5 things to know about what awards season will look like this year

The 2021 awards season is quickly approaching, which gives many of us something to look forward to amid the global pandemic. The Academy Awards, Golden Globes, Grammys, NAACP Image Awards, SAG Awards, and other ceremonies are shaping up to continue to look different from any award show we’ve seen in pre-COVID days, but that’s all for the safety of our beloved celebrities.

Will we see some hybrid awards shows that are sort of in-person and sort of virtual, like the 2020’s MTV’s Video Music Awards and the 2020 Emmy Awards ceremonies? 

Rad Simonpillai and The Social’s Lainey Lui discussed what we should expect ahead of the awards season. Take a look at five things to know about what awards season will look like this year below.

Expect more people in hazmat suits to be at your favourite celebrities' doors

Rad thinks the 2020 Emmys really set the bar for the awards shows in 2021. “That is a great goalpost in terms of how an awards show should run,” he said. “They see this as a challenge, the Emmys turned it into an opportunity, you know, like, they made it experimental, they found the laughs in it, they showed that all of a sudden, going virtual opens you up to a world of possibilities.”

Rad’s favourite memory of the Emmys was the people in bubble hazmat suits, standing outside nominees' homes with trophies and knowing they had to walk away with the award if you lost. He says that the SAGs, Oscars and Golden Globes should aspire to that.

In her “Zendaya Goes Undercover” video for GQ, Zendaya revealed how her Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama arrived at her house so quickly. “Fun fact: Everyone who participated in the Emmys, there was somebody standing outside of everyone’s home, I believe, with a hazmat suit and an Emmy,” she shared. “And if you win, you go to keep the Emmy, and if you did not, they took it.” She said there was a “lovely young woman” outside of her house, and her assistant Darnell grabbed the award and ran in with it as soon as he heard the news.  

Streaming services may dominate at the nominations

This awards season could see streaming services like Netflix and Amazon dominate the nominations. With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, many of us are binge-watching all the new releases to pass the time. Netflix even made an enormous promise to release new movies every week through the end of 2021. 

With most of the movies being more widely-seen, like Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Da 5 Bloods, the streaming services could see many nominations because of how many eyes can view their content. 

“There’s just so many different ways that that’s affecting how voters will vote, how the awards season is even playing out, like if you look at a list of the AFI (American Film Institute) top 10 list of the year, these are typically movies that you think are going to go into Oscar season - they picked four Netflix titles, right? 40 per cent of those titles are Netflix titles,” Rad said. He added that he doesn’t think all of Netflix’s movies would dominate like that in any given year, but “Netflix had the advantage when all of a sudden, theatres are out of the picture, and a lot of the movies that were meant to go to the theatres, they backed away from awards season.”

He also noted that viewers are less likely to click on a premium video on demand button where they’d have to purchase or rent a movie because there’s no longer the appeal of going to a theatre. “Now Netflix all of a sudden becomes a much more appealing option, so I feel like that’s the advantage now that Netflix has because they’re already established."

This could be a landmark year for BIPOC directors

The year 2021 has the potential to showcase an iconic award season because we could see the Best Director category include 50 per cent or more BIPOC directors.

Regina King could make history at the Oscars for her directorial debut, One Night in Miami. The film has already been thought of as a Best Picture contender. Only five women have ever been nominated for the Best Director Oscar with Kathryn Bigelow being the only winner (with The Hurt Locker). King would be the first Black woman to be nominated for Best Director. Director Chloé Zhao has also been in talks for Best Director contender for her film Nomadland. There's also been Oscar buzz surrounding Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods and Lee Isaac Chung's Minari. 

“I absolutely love it for Chloé Zhao, she’s an incredible talent, I am excited, and she absolutely deserves to win that prize, and i’m also excited for Regina King, because this is not your typical actor stepping behind the camera, and being like, 'I’m gonna try this out,’” Rad said, adding that he hopes to see Minari director Lee Isaac Chung in the same category. 

“I think it would be incredible if we could see both [King and Zhao] in there, and it would be such a bonus if Lee Isaac Chung from Minari gets in there as well because then you’ll have more than 50 per cent of the nominees be people of colour," Rad said.

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The late Chadwick Boseman deserves all the recognition for his final performances

Chadwick Boseman, who died in August at the age of 43 after his private battle with colon cancer, has already received an award for his role in the Netflix film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom at this year’s Gotham Awards, but we expect to see more. 

Lainey said she hopes to see Boseman receive two nominations for each ceremony this year, one in the Best Actor category and another in the Best Supporting Actor category for his work in Da 5 Bloods.

“I mean, of course, given that these are his final performances, you have that sentimental push, that’s always going to happen,” Rad added. “These are two very different performances. These are performances that hit very different notes.”

Rad continued, “You look at that supporting performance in Da 5 Bloods and it just felt like the right farewell to chadwick boseman, because he is playing a fallen soldier, who is remembered for how much he inspired these young Black men, in a moment.” He said that Boseman’s character was looked at as a leader and, “in a lot of ways, reflects how we felt about Chadwick Boseman.”

“When you see Chadwick Boseman in this movie, basking in golden light, giving us his final farewell, that hits! that really hits! so how could we not want to reward that performance? And then on the other hand, you have the lead performance in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom which is just.... such an incredible out-there performance,” he added. Rad and Lainey both agreed that Boseman has a “strong shot” at being nominated in both categories.

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Riz Ahmed has the Best Actor momentum

Riz Ahmed could gain his spot in the Best Actor category – he has all the momentum for Sound of Metal. He won the Best Actor Gotham Award for playing a drummer in the film. 

Rad said that Ahmed "is currently dominating the conversation!" He continued, "His performance in Sound of Metal — it's so big, it's so major, and it's also so subtle. He plays a recovering addict who is losing his hearing, which hits so much harder because he's also a musician, and the performance he gives, and way that movie supports his performance — that's a movie that is built around a performance and it creates a very immersive experience, so that is a show even unto itself." 

Lainey agreed with Rad, adding, "You're right, and I wonder if Riz Ahmed's path to the Oscars could be like somebody like Rami Malek, right? Who was 'TV' and went from TV to make that explosion into film! So the precedent is definitely there."

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