On Hollywood’s biggest night out, the Oscars, I in grand pandemic fashion stayed in! And like hundreds of other hand-selected journalists covering the 93rd Academy Awards, I wasn’t alone.
The Oscars were in person this year for celebrities and a few select outlets, but most on-camera journalists like me, accustomed to interviewing the celebrities on the other side of the red carpet rope, conducted our interviews on a large Zoom call with the Oscar winners after they received their award. I was beyond elated to be there, even if covering the Oscars red carpet was virtual this year! It’s not easy to get press credentials to one of the most important entertainment functions of the year. So, I counted my blessings as Nomadland’s Chloé Zhao (the first woman of color to win an Oscar for directing), Emerald Fennell (the cool woman she is, single-handedly accepted her Original Screenplay Oscar while pregnant, for Promising Young Woman, which she filmed also while pregnant), Supporting Actor Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya (who paid homage to Black Panther Fred Hampton while reminder our audiences that there’s still a lot of work to be done in regards to racial equality in the United States), Hair stylists Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson who became the first Black winners for the Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar, and many others walked onto the step-and-repeat on my Zoom speaker view!
The ABC affiliate I on-camera report for, gave me the privilege of leading our entire 93rd Oscars coverage over the weekend. Our Oscars content began with my one-on-one Zoom interview with twelve-time Oscar nominee, Diane Warren (who I have been a fan of forever—you’ve probably heard the genius tracks she’s whipped up like Because You Loved Me, I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing, Un-Break My Heart and hundreds more). My colleague, Bayan Wang during our live banter, asked me to sing my favorite Diane Warren song and there I was, just hoping that I honored her gorgeous composition.
Part two of my 2020 Oscars coverage: a recap of the most memorable and crucial moments of the night. Now you may be asking, Kristin how were you able to recap the Oscars red carpet and ceremony while simultaneously staying on this Zoom call for six hours straight as winners trickled onto the virtual step-and-repeat during the show? Let me tell ya, it wasn’t easy to monitor two feeds at once for six hours. Sometimes Oscars winners talked while I was on mute and listened to and watched the Oscars ceremony on my laptop. Between their interview answers, I tried to selectively listen to the Oscars ceremony and make time-stamps on things I thought were useful to send to our station’s editor to send me footage for my video recap. The fact that I was able to get this all turned around for our 11 p.m. newscast and go live on-time was the result of two things: an amazing team and the grace of God.
Suffice to say, I made it to my live hit of our post-Oscars coverage. And for the first time since I joined my station, I got to report from our studio! It felt like just the right occasion for it too! You can find my coverage here.
Now the moment you’ve all probably been waiting for, since this is a fashion blog: what I wore to the virtual Oscars red carpet! Ever since I entered professional life, I’ve started to favor sleeker cuts with vintage trimmings rather than clothing that’s too fussy and frilly. Every so often, perhaps I’ll add on the extra icing and decals. This tuxedo-inspired number just screamed “I’d like to thank the Academy,” circa 1940s, to me. It was a nod to Old Hollywood glamour in a new age version of one of Hollywood’s most iconic award ceremonies.
What was your favorite moment from Oscar night? Comment down below!
Keeping it Krischic,
Kristin Vartan
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Keeping it Krischic 