The glitz and glamour of the Oscar Awards is here again
It will be the entertainment industry’s biggest and glitziest moment early on Monday morning when the Oscars are held, attracting millions of viewers across the world.
Even though a Kenyan film missed out on the nominations for the awards, the country will once again be represented by 2014 Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o who was added to the list of presenters taking the stage in Los Angeles.
Kenya’s only Oscars hopeful, superhero film Supa Modo, failed to get a nomination for the Academy Awards — popularly known as the Oscars — which were announced in January.
Supa Modo, which was picked as Kenya’s potential entry ahead of the controversial Rafiki, fell by the wayside in the final nominations list in the Best Foreign Language Film category.
Instead, Mexico’s Roma is favourite to win the acclaimed award in a nomination list that includes films like Shoplifters (Japan), Cold War (Poland), Capernaum (Lebanon) and Never Look Away (Germany).
Last year, in its effort to counter criticism of its mostly white and male membership, 928 new members from 59 countries were invited. Rafiki director and producer Wanuri Kahiu was among those picked to be a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
BLACK PANTHER
Actress Lupita will be crossing her fingers to see if she will walk home with her second Oscar award. Lupita, whose father is Kisumu Governor Anyang Nyong’o, won her first Oscar award for Best Supporting Actress through her role in the historical drama 12 Years a Slave.
She hopes to clinch a second award with her fellow cast members in Black Panther for the Best Picture category. Black Panther will go toe to toe with A Star is Born, Vice, The Favourite and Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma, which leads the pack with 10 nominations, including Best Picture. Others in the category include BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Green Book.
The Academy has never been fond of awarding superhero movies. However, following the successes of movies like Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, it attempted to honour such films with a proposed Popular Film category. The proposal has since been dropped following huge criticism from film stakeholders.
Most film stars see the Oscar as a proof of their accomplishment, their acceptance by the film industry. It is the most prestigious award, and certainly opens more doors in their careers.
The 2019 best actor award will see big names like Christian Bale (Vice) take on Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) and Viggo Mortensen (Green Book) battle it up for the golden statue.
COVETED AWARD
Down the line, Glenn Close who stars in The Wife could potentially fulfill one leading actress’ long standing goal of landing a coveted award from the Academy. She is up for best actress in a leading role which is the 71-year-old’s seventh Oscar nomination. The nomination is her fourth for best actress.
She was previously nominated for her performances in Albert Nobbs, Dangerous Liaisons, Fatal Attraction, The Natural, The Big Chill and The World According to Garp. She will be up against Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Olivia Colman (The Favourite), Lady Gaga (A Star is Born) and Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?).
Getting the Oscars gives actors and actresses a large pay increase, for example, Halle Berry received a tremendous boost of popularity and pay rise after becoming the First African American actress to win a Best Actress Oscars.
The Academy this week revealed details of the performers taking to the stage during this year’s ceremony. The evening’s entertainment will include a set from Queen with Adam Lambert, along with performances from the Best Song nominees with Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper set to take to the stage to perform their nominated song Shallow from A Star is Born.
Others will include Jennifer Hudson who will sing I’ll Fight from Oscar-nominated documentary RBG. There had previously been some controversy around the Oscars set list, with disappointed fans lamenting the original decision to give performance slots to just two of the five nominated songs.
If one misses an award at the Oscars, they will not go home go empty-handed. This year’s swag is worth a reported Sh10 million ($100,000). These gift bags, are dubbed “Everyone Wins” and include holidays, jewellery, beauty products and more. The event will air at 4am East African Time.
Big outing for movie stars at the glitzy Oscar awards