony to do so, but has said the ceremony will be “intimate” and carried out safely under pandemic-era precautions.

Attendance will be restricted – capped at 170 people – with a stripped-back red carpet and media presence among the pandemic-era concessions.

Attendees will reportedly not be required to wear masks while the cameras are rolling during the ceremony. However, they are being asked to mask up when not on camera, for example during advertising breaks.

Who is hosting the awards?

As with the last two years, there will be no host.

Instead the presenters, billed as the ceremony’s “cast” (the Academy has said it wants the broadcast to feel like a film), will move proceedings along.

Who will be presenting awards?

Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, and Zendaya will be part of the star-studded line-up of presenters at the Oscars.

They will be joined by other A-listers including Academy Award winners Laura Dern, Regina King, Joaquin Phoenix, and Reese Witherspoon.

Parasite director Bong Joon Ho will also appear during the ceremony on 25 April, as well as actors Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, and Renee Zellweger.

Additional presenters will be unveiled before the ceremony, the producers added.

Who is nominated?

For the first time in the Academy Awards’ history, more than one female director has been nominated in the best director category – Chloe Zhao for Nomadland and Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman.

They are only the sixth and seventh women to ever be nominated, and Zhao is the first Asian woman, while Fennell is the first British woman.

Only one woman has won the prize – Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker.

This year’s Oscars also represent the best showing by British acting talent for nearly two decades. A total of eight of the 20 acting nominations are for British performers, the highest proportion since 2002.

British Oscar nominees include Kaluuya, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Carey Mulligan, Olivia Colman, Riz Ahmed, and Gary Oldman.

And nine of the 20 acting nominations have gone to non-white performers, a major turnaround from last year, when only one acting nominee was non-white.

If you want to know where you can stream each of this year’s nominees, head to our guide.

The full list of nominees is as follows:

Will there be a pre-show?

British star Celeste will join fellow Academy Award nominees including H.E.R., Leslie Odom Jr and Diane Warren in performing at the Oscars pre-show.

In a break from tradition, the five best original song nominees will not be part of the main ceremony but will instead feature in the 90-minute pre-show Oscars: Into The Spotlight.

Four of the performances will be recorded at the Dolby family terrace of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, the Academy said, while a fifth will be performed in Husavik, Iceland.

Singer-songwriter Celeste and Daniel Pemberton will perform ‘Hear My Voice’ from The Trial Of The Chicago 7, H.E.R. will sing ‘Fight For You’ from Judas And The Black Messiah, Warren will team up with Laura Pausini for the Italian language track ‘Io Si (Seen)’ from The Life Ahead, and Odom Jr is set to belt out ‘Speak Now’ from One Night In Miami.

Molly Sanden will perform ‘Husavik’ in the Icelandic town which gave the song its name. The track features in Netflix comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga.

All songs will be performed in their entirety, rather than being abridged to fit the main ceremony, and the pre-show will be hosted by actors Ariana DeBose and Lil Rel Howery.

Will there be a post-show?

A post-show titled Oscars: After Dark will be presented by actors Colman Domingo and Andrew Rannells and will recap the ceremony’s best moments as well as showing the winners having their statuettes personalised, the Academy said.

Producers of the ceremony said: “We’ve come up with some serious pre-game and post-game action to enhance our main event.

“Our suggestion is just tune in for the whole shebang, otherwise you’ll miss something really unexpected and fun.”

How can I watch it?

The 93rd Oscars will take place Sunday 25 April in Los Angeles.

Given the time difference, that means for viewers in the UK the show will start at 1am and run until around 4am to 5am in the early hours of Monday 26 April.

The ceremony will be broadcast live in the UK on the Sky Cinema Oscars channel, with coverage starting at 12.30am on Monday 26 April.

Read more:

Oscars 2021: the female-directed films that should – and could – have been nominated

Oscar nominations 2021: where to stream and watch all 41 nominated feature films

Where can I watch Nomadland? UK release date of Bafta-winning movie