Here’s how the Oscars red carpet will change for this year’s controversial TV plan

LOS ANGELES — With the Academy Awards just days away, A-listers and nominees throughout Hollywood are already practicing speeches, prepping red carpet sound bites and being fitted for gowns, tuxes and jewels in anticipation of what everyone hopes will be a return to a relatively normal in-person Oscars on Sunday.

But this year, the film academy has thrown a wrench into preparations for the big night: They want everyone to get there early. And in a town that practically invented the concept of “fashionably late,” that’s no small thing.

Last month, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences sparked controversy when it announced that, in an effort to shave time from the often bloated show, eight below-the-line and short-film awards would be handed out in the hour before the live Oscar telecast begins, with clips from the presentations to be edited later into the broadcast.