Awards season has been upon us and the final stretch is here, with the grandest and most highly anticipated Oscars 2021 ceremony set to take place on April 26 (SGT). 

This year, local broadcasting station Mediacorp will be airing the 93rd Annual Academy Awards live on Channel 5 and through Mewatch on April 26. The coverage will start at 6.30 am (SGT) with red carpet arrivals and followed by the main show at 8 am. It will be the second year that Mediacorp is streaming the Oscars live. 

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While most award shows such as the Emmys and the Golden Globes have gone virtual due to the pandemic, the Oscars will remain an in-person event. The only difference being that the show will be held on April 26 rather than in February, which has always been the case.

The only people allowed to physically attend the Oscars though will be the nominees themselves, their guests, and the presenters.

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Originally, the show's producers, Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher, and Jesse Collins, had decided on a 'No Zoom' rule. This meant that if a nominee did not physically attend the ceremony, they would not be able to win at all as they were barred from accepting awards virtually. They were attempting to bring back normalcy to the awards show season despite the pandemic.

This was quickly met with backlash and the rules were thankfully relaxed to allow nominees who did not live in Los Angeles or who were shooting in different parts of the world to still participate. 

The organisers will instead be setting up European "hubs" in certain cities such as Paris or London to allow nominees to participate almost in person. They will likely announce more locations in the coming weeks. 

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There is also still no word on who will be hosting the Oscars. If there is no host, this will be the third consecutive year that the awards show has gone without a presenter. 

If you are unable to catch the show live, Channel 5 will be airing a same-day encore at 6pm on April 26 with the main show being repeated at 10.30pm. The telecast will also be available on Mewatch until May 19. 

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