The 96th Oscars event airs this Sunday with thousands tuning in to watch the live event. With anticipation of which nominees will win their categories, what performances will be featured and the iconic acceptance speeches. The show will feature the very best in the film industry. Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s Academy Awards.
When & Where?
The 2024 Oscars will take place on Sunday, March 10th at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in LA. The ceremony will be televised live worldwide and run approximately three and a half hours. It will start one hour earlier than usual at 7 pm E.T. with a pre-show at 6:30 pm E.T. You can tune in live on ABC and ITV, along with streaming services Hulu Live, YouTubeTV and AT&T TV. The change in broadcasting time comes as a decision made to ensure viewers can stay for the entire duration and still get up for work the following morning.
Who’s going to present?
The invite-only event hosts only the most prestigious in its field. Hosting the event this year is late-night host and comedian, Jimmy Kimmel. Returning for his second consecutive year and fourth time after hosting the ceremony back in 2017 and 2018. ‘The Oscars Red Carpet’ preshow is set to be hosted by third-time host and actress Vanessa Hudgens along with actress and firstimer Julianne Hough.
The tradition of winners returning to present and hand out the top awards includes last year’s Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Fraser, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Along with Al Pacino, Zendaya, Mathew McConaughey, Dwayne Johnson and Nicholas Cage amongst many others.
The Performances
All the original song nominees will perform, this includes the iconic Barbie hit “I’m Just Ken”. Meaning Ryan Gosling will perform with Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt to the anticipation of fans. The power balled recently became a Grammy nominee alongside another ‘Barbie’ track, “What Was I Made For” by Billie Eilish and Finneas. Which consequently won the Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media. Other songs include, “It Never Went Away” from ‘American Symphony’, “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin Hot’ and “Wahzhazhe” from ‘Killers of the Flower Moon.’
The Nominations
In January, the academy announced the 2024 nominations, with this year’s Best Picture lineup marking the third in a row to consist of an even 10 films. With summer standouts ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ amongst ‘Poor Things’, ‘The Zone of Interest’, ‘Past Lives’, ‘American Fiction’, ‘Anatomy of a Fall’, ‘The Holdovers’. ‘Maestro’ and ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’.
There are 200 nominees this year. You can find the list of all nominations and categories, from Best Director to Best Picture, featured here. Whilst ‘Barbie’ received 8 Oscar nominations, many feel that director Greta Gerwig and actress Margot Robbie were snubbed for Best Director and Best Actress category nominations. This comes after Barbie failed to win Best Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes. Instead, taking home the newly invented award for cinematic box office achievement, in other words, an award for being popular and profitable.
Has anything changed?
This year’s Oscars will be the first to operate under new diversity rules. The rules state that pictures running for Best Picture must include at least 30% of actors from at least two underrepresented groups. So, sexuality, race, ethnicity, women and disability should all be more represented. It’ll also mark the first time two openly LGBTQ+ actors have been nominated for playing gay characters; Colman Domingo in ‘Rustin’ and two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster in ‘Nyad’.
Many categories this year include at least one person from an underrepresented group, with nearly a third of nominees being women. However, the only woman nominated for best director is Justine Triet for ‘Anatomy of a Fall’. With only eight women in history ever being nominated for the category.
After Andrea Risborough’s campaign controversy last year that saw a nomination for the star. AMPAS rules now officially recognise private events and gatherings of members. Which saw Risborough’s film ‘To Leslie’ reach a large number of industry insiders who were Oscar voters. Among the changes are clarifications on such screenings not being recognised as ‘For Your Consideration’ events, which are official ways for campaigns to try and reach voters.
Beginning in 2026 reports state that the Oscars will include an award for casting, recognising an integral part of filmmaking. Similarly, following suit from the British Film and TV Academy which added a casting award in 2020.
Run time debate:
The Oscars show has seemingly increased its run time each year since its inception back in 1929. With its attendance of 270 people – now over 3,400. A big contention amongst viewers over the years is the duration of the ceremony. According to Gold Derby predictions, the best picture nominees will have an “average running time of 138 minutes, which is 12 minutes higher than the category’s all-time mean.” While 10 years ago the Best Picture nominees were 125 minutes, in 1929 the whole show was 15 minutes.
Influencer Controversy:
The People’s Choice Awards recently received some controversy around inviting influencers, after Billie Eilish was heard saying “There’s some like Tik Tokers over there…we don’t need it.” Sparking conversation as to whether these prestigious award shows are getting less exclusive.
Many voiced their opinions for both sides of the argument, with some saying influencers spark buzz around events for younger generations. While it’s unknown how many will attend the Oscars, the 2022 event saw the academy teaming with Meta to create behind-the-scenes posts.
