One of the saddest consequences of the Coronavirus pandemic is that the Oscars had to be rescheduled to April 2021. It is only the fourth time in its near 100 years history and the first time in the last 40 years for the Academy Awards to be rescheduled. The Annual Academy Awards or the Oscars as we know it is the most anticipated event of each year in the art world. The highly coveted night has shaped the industry since its launch in 1929 as each name that fell at the end of “And the Academy Award goes to ……… “become the most sought-after actor/actress in Hollywood. Here are some strange facts about this special night that you probably don’t know about.
The Tough Criteria For Getting Invited
Getting a ticket to the Oscar night is one of the few near-impossible events you could ever compete in. The Dolby Theatre in LA has hosted the Oscars since 2002, but its capacity is only 3400, which is way below the number of people that want a seat on the Oscar night. Despite the high demand for the seats, priority is still given to the nominees who are given a pair of tickets each and are allowed to request another pair. Nominees and their families end up taking nearly 1000 seats.
Top media houses, including the main broadcaster ABC, Warner Bros, and other houses, also get reservations for the hot seats leaving only a few hundred for the fans. The high demand increases the ticket costs, but before you can get that ticket, you have to enter a lottery draw, which will still cost you a lot. The lottery is old school as names on a sheet of paper are shaken up in a container then a name is picked randomly. The winners then receive an email requesting them to pay for the ticket.
The Red Carpet Has Its Own Security Escort
The Oscars Red Carpet is probably one of the most coveted pieces of fabric in the world. The red carpet is usually 15,000 square feet, so it requires lots of manpower to move it and lay it properly. Laying the red carpet for the Oscars takes at least 900 hours, but all that work could be undermined if fans sneaked in and cut off pieces of the coveted carpet. A piece of the carpet could probably fetch you a substantial amount of money in the black market, and some people may be bold enough to go for it, which is why the carpet is so highly protected. The carpet always moves around in its own motorcade with a team of security agents to guard it. It is probably the most protected piece of fabric in the world.
The Oscars Cost Over $44 Million
The Oscars are famous for many things, but the most interesting part of the event is the cost of the awards. While it is expensive to get a ticket, it is even more expensive to host the party. The carpet alone costs $24 700 as of 2019, according to Forbes. All nominees go home with a goody bag, and each contains expensive packages, with the most expensive one being the 2018 one where the bags came with a luxury trip to Tanzania worth $40,000 plus $15,000 in overheads. In total, the goody bags cost over $100,000. The statues are also coated with 24 karat gold, and each cost $400. The total cost of the Oscars is $44 million, which may justify the high cost of the tickets.
It Earns The City Of LA $140 Million
ABC is probably the greatest beneficiary of the Oscars as it earns them an estimated $115 million every year. ABC charges up to $2.6 million for adverts alongside the Oscars. The City of LA, which has hosted the Oscars since its launch in 1929, also makes a fortune from the event. The Academy Awards is a whole holiday season in its own right in LA, and the economic boom that comes with it is enormous. With more celebrities around the city to spend more and the media interest that surrounds the Oscars comes more money to the city. Forbes estimates that the Oscars earns LA up to $140 million every year.
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The Most Expensive Outfits Of The Oscar Night
The best thing about the Oscar night is the amazing looks that A-listers and their partners bring to the occasion. On average, A-Listers spend at least $10 million on their looks for the Oscar Night. The cost of the looks had since morphed into a competition of sorts as the look sells more than the talent on the Oscar night. Cate Blanchett took the Oscars by surprise when she showed up with an $18.1 million dress for the Academy Awards in 2014. Jennifer Lawrence had broken the record in 2013 when she showed up with a $4 million dress.
Party Crashers Of The Oscar Party
The Dolby Theater is usually one of the most defended places in the world on the Oscar night. The same security proceeds to the After Party, which is hosted by the Vanity Fair Magazine at their chosen venue. The security is primarily meant to keep out any party crashers. People still crash the party although it is very hard to stay unnoticed because you won’t have a seat. In 1996, some people crashed the party by coming up with two pigs that they claimed were the pigs from the film Babe which had won the award for the best motion picture. Sean Young also caused a commotion at the 2006 party when she came in uninvited accompanying Jennifer Aniston. She was marched out of the party through the backdoor.
Controversial Winners
The Oscars, in spite of being the most coveted, aren’t necessarily the most controversy-free awards. Sometimes, the academy voters make decisions that seem to beat reason, and some actors and films win awards for “no reason.” The most controversial film that won an award is still Shakespeare In Love, which won the Best Picture Award in 1999. Its win was linked to the influence of the convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein. Casey Affleck also won the Best Actor award in 2017 despite being accused by two women of sexual harassment a few months prior.
The Most Expensive Tickets Ever
Getting a ticket to the Oscar Night is hard and very expensive, with a long list of rules to follow that gets even the winners thrown out. The ticket itself cost $105,000 in 2019, and that cost may increase as years go by. The increase in price is strange if you consider that the ticket cost just 25 cents in 1929. Getting the ticket may also not be a sure way for you to attend the night. You have to pay on time and present lots of details about yourself to be reviewed and get approved by the panel. Oh, and the amount is not refundable; You don’t qualify; your spot is simply given to the nest guy.
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The Tedious Party Planning
The Oscar Night Party host is always the most interesting part of the event. Some hosts opt out, though, like Kevin Hart in 2019, in which case the organizers have to find an impromptu host or just have no host. Preparing the party venue I also another tedious process as the carpet laying alone takes a whole 900 hours. Then comes the scheduling for the arrivals. The A-Listers arrive first at the Vanity Fair Oscar night and have their fun. The rest of the guests arrive according to their ranking, with D-listers arriving last. As a result, you may be invited to the Oscar Night party, but you won’t necessarily meet all the big names that come on that day.
The Oscar After Party Night Doesn’t Always End Well
In Spite of The Big Spending and the planning, things don’t always go according to plan. Everyone lined up with lots of drinks and food, and no VIP section means the Oscar night party is always full of fun. The fun gets out of hand sometimes, though. In 2012, Sean Young, the 2006 trouble maker, was thrown out and then arrested by the LAPD for starting a fight.
The actors also bring their agents along into the party, so the event easily gets overcrowded, and some people opt to leave in favour of a serener party, Beyonce and Madonna host one annually nowadays. Sometimes, the invitees bring uninvited plus ones, which is against the rules, and things get heated.