Why is the Oscars 2023 carpet champagne and not red?

By Daphne ClaranceOver the years, though a lot has changed about the Oscars, one thing has remained constantthe red carpet. At least for the last six decades. The hues of the carpet have been different shades of red, but this year, the organisers rolled out a champagne-coloured carpet.

At the carpet unrolling ceremony, host Jimmy Kimmel joked, “I think the decision to go with a champagne carpet rather than a red carpet shows how confident we are that no blood will be shed.”

The champagne carpet was unpooled on Wednesday outside the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California in a special ceremony. The decision to change the colour from red to champagne came from creative consultants Lisa Love and Raul Avila (creative director for the Met Gala).

This is the first time since 1961 that the famous Oscars red carpet is not red but champagne instead. But this is only one of the many big changes that have been witnessed this year.

According to the Associated Press, Lisa Love felt there was a disconnect between the elegant black tie dress code and the fact that it was mid-afternoon when people arrived at the event. With a covered carpet, she could change that.

“We chose this beautiful sienna, saffron colour that evokes the sunset, because this is the sunset before the golden hour,” she told the news agency. The iconic Oscars red carpet dates back to 1961 when the 33rd Academy Awards were held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and became the first televised ceremony. That was the time when the glorious red carpet was rolled out.

However, viewers were only able to see the red carpet in 1966, when Oscars was first broadcasted in colour.

What is the colour of the carpet then? Lisa Love said that “champagne” and “sand” are apt colour descriptions.

Jamie Lee Curtis, who won the best supporting acress award for her film Everything Everywhere All at Once, joked about the carpet on Twitter and wrote, “Apparently, at the Oscars, their carpet is going to match my drapes.”

At the 95th Academy Awards, the Naatu Naatu song from SS Rajamouli’s RRR became the first Indian film song to win an Oscar in the best original song category. Guneet Monga’s The Elephant Whisperers also won in the best documentary short film category.