Host Jimmy Kimmel, who will host the Oscars for the third time on Sunday, has not forgotten Will Smith's slap in the face against Chris Rock at last year's awards ceremony. "The fact that a champagne-colored carpet is now being rolled out instead of a red carpet shows our confidence that no blood will flow this year," he alluded to the "Oscar Slap" on Wednesday at the traditional carpet ceremony in front of the Dolby Theatre.
An explanation why the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) had a bright carpet rolled out on Hollywood Boulevard this year, remained the 55-year-old New Yorker but guilty.
The AMPAS co-producer Joe Lewis explained the first color change in more than 60 years later with the Academy's attempt to give the Oscars, which are decried as dusty, a fresh face.
Last year, almost 17 million Americans watched "Hollywood's biggest night" on screen. Ten years earlier, it had been about 40 million.