Oscar Awards: How can we forget Will Smith’s slap?

The Oscars celebrate their 95th edition at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles this Sunday and, while many still remember Will Smith’s famous splash, there’s plenty of reason to think the Hollywood Academy has turned the page and this performance will shine on its own.

Here are 10 keys for you to enjoy Oscar 2023:

1-Waterfall What kind of slap?

The organizer of the Oscars did everything to put the downpour episode behind us, and to prevent the same thing from happening again at the gala, for the first time in its history it formed a cast to deal with a crisis or similar unforeseen events, although it did not provide details on how work.

For now, Smith will not be at the gala this year or next after the Hollywood Academy banned him from any of its events for the next decade.

Smith’s slap to comedian Chris Rock for joking about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith’s alopecia, overshadowed last year’s ceremony, with those responsible for the gala admitting that “the management of the situation was not up to the task”.

2-From high-budget films to original cinematography

This year’s Best Film category reveals a heterogeneous panorama in which big-budget films (“Avatar”), indie hits (“Everything everywhere and at once”), films by cult directors (“Fabelmans”) and original productions available on platforms (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) coexist ).

3-Issue marked by returns

How can you not remember the clumsy Brendan Fraser from “George of the Jungle” or the cute Ke Huy Quan from “The Goonies”? The most nostalgic are in luck because both are emerging from ostracism and returning to Hollywood.

The former returns thanks to a best actor nomination for “The Whale,” while the latter does the same in the supporting actor category for “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”

Additionally, the iconic Jamie Lee Curtis, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” also returns to the spotlight.

4- Five newcomers in the best actor category

For the first time since 1935, all five finalists for Best Actor are newcomers: Austin Butler (“Elvis”), Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”), Bill Nighy (“Living”), Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) and the aforementioned Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) makes his debut at the Oscars.

5- Discreet Latin representation

Latin American representation this year was reduced to the Spanish-Cuban Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) in the category of best actress; Mexican Guillermo del Toro with the adaptation of “Pinocchio” nominated for the best animated film; and his compatriot Alfonso Cuarón, with “Le Pupille”, a candidate for best short film.

Also, the film “Argentina, 1985”, by Santiago Mitrea, will compete in the category of the best international film.

6- Kidman, Banderas … and Jimmy Kimmel as host

This sequel will present established Hollywood stars such as Nicole Kidman, Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek or Glenn Close, as well as people who have become more important in the last decade, such as Ariana DeBosa, Andrew Garfield or Jessica Chastain, among others.

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel returns to host after taking over the role for the 2017 and 2018 sequels.

7- Rihanna, the protagonist of musical performances

Rihanna, who returned to perform at halftime of the last Super Bowl after six years without performing live, will also be at the Oscars performing “Lift Me Up” from this year’s nominated song “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” anus.

Lenny Kravitz will also participate in the musical part of the ceremony, with a tribute to members of the film industry who died this year; pop artist Sofia Carson; singer and guitarist David Byrne, or singer-songwriter Diane Warren.

8- Michael J. Fox and Peter Weir, among the 2023 honorees

Warren herself was one of the personalities chosen to receive an honorary gold statuette – the Governors Awards – for her contribution to the film industry.

These awards were presented at the previous gala in November, and also went to filmmakers Peter Weir and Euzhan Palcy and actor Michael J. Fox, who received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Governors Awards.

9- Champagne carpet, not red

For the first time in more than 60 years, stars invited to the gala will walk a champagne-colored carpet, rather than a red one, before entering the Dolby Theatre.

10-Improving viewership records, core task

95th edition The Oscars will start on Sunday at 17:00 local time (1:00 a.m. GMT Monday) and will air for another year in the US on ABC, a network that has seen a sharp decline in ratings over the past two decades.

After reaching 28.9% of US households in 2014, the gala gradually lost interest until it bottomed out in 2021, with an audience share of 1.9%, and rose modestly last year, when it reached 3.8%. .