Despite weather predictions that included the possibility of snowfall on the famous Hollywood sign, the red carpet arrivals for the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday, February 27, 2011, turned out to be a sunny affair. Among the first “celebrities” on the carpet were the young members of the PS22 chorus, flown in from New York especially for the show to perform “Over the Rainbow” as the closing musical number. The excited fifth-grade singers basked in the cheers that surrounded them, a moment they had been eagerly awaiting since Oscar show co-host Anne Hathaway showed up in person at their December holiday performance on Staten Island to deliver the invitation to Hollywood.
From that point forward, the arrivals area was a whirlwind of flashing cameras and cheerful interviews as attendees made their way along the red carpet, stretched down Hollywood Boulevard itself.
Bleachers filled with screaming fans heralded the arrival of each guest (with the youngest fans offering especially roaring approval for presenter JustinTimberlake) as they were officially greeted by Dave Karger, the Entertainment Weekly senior writer previously featured on this year’s “Road to the Oscars” series on Oscar.com. This was Karger’s first year as greeter, a position previously held by such entertainment journalism legends as Army Archerd and Robert Osborne.
In addition to the year’s nominees, other cast and crew members from the top-honored movies and the ceremony’s talented array of presenters graced the arrivals area. Several celebrity couples walked the carpet, including two of the year’s Best Actress nominees (who were also presenters), Annette Bening and Nicole Kidman, with their respective spouses, Warren Beatty and Keith Urban.
Many of the nominated films this year were based on true stories, and some of the real-life subjects attended the show after posing and chatting on the red carpet. These included Aron Ralston, whose plight was depicted in “127 Hours,” and Micky Ward, the professional boxer whose life formed the basis for “The Fighter.” In addition, many of the feature and short documentary nominees brought as their guests the subjects of such films as “Gasland,” “Restrepo” and “Killing in the Name.”
Karger also enjoyed some banter time with this year’s performers of the Best Song nominees, including Mandy Moore and her duet partner, Zachery Levi, who cracked up the crowd when he described performing with Moore onstage as “a dream dipped in chocolate and peanut butter.”
