By Elliott Ingram

On Tuesday, February 8th, 2022, the nominations for the 94th Academy Awards
will be announced by comedians Tracie Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan starting the
month-long campaign for movies and actors to secure a treasured, golden, Oscar.
Although the awards season has begun, the Golden Globes taking place last month,
and the Critics Choice expected to be in the coming weeks, the Academy Awards have
always been the most prestigious, highly anticipated, and competitive awards ceremony
out of the circuit.

After last year’s ceremony pulling in a record low amount of viewers, this year’s
selection of films has arguably been more loved by fans and hailed by critics. In fact,
one film anticipated to be nominated for Best Picture and many more categories, Dune,
was one of the biggest hits of the year making 398.8 million dollars at the box office.
Another film expected to score a high number of nominations, Belfast, a film following a
family living in the turmoil of 1960s Ireland may not have been the most popular in
cinemas across the world but is among the favourites to take home the most prized
award of the evening, Best Picture. Its top competitors, The Power of the Dog, West
Side Story, and CODA stand in their way in taking home the golden statue. All very
different movies in different genres, the biggest hit among fans, West Side Story, is not
only anticipated to take home Best Picture but also almost certain to grab Best
Supporting Actress for Ariana De Bose’s role as Anita, a role that also gave Rita
Morano an Oscar for the same category.

In other categories, Andrew Garfield, Will Smith, and Denzel Washington are
expected to face off for Best Actor, as well Billie Eilish to challenge Beyoncé for Best
Original Song. With this lineup, the ceremony is set to return to the Dolby Theatre with a
full crowd, a celebrity host, and an expectancy of an increase in viewers. In terms of this
so-called celebrity host, nothing yet has been confirmed but four names have been
rumoured by different insiders. The first, Tom Holland, the star of Spider-Man: No Way
Home, the biggest box office hit of the year and fourth of all time could be suiting up to
host this year’s ceremony. The other options, Selena Gomez, Martin Short, and Steve
Martin, all-stars of their new show Only Murders In The Building are also rumoured to be
the MCs for the night bringing their comedy to the Hollywood stage. Expected to be in a
few weeks the Academy will confirm their selection for the host for the first time in four
years.

However, before any red carpets are rolled out and hosts are announced, the
nominations have to be said first. So, at the crack of dawn next Tuesday, all of
Hollywood will be awake, nervous, and excited to see if their name is on the Academy
Awards 94th guest list. Unclear how exactly the ceremony will be conducted in relation
to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, the Academy has promised a return to the normal ceremony and red carpet, permitting fans to stand outside for hours hoping to get a
glimpse of their favourite movie stars. And, while this year feels like there is little room for
surprises in the nominations, in previous years the Oscars have been known for
“snubbing” certain actors and nominating some unexpected ones, making this year all
the more exciting. Regardless of who ends up nominated, this year’s Oscars is officially
a go and hopefully, nothing will stand in their way.