Well, friends, it’s Oscar bingo time again! (Link is below.) This, my 13th year of making Oscar bingo, is a weird one. What kind of ceremony this 2021 pandemic edition will be, I have no clue.
The 2021 Oscars are on Sunday, April 25 at 8 PM EST, airing on ABC. There will be no featured host. There will be a small live audience of nominees and guests at LA’s Union Station, with some parts of the show taking place at the Dolby Theatre. A letter sent to nominees from the producers requested attire that is “a fusion of Inspirational and Aspirational.” I hope that is interpreted as fancy dresses and not t-shirts with Steve Jobs quotes.
Actors, you have one job to do as long as this ceremony is televised. That job is to transport me to fantasy land. Yes, there’s dissonance in honoring stories about the sad plight of humankind while dripping in diamonds, but I choose to overlook it. The Golden Globes were awkwardly fun and I learned that Jeff Daniels has a lot of doors in his house. But this is the Oscars. I want sparkles.
Jason Sudeikis and Jeff Daniels at the Golden Globes looking endearingly normal. Photos: NBC
Annual fallibility disclaimer
I have no idea how Steven Soderbergh and company are going to run this ceremony. So we might get a bingo 10 minutes into the show, or maybe it will be impossible for the first time ever (though I doubt it. I aim to create winners). At a minimum, playing bingo makes watching the Oscars more fun, even if you’re having a Zoom party with friends instead of your usual black tie affair.
Yes, to my delight, some people get formal. I’ve received photos of dressed-up groups who use my game. One party has everyone bring $5 to “purchase” a bingo card. The money is then divided out among the first winner, second, and third. Brilliant!
One of my favorite emails last year was from M, who said, “I have been playing since 2014. Every year I have an Oscar party with my grandma and this year she’s 97 years old.”
I, for one, will be wearing sequin pants this year as an act of Covid defiance. From my couch.
Download the free bingo game
Download the Oscar bingo file and print out the number of pages you need. Print on colored paper that matches your Oscar party theme if you like. The first person to get five squares in a row (diagonal is fair game) wins. There are 20 different sheets:
Oscar bingo 2021 PDF
Get a matching ballot
If you need a matching ballot to mark your predictions before the show, there’s one in my Etsy shop right here. (Proceeds help cover the Mailchimp fees for sending out the bingo game to 2,000 people every year.)
Get next year’s Oscar bingo game
To join the Oscar bingo mailing list for future years so you don’t miss out, sign up here. A link to next year’s file will be emailed to you a week or two before the ceremony. If you’re already on the mailing list, no need to sign up again. I’ve already got you.
Enjoy!
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