"Back to Normal!"

What’s going on behind the scenes at the Oscars!

The 96th Academy Awards will take place in Hollywood's Dolby Theatre on the Walk of Fame on Sunday night.(Bild: Carlos Barria / REUTERS / picturedesk.com)

After years of the pandemic and the strike by the actors' and screenwriters' unions, the motto of the 96th Academy Awards 2024 is "Back to Normal!" The film metropolis finally wants to show its best side again, with its old glitz and glamor. Our correspondent and Oscar insider Christian Thiele reveals the most interesting (short) stories in the run-up to the gala:

He already has five of the Golden Boys at home. With his 54th nomination for Best Original Score, John Williams continues to immortalize himself in the record books. At 92, he is the oldest person ever to be nominated for an Oscar.

"Wheel of Fortune"
This time he is in the running for "Indiana Jones and the Wheel of Fortune". Its lead actor Harrison Ford once growled that he can't go anywhere in the world without hearing the famous Indiana Jones fanfare-"even during my last colonoscopy, it was playing over the loudspeakers in the operating room!" Williams is modesty personified. What the 54 nominations, the most after Walt Disney, mean to him: "That I've already lost 49 times."

Cooper goes to the afterparty with Hadid
Their relationship has been under the radar since October. But Bradley Cooper wants to use the Oscars to make his love for Gigi Hadid public. However, anyone expecting to see the supermodel on the red carpet alongside the "Maestro" star, who has been nominated for "Best Actor in a Leading Role", will be disappointed.

Because Bradley's companion on Hollywood's biggest night is traditionally Gloria Campano - his mom. Instead, Hadid (28) is to accompany her boyfriend to the Vanity Fair after-party after the gala.

Bradley Cooper and girlfriend Gigi Hadid shortly before the Oscars(Bild: www.PPS.at)

This is what happens to the envelopes
"And the winner is..." What actually happens to the envelopes with the winners' names on them? Designer Marc Friedland has been designing three envelopes with cards for each category since 2011. The two replacement envelopes are recycled afterwards, and the winners at the Academy Awards get to keep the one they opened on stage.

Catherine Zeta-Jones, for example, has her winning envelope (for "Chicago") in a display case next to her Oscar at home. And anyone who comes to Steven Spielberg's office will see the three framed winners' envelopes hanging behind the director's desk.

Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty had the wrong envelope in their hands.(Bild: APA/ Kevin Winter/Getty Images/AFP )

Strict rules since 1951
Anyone who wins an Oscar has limited rights to the Golden Boy. This is because the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) owns the unlimited copyright to the name and likeness of its golden boy. Since 1951, there have been strict rules that all nominees must sign in advance.

Selling an Oscar is strictly forbidden. Anyone who still wants to get rid of it must first offer their statuette to the Film Academy for the symbolic price of 1 dollar. Anyone who violates this rule is sued. Just like the nephew of Joseph Wright (winner in 1942 in the Art Direction category), who auctioned off his uncle's Oscar for 79,200 dollars in 2015. The AMPAS lawyers forced him to buy the statue back for many times that amount.

Legal betting on the awards
Betting on the various Oscar winners is a tradition, especially in America. But until 2019, this was only possible among colleagues, friends or family. Six US states (New Jersey, Massachusetts, Michigan, Colorado, Arizona and Kansas) now allow legal betting on the Academy Awards. Gamblers can also bet on other things related to the show besides winners-such as longest and shortest winner's speech or how many minutes the 3 ½-hour show will run over. Good luck!