Covid-19 may have delayed the 93rd Academy Awards, but as they say in show business, the show must go on, albeit with some strict protocols in place.
With the golden statues being handed out in numerous locations, including the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Union Station in Los Angeles and international locations via satellite, a third of the Oscars production budget has been allotted to safety protocols, according to The New York Times.
Participants will wear face masks at all times backstage but will remove them once they step in front of the cameras.
Audience members - which are capped at 170 people - will be rotated in and out of the ceremony.
As for the ceremony itself, expect it to "look like a movie, not a television show," according to its three producers, Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's trilogy, Traffic), producer Stacey Sher (Django Unchained, Erin Brockovich), and prolific events producer Jesse Collins.
Irish hopes rest with animation Wolfwalkers directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. The film is the latest chapter in the remarkable worldwide success of Kilkenny's Cartoon Saloon, who previously won plaudits and Oscar nods for their movies The Breadwinner, Song of the Sea, and The Secret of Kells, and one for Best Animated Short (Late Afternoon), and put Ireland on the map as a truly global force in animation.
Fashion fans will still get their fix of glitz and glamour with producers telling attendees to avoid casual attire.
"We're aiming for a fusion of Inspirational and Aspirational, which in actual words means formal is totally cool if you want to go there, but casual is really not."
Here's everything you need to know about the 93rd Academy Awards
How to watch the Oscars in Ireland
The show will begin at 1am (Irish time), and is expected to run until around 4am on Monday, April 26th – with Sky Cinema airing the ceremony live.
The ceremony will also be available to stream on NOW TV.
If you can’t stay up that late, but want to get a glimpse at the A-list style, E! will be airing their red carpet coverage from 10pm (Irish time) on Sunday night.
RTÉ2 will be showing coverage of the Oscars from 9.35pm on Monday, April 26th.
Click here to take a look at who we think will be bringing home an Oscar
Will there be a red carpet?
Yes, but it won’t be anything like pre-pandemic times.
"It's not a traditional red carpet, it's a teeny tiny red carpet," producer Sher said.
"It's a very small footprint for safety reasons, obviously."
Click here to take a look at Irish fashion at the Oscars
Who is hosting this year’s show?
As the Academy has not officially announced anyone, it looks like the show will be without a host for the third year in a row.
The 2019 ceremony was the first show without a host since the 61st Academy Awards in 1989.
Who will be presenting the winners with their gold statues?
The line-up of presenters includes last year's acting winners Joaquin Phoenix, Renée Zellweger, Brad Pitt and Laura Dern. They will be joined by the 2020 Best Director winner, Parasite's Bong Joon-Ho.
Click here to see who else will be handing out awards
Who is nominated at the 2021 Oscars?
The 2021 nominees are among the most diverse list of potential winners that the Academy has ever announced.
For the first time ever, more than one woman has been nominated in the Best Director category with both Nomadland's Chloé Zhao and Promising Young Woman's Emerald Fennell earning nominations.
Zhao is also the first woman of Asian descent to be nominated for Best Director.
Best Picture nominee Minari is shining a light on new Asian talent with its stars Steven Yeun becoming the first Asian-American actor nominated for Best Actor, and Yun-Jung Youn the first South Korean actress to be nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Sound of Metal's Riz Ahmed is the first Muslim actor to be nominated for Best Actor while Viola Davis scored a record-breaking fourth nomination for her performance in Netflix's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. She is currently the most Oscar-nominated Black actress ever.
