Will Omicron wreak havoc at the Oscars?
Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 3:00PM 
Early January is typically a big time for Oscar campaigns but the Omicron variant has events scrambling, postponing or cancelling. (Rumor is that an announcement of Sundance going all virtual is imminent.)
Patrick Ryan collected some thoughts about all of this from pundits (including yours truly) at USA Today so check it out. One of the things I mentioned to him that wasn't included since the article is more about what's happening rightnow is that I'm hopeful that the Oscars themselves will go on as planned. When they first announced the date for the tail end of March, it felt overly cautious. Though it seems like a million years ago the Parasite Oscars were in early February! Turns out the Academy was savvy not to try to jump back to previous timetables immediately! That extra padding they built in this time should help avoid another delay.
Oscars (21), Punditry
Reader Comments (10)
Just read about Flurona, the co-infection. Mommy, make it stop!
Sundance has indeed pulled the plug on the Park City event, going virtual for the second year in a row.
I think it's still too early to tell about the Oscars. The stuff I'm reading suggests that the current wave will peak in late January (poor Sundance) and that things might, essentially, be back to last summer's manageable levels by March. I'm guessing the Academy is indeed really glad they've scheduled the show for late March and not late February this year.
Congratz on getting your expert quotation in USA TODAY, Nathanial.
Things are precarious right now but I think and i'm no expert things will be looking better by Mid March not back to normal but less worrying,fingers crossed people.
Good article, though it drives me a bit crazy that Oscar pundits talk about the Academy following critics' picks like it's a good thing. Critical opinion is not the be-all-end-all arbiter of quality.
@Tony Ruggio I think the point was that it's better for voters to listen to critics than to be swayed by stars schmoozing with them at meet-n-greet events. If those are the two operative forces, I'll take critics reviews over, say, Dakota Johnson laying on the charm and taking a photo with you at an Academy screening.
At this point, there's no reason for not having the full blown Oscars, if we follow some guidelines...
Access only, to full vaccinated persons + antigen in the last 24 hours or PCR in the last 72, like most countries do. Omicron seems to be almost inofensive to vaccinated persons, and I have to just love how Australia is deporting Djokovic for believing he is above the rules... yes for sure there will be last minute absences, but the Oscar night would be as normal as it could be.
The March date will be a life-saver but I don't expect a full Kodak theatre this year.
I do think the Oscar ceremony being in March will save it, but they’ll undoubtedly still enforce a vaccination requirement. So with that said, I expect Belfast’s Original Song chances are shot given what a vocal anti-vaxxer and general covidiot Van Morrison is. No live performance of that song, at the very least.
I imagine they will do a similar thing to last year's ceremony and host it in an 'outdoor tent' and ask for full vaccination status / negative tests on the day for all in person attendees. the peak of this wave is by all accounts going to be done by end of this month (fingers crossed).
They would probably love to have pre recorded or live segments with Beyoncé, Billie and Ariana performing for the ratings they care so much about.