Published 14:54 IST, March 3rd 2024

Oscars 2024: Performances To Frontrunners, All You Need To Know About 96th Academy Awards

The Oscars 2024 will be held Sunday, March 10, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony is set to begin at 7 p.m. EDT — one hour earlier than usual.

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Oscars 2024 | Image: X/Academy Awards
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After a winter barrage of award shows — the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the Grammys — the greatest of them all, the Academy Awards, are around the corner. The 96th Oscars may be a coronation for Oppenheimer, which comes in with a leading 13 nominations, though other films, including Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon and Poor Things are in the mix.

Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s show:

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When are the Oscars?

The Oscars will be held Sunday, March 10, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The ceremony is set to begin at 7 p.m. EDT — one hour earlier than usual — and will broadcast live on ABC. A preshow will begin at 6:30 p.m. EDT. This is your early reminder to set your clocks accordingly — it’s the first day of daylight saving time in the U.S.

Will there be any performances?

Yes, all the original song nominees will be performed on the show. That means Ryan Gosling will serenade everyone with Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt’s Barbie” power ballad I’m Just Ken and Billie Eilish will soulfully sing What Was I Made For, which she co-wrote with Finneas O’Connell. The other nominated songs include Diane Warren’s The Fire Inside, from Flamin’ Hot, to be performed by Becky G, Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson’s It Never Went Away from American Symphony, and Scott George’s Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People) from Killers of the Flower Moon.

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Who’s presenting at the Oscars?

Last year’s big acting winners are all coming back to present at the show (a tradition), including Brendan Fraser, Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Stars from all generations are expected to hand out awards, from Rita Moreno to Bad Bunny. Other celebrities set to grace the Dolby stage include Scarface co-stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino (likely not together), as well as Zendaya, Matthew McConaughey, Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Jennifer Lawrence, Kate McKinnon, John Mulaney, Catherine O’Hara, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Lange, Nicolas Cage, Mahershala Ali, Sam Rockwell, Lupita Nyong’o and Ramy Youssef.

Who’s hosting the Oscars?

Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted last year’s ceremony, will emcee for the fourth time. That ties him with fellow four-timers Whoopi Goldberg and Jack Lemmon, and leaves Kimmel trailing only Johnny Carson (five), Billy Crystal (nine) and Bob Hope (11) among repeat Oscar hosts. 

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Who are the favorites?

The 10 nominees for best picture are: American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Poor Things, and The Zone of Interest. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is the frontrunner. Nolan, the best director favorite, is also poised to win his first Oscar. The best actress category could be a nail-biter between Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) and Emma Stone (Poor Things). If Gladstone were to win, she would be the first Native American to win an Oscar. 

Best actor, too, could be a close contest between Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) and Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers). Both would be first-time winners. Giamatti’s co-star Da’Vine Joy Randolph is favored to win best supporting actress, while Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer) is expected to win best supporting actor. His closest competition is considered to be Ryan Gosling for Barbie. 

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Are there any changes to the Oscars this year?

Though recent Oscars have been marked by everything from slaps, envelope snafus and controversies over which awards are presented live during the telecast, this year’s show comes in with no big changes (besides starting an hour earlier). All of the awards are to be broadcast live (though honorary prizes remain separated in the earlier, untelevised Governors Awards ). The academy is adding a new award for best casting, but that trophy won’t be presented until the 2026 Oscars.

What else is there to look for?

Composer John Williams earned his record 49th nomination for a best score Oscar, for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, his 54th nod overall. Godzilla is going to the Oscars for the first time, with Godzilla Minus One notching a nomination for best visual effects. And also for the first time, two non-English language films are up for best picture: the German-language Auschwitz drama The Zone of Interest and the French courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall.

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14:54 IST, March 3rd 2024