After a one-year absence, the 95th annual Academy Awards will be held in the Dolby Theatre at the Ovation Hollywood on Sunday. Jimmy Kimmel will emcee the event for the third time.
Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy, has emphasized the significance of having a host who is adept at handling live television and an audience. Jimmy Kimmel has this ability. He is witty, courteous, and doesn’t have any jagged edges.
In the first event since Will Smith’s controversial slap of Chris Rock onstage at last year’s awards show, all eyes will be on the late-night host.On how he would respond to another potential slap, Kimmel told The Hollywood Reporter that he was prepared: “If someone comes up on stage and smacks me? Yeah, I assess them, and if I’m larger than they are, I humiliate them on television. If it’s the Rock, I flee.
This year, all 23 categories will be presented live, in contrast to last year, when eight categories — documentary short, film editing, makeup/hairstyling, original score, production design, animated short, live-action short, and sound — were controversially pre-taped, drawing criticism from the entertainment industry.
The ceremony will be broadcast on ABC beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET and will be accessible to viewers through their cable providers on ABC.com and the ABC app. Moreover, Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, AT&T TV, and FuboTV, many of which have free trials, will broadcast the show.
The Oscars will be televised in more than 200 countries for individuals who want to watch the ceremony but are not in the United States. A helpful directory has been created by THR, and the Academy also has a comprehensive list of regional networks.
The official preshow, called Countdown to the Oscars, will be hosted by Vanessa Hudgens, Lilly Singh, and Ashley Graham. Hudgens will be anchoring the 3:30 p.m. preshow for the second year in a row.In addition to Kimmel, several of Hollywood’s A-listers will present this year’s Oscars to the winners. Unlike past years, however, not every acting winner from the previous year will be onstage to hand out the best acting and supporting acting trophies. With Smith banned from the Oscars for 10 years after slapping Rock onstage last year and resigning from the Academy, the King Richard winner will not attend the 95th annual awards show. It has not been announced who will be presenting which awards to whom on Sunday.
This year’s presenters include Florence Pugh, Andrew Garfield, Halle Bailey, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Banks, Jessica Chastain, John Cho, Hugh Grant, Danai Gurira, Salma Hayek Pinault, Nicole Kidman, Sigourney Weaver, Riz Ahmed, Emily Blunt, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Troy Kotsur, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, Janelle Monáe, Deepika Padukone, Questlove, Zoe Saldaña and Donnie Yen.
