The Academy Returns to the In-Person Oscar Nomination Announcement: Five Memorable Live Moments

More PowerPoint presentations for Oscar nominations - big screens with photos of actors, directors and movies are back to celebrate the best of 2022.

The Academy has announced that it will return to an in-person live event from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in January 24.

While the unholy morning hour between 5 and 6 a.m. P.T. is still in effect (l primetime nomination special is here to be taken), it marks one of the low hanging fruits the Academy had in front of them to secure an easy win.

As many remember from the 80s, 90s and Academy announcements, a celebrity and whoever the current Academy President was in place at the time would take the stage, with five small screens surrounding them. And then, in a room full of nervous publicists, exhausted journalists and other industry figures, the reveal of the main categories would bring gasps and groans from the crowd.

For those of us watching at home, this is one of the traditions that made many award-winning fans (myself included) fall in love with the Academy and the celebration of cinema.

As technology and industry have changed, the five small tube televisions have been retired and graduated on a large screen with still images and film splits. In 2015, the Academy made its most respected gesture by announcing the 24 categories. From best picture producers to directors of the animated short, artisans could now see their names and movie titles on screen and read by Hollywood's leading personalities. It would be split into two parts, as not all TV networks would air the crafter category playback (but they definitely should). This process would bring in JJ Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron the first year, then Guillermo del Toro and Ang Lee the second.

Room noises remain the most memorable moments and highlights of awards season, the next at the actual ceremony. However, in 2019 they started to move away from the big show and lean into simple text to do the work for them. Excitement was minimal in this format, missing the shocks and reactions with announcers in a smaller room format and missing the President of AMPAS.

To celebrate the format's return in person, Variety ranks the five most memorable morning announcements that elicited the best reactions from inside the room.

Honourable mention: Adrien Brody jokingly tries to kiss Frank Pierson.

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