The renowned red carpet will not be present at the Oscars for the first time since 1961. This is due to the Academy Awards choosing to have celebrities walk down a carpet that has a champagne color this year. The organizers wanted a “soothing” tone for the occasion, so they decided to break the 62-year tradition.
Creative consultants Lisa Love, a longtime contributor to Vogue, and Ral Vila, Creative Director for the glamourous Met Gala in New York, made the choice. The former remarked that apart from “champagne,” the carpet’s hue can also be described as “sand.”
“We chose this beautiful sienna, a saffron color that evokes the sunset because this is the sunset before the golden hour,” said Love. They consequently made a lighter color choice, which Bill Kramer, the CEO of the Academy, accepted.
Jimmy Kimmel, the 2023 Oscars host, broke more than six decades of the convention on Thursday by revealing the red carpet’s new color. “I think the decision to go with a champagne carpet rather than a red carpet shows just how confident we are that no blood will be shed,” he joked.
The Oscars 2023 to skip red-color carpet for the first time in 62 years
Aside from the champagne-colored carpet, the 95th Academy Awards will have an overhead orange tent to further accentuate the “evening event” feel, while also shielding the celebrities and cameras from the elements. The organizers chose the tone because they wanted something neutral that wouldn’t contrast with the tent’s color.
The change at the 95th Academy Awards comes in the wake of the trend of colorful carpets at prior award shows and galas like the Golden Globes and Emmys. A purple carpet was there at the Los Angeles premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever too. Red is still a popular color for events, present at the Oscars, Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, and Golden Globes. However, others like black, grey, and white, have been gaining a lot of ground as well.
What are the Oscars? History of the Academic Awards explored
The Academy Awards, also referred to as the Oscars, are honors given to film producers, cast, and crew from all over the world for artistic and technical excellence. These are often regarded as the most prestigious and significant in the worldwide entertainment industry.
Each year, the Oscars are given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize great achievements in cinema, particularly those that were produced in the United States. The winners of each category receive a replica of the “Academy Award of Merit,” more popularly known as the “Oscar,” a golden statuette awarded as a trophy. George Stanley, a sculptor from Los Angeles, created the figurine, which features a knight depicted in the Art Deco style.
In 1929, Douglas Fairbanks hosted a special luncheon at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel where the first Academy Awards were presented. The Academy Awards ceremony was originally broadcast on radio in 1930 and on television for the first time in 1953. It is now being broadcast live on television and is the oldest entertainment awards event in history.
The Academy Awards, the oldest of the four major annual American entertainment honors, served as the model for the Grammy Awards for music, the Tony Awards for theatre, and the Emmy Awards for television. There have been 3140 Oscars awarded since the ceremony’s inception in 1929.
The Academy Awards presentation promises thrills and never-ending discussions over whether the nominated films truly deserve to win. Furthermore, before the awards are announced, all eyes are on the red carpet, where globally-renown celebrities are dressed for the night. Millions of viewers tune in to hear what the nominated stars have to say prior to the ceremony and to enjoy all the opulent attire on display.
Origin of the red carpet
The red carpet has a long history that dates back to ancient Greece. Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife, spread out a red carpet for the king after he returned home victorious from the Trojan War in Agamemnon, a Greek tragedy by playwright Aeschylus, written in 458 BC. Yet both the woman and the husband have discovered love outside of their marriage, which has tragic results.
Clytemnestra commands Agamemnon to stroll the “crimson carpet” in the drama. She is actually courting his demise by using a color that was reserved for the gods and not intended for mankind at the time. Servants laid out a red trail in front of the house that he never anticipated seeing, where justice would lead him.
The significance of the color comes from the fact that only the affluent in medieval Europe could afford it, with scarlet being one of the priciest dyes. In numerous Renaissance artworks, red carpets are utilized as a symbol of grandeur and for deities. After the industrial revolution and the development of synthetic dyes, red became much more widely available, yet the notion that it is a luxury good endures to this day.
Why the champagne color?
The choice to use champagne was made by creative consultants Ral vila, the creative director for the glamourous Met Gala in New York, and Lisa Love, a longtime contributor to Vogue.
