And the award for longest awards season goes to … 2025! We’ve already had our share of delays, controversies, and shake-ups, but the Academy Awards are finally almost here. Hopefully, it’ll all be worth it. Conan O’Brien is hosting the Oscars for the first time, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is tapping a number of past winners to present — and has teased some sort of “unexpected” surprise. Emilia Pérez is the front-runner with 13 nominations, but don’t expect to hear any songs live, with Best Original Song performances cut this year. We will get to cap off awards season with a Wicked performance, though, and a return from embattled nominee Karla Sofía Gascón. Below, everything we know about the 97th Academy Awards, coming to you live on March 2.
Where can I watch the Oscars?
As usual, the show will air on ABC from the Dolby Theater in L.A. But for the first time this year, the Oscars will also stream live on Hulu — no next-day shenanigans or live TV subscription needed. The ceremony begins at 7 p.m. ET on March 2, with the red carpet airing 30 minutes before. You know where to find us.
Who is presenting?
The latest additions to the presenter lineup are Miley Cyrus and Miles Teller. The Academy announced that the duo are this year’s final presenters in February 28 Instagram post that also teased, “Or are they? In the caption, the Academy hinted that viewers should “expect the unexpected.” Hmm, who could be surprising enough to keep hidden?
The Academy previously announced another round of presenters on February 26: Dave Bautista, Harrison Ford, Gal Gadot, Andrew Garfield, Samuel L. Jackson, Margaret Qualley, Alba Rohrwacher, Zoe Saldaña ,and Rachel Zegler. Joe Alwyn, of The Brutalist fame, is presenting alongside Sterling K. Brown, Willem Dafoe, Ana de Armas, Lily-Rose Depp, Selena Gomez, Goldie Hawn, Connie Nielsen, Ben Stiller, and Oprah Winfrey. They join previously announced presenters Halle Berry, Penélope Cruz, Elle Fanning, Whoopi Goldberg, Scarlett Johansson, John Lithgow, Amy Poehler, June Squibb, and Bowen Yang.
Last year’s acting winners Cillian Murphy, Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr., and Da’Vine Joy Randolph will also be there. That means the Oscars are presumably returning to the tradition of the past year’s acting winners presenting this year’s opposite-gender awards after last year’s “Fab 5” presentations for the acting awards — in which five past winners of a category each introduced a nominee. The Academy previously said it would be using the Fab 5 format again, too, but according to Variety on February 4, it will be for Best Director and some craft awards.
They really got Conan O’Brien to host?
No joke. The beloved comedian is hosting the Oscars for the first time, taking the mic from 2023 and ’24 host Jimmy Kimmel. He comes fresh off winning the 2025 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, along with last year’s Max travel series Conan O’Brien Must Go. No word yet on Sona Movsesian’s involvement.
The “voice of God,” a.k.a. the announcer who gives fun facts like “This is Demi Moore’s first win on her first nomination,” will be the ever-imperious Nick Offerman.
Who is nominated?
Emilia Pérez leads the field with 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Feature, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress. The Brutalist and Wicked are close behind with ten apiece, though Wicked’s Jon M. Chu was snubbed for Best Director. The Best Picture nominees also include A Complete Unknown, Anora, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, I’m Still Here, Nickel Boys, and The Substance. For the first time in decades, all five Best Actress nominees are from Best Picture–nominated films, including Emilia Pérez’s Karla Sofía Gascón, who is also the first transgender actress to be nominated for an acting award. Former Succession brothers Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong are both up for Best Supporting Actor. Oh, and three of the films vying for Best Visual Effects feature monkeys — which is, oddly, one fewer than at the BAFTAs.
Who is performing?
Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, finally! The pair will take the stage for their first live Wicked performance since the film hit theaters last fall. The performance had been hotly anticipated since Puck reported it earlier in February, though it apparently took weeks to finalize — Erivo even shot it down at one point. But now the Academy has made it official. There’s no word on what song(s) Grande and Erivo will perform, but Puck had reported they’d be opening the show. And Grande won’t be the only pop star taking the stage; Blackpink’s Lisa, Doja Cat, and Raye are also set to perform — presumably their new single, “Born Again.”
One-time Oscar nominee Queen Latifah is also on the performers list. Latifah will be part of a tribute to Quincy Jones, per Variety. The Grammys also did a big salute to Q, including a performance by Erivo of “Fly Me to the Moon,” arranged for Frank Sinatra by Jones.
The Academy confirmed in January that the show would not feature any performances of Best Original Song nominees. Instead, the CEO and president told members, “We will celebrate their artistry through personal reflections from the teams who bring these songs to life.” Sorry, we still have no idea what that means.
Will Karla Sofía Gascón be there?
Yes — because we can’t truly reach the denouement of this awards season without one of its main characters present. Variety reported Gascón will attend the Oscars after missing most of the precursor awards in the fallout from her resurfaced racist social-media posts. And Netflix will reportedly pay for her expenses after declining to pay for those previous appearances. As a Best Actress nominee, Gascón was always invited to the ceremony, even as Netflix removed her from Emilia Pérez’s for-your-consideration advertising. But per Variety, it’s unclear how prevalent she’ll be at the ceremony, including whether she’ll walk the red carpet or sit with her fellow Emilia Pérez nominees, some of whom have distanced themselves from her.