Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

In perfect red pleats, US filmmaker, actor and author Eugene Lee Yang is making a statement in a huge, billowing skirt and matching fitted jacket.

He's here because he provides the voice for a heroic knight in Netflix's animated sci-fi comedy Nimona, which is up for best animated feature.

The actor is following in the footsteps of actor and singer Billy Porter, who has also famously worn a huge skirt to the Oscars.

Fantastic to see men bucking the trend!

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

She’s this year’s Oscars social media ambassador and red carpet correspondent, but Amelia Dimoldenberg is best known for her YouTube series Chicken Shop Date.

She started out by interviewing UK rap and grime stars in a chicken shop, but with millions of subscribers, she also now chats with mainstream celebrities over a box of fried food.

She’s flirtatious - it’s a date after all - but also blunt and playful, and doesn’t mind an awkward silence or two.

Some of her recent interviewees included Mark Ruffalo, Andrew Garfield, Paul Mescal, Jennifer Lawrence and even Cher.

Last year’s Golden Globes saw her go viral in a flirty red carpet interview with Garfield, resulting in lots of comments on social media about their fizzing chemistry.

No doubt the Oscars organisers are hoping she will create plenty of buzz this year, to help boost their ratings.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

We have Oscars royalty tonight with West Side Story star Rita Moreno on the red carpet. She's also an EGOT, having won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Tony and a Grammy.

She won best supporting actress for West Side Story in 1962, and looks dazzling as ever here, from her long gloves down to tip of her flowing dress.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Ellen DeGeneres/Twitter via Getty Images

Following on from our last post on memorable Oscars moments, in the same year, the show’s host, Ellen DeGeneres, took a selfie with several stars in the audience, including Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and Bradley Cooper.

It went on to set the record for the most retweets on Twitter at the time - more than two million.

Jumping forward to 2020, this was the year that Rebel Wilson and James Corden, famously pilloried Cats, the film they both appeared in, over its visual effects.

They appeared on stage at the Oscars in full costume, but with human hands.

Image source, Getty Images

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

We’re still casting our minds back to a decade ago, when John Travolta introduced Idina Menzel to sing Let It Go from Frozen, which won best original song.

For some reason he called her "Adele Dazeem", leaving people bemused to say the least… was it an autocue problem, had he forgotten her name? The actor later said: "I've been beating myself up all day. Then I thought... what would Idina Menzel say? She'd say, 'Let it go, let it go!'”

Menzel clearly has a sense of humour about it all - the following year, she introduced her "very dear friend” Travolta on the Oscars stage as "Glom Gazingo”.

She also recently wished Adele Dazeem a “Happy 10th Birthday” on TikTok. LOL.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Past Lives' Celine Song, up for best original screenplay and best film, said on the red carpet it was "the highest honour" to be nominated for an Oscar.

She is wearing black and white, opting for a jacket and skirt over a dress.

Image source, Getty Images

Dominic Sessa plays the truculent student who is unwillingly stuck at school over Christmas in The Holdovers.

He's also wearing traditional black and white with a particularly fine bow tie.

Scarlett Harris
Fashion critic

Image source, Getty Images

The Godzilla Minus One team erupting in cheers for their surprise nomination in Best Visual Effects was one of the high points of the contentious nomination season.

Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima keep the good times rolling on the red carpet, where they’re not only toting Godzilla figurines, but they’ve extended the theme to their heels, which are reptilian claws.

We love to see it!

Image source, Getty Images

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Reuters

Well, there are a fair few to choose from… who could forget Will Smith slapping Chris Rock on stage in 2022?

It was arguably the biggest talking point in the history of the Oscars. Rock made a joke about the Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved hairdo, a result of the hair loss condition alopecia. Smith struck Rock before returning to his seat, shouting: "Keep my wife's name out of your [expletive] mouth."

He went on to win best actor for King Richard, and apologised the Academy, his fellow nominees and later to Rock himself. Smith resigned from the Academy, which banned him from the Oscars gala and other Academy events for 10 years.

Image source, Reuters

But let’s also not forget envelopegate back in 2017. This was pretty shocking too, leaving the audience reeling when La La Land was accidently declared the best picture winner instead of Moonlight.

Gasps were heard at the ceremony, and I can confirm the clatter of computer keyboards was also pretty deafening, as journalists frantically rewrote their Oscars copy, while everyone wondered what on earth had just happened.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Mstyslav Chernov, who spent 20 days in war-torn Mariupol, Ukraine, in 2022 after the Russian invasion, is expected to win best documentary feature.

He has dressed in sombre black for the occasion, which is entirely fitting the subject matter of his film.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, EPA

Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel is a safe pair of hands when it comes to hosting the Oscars, and tonight will be his fourth time.

Kimmel took the helm in 2017 - the tumultuous year of envelopegate - and in 2018 before the Oscars went host-less for three years.

The awards were hosted in 2022 by Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall - when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage. Smith was subsequently banned from the Oscars gala and other Academy events for 10 years.

Last year saw a return to Kimmel hosting, and after this year’s announcement, he deadpanned: “I always dreamed of hosting the Oscars exactly four times.” He was described as “one of the all-time great Oscars hosts with his perfect blend of humanity and humour” by the show’s executive producer Raj Kapoor and executive producer Katy Mullan.

Last year the LA Times’ Robert Lloyd, external said he “did a fine job setting the tone for the evening”, while Hollywood Reporter’s Daniel Fienberg, external added: “I’ve grown to appreciate Kimmel’s professionalism in moving shows like this along - a professionalism that was lacking in our recent run of hostless telecasts.”

Kimmel, who famously gave a free jet ski to the Oscar winner who delivered the shortest speech in 2018, will no doubt be hoping that there are no slip-ups or slaps.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Grace Linn could be the oldest person to attend this year's ceremony at 101 - we'll have to wait and see who else turns up!

She's the inspiration and one of the stars in The ABCs of Book Banning, which is up for best documentary short.

She created the quilt that was displayed as part of her vocal protest against book bans in schools and libraries across America.

Her fabulous outfit is a testament to all her perseverance and her love of books.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

There’s always a host of starry names adding to the glamour on Oscars night, which attracts some of the industry’s biggest celebrities.

Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Brendan Fraser, Michelle Yeoh and Zendaya are among the show’s presenters, along with Jamie Lee Curtis and Jennifer Lawrence.

You can also expect to see Bad Bunny, Regina King, Catherine O’Hara, Octavia Spencer, Ramy Youssef, Matthew McConaughey and Lupita Nyong’o.

And keep your eyes peeled for even more stars including Emily Blunt, Cynthia Erivo, America Ferrera, Sally Field, Ryan Gosling, Ariana Grande, Sir Ben Kingsley, Melissa McCarthy, Issa Rae, Tim Robbins, Steven Spielberg, Mary Steenburgen, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlize Theron, Christoph Waltz and Forest Whitaker.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Pitch Perfect star Brittany Snow stars in Oscar-nominated best live action short film Red, White and Blue, about a single mother forced to cross state lines in the US in search of an abortion.

Image source, Getty Images

Nazrin Choudhury, who directed the film, looks equally glamorous.

Image source, Getty Images

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

As is tradition, the five tracks nominated for best song are being performed tonight. Here they are:

• The Fire Inside from Flamin’ Hot – performed by Becky G [music and lyrics by Diane Warren]
• I’m Just Ken from Barbie - performed by Ryan Gosling and Mark Ronson [music and lyrics by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt]
• It Never Went Away from American Symphony – performed by Jon Batiste[music and lyrics by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson]
• Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People) from Killers of the Flower Moon - performed by Scott George and the Osage Singers[music and lyrics by Scott George]
• What Was I Made For? from Barbie - performed by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell [music and lyrics by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell]

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Warner Bros

Ryan Gosling may have had one more spray tan in preparation for him singing Barbie’s power ballad I’m Just Ken, which is nominated for best song.

Gosling, who is up for best supporting actor, is tonight sharing the stage with Mark Ronson, who co-wrote and produced the track.

When he was told recently that fans would expect it to be an “extravaganza”, Gosling replied, external: “OK. It’s anthemic. So we’ll need a budget.”

Sounds promising… expect lots of Kenergy and possibly some sporting action, tassels and gym clothes.

Scarlett Harris
Fashion critic

Image source, EPA

Laverne Cox, who joins Vanessa Hudgens and resumes her role covering the red carpet for E!, is getting her vintage on, in a 1985 Thierry Mugler Benitier Plisse gold bustier with black skirt and necktie.

Julianne Hough, another E! red carpet host, misses the mark in these shapeless white trousers with shimmery detailing around the bust.

Looks like she dove into the bargain bin on a last minute trip to the fabric store on the way to the carpet.

Image source, Reuters

Yasmin Rufo
Culture reporter

Image source, Universal

Hollywood's finest are set to be rewarded with golden statuettes when the Oscars take place in Los Angeles later.

Here are the films with the most Oscar nominations:

• Oppenheimer - 13
• Poor Things - 11
• Killers of the Flower Moon - 10
• Barbie - 8
• Maestro - 7
• American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, The Zone of Interest - 5

You can read the full list of Oscar nominations right here.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Barbie was undeniably 2023’s biggest film, external, beating The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer at the global box office. It’s up for best film, but despite its eight Oscar nominations, it’s unlikely to win some of the big categories - not least because it was left out of the best director and best actress categories.

BBC Culture’s Caryn James wrote that despite being up for best picture, Oscar voters “refused to take the toy-based film seriously, ignoring how inventive it is, dismissing it as a billion-dollar popcorn movie when it is also a funny, subversive cultural statement”.

But the film’s star Margot Robbie recently said their mission had been to "affect culture" - and that was the "biggest reward" to emerge from Barbie’s success.

But Barbie’s best chance is in two categories - it’s currently the favourite to win costume design and best original song for “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and Finneas.

Regardless of what happens tonight, Barbie still got some of the attention it rightly deserves. As our own Steven McIntosh points out, Greta Gerwig made history by becoming the first woman to have directed three films that have been nominated for the top prize, best picture (Lady Bird, Little Women and Barbie).

And despite their snubs leaving a “sour taste in fans’ mouths”, Gerwig is nominated for her screenplay, while Robbie is up for an Oscar as a producer.

Scarlett Harris
Fashion critic

Image source, Reuters

Vanessa Hudgens is looking absolutely stunning - and pregnant! - in a black bodycon high-necked dress, accessorised with a diamond choker. What a way to debut a baby bump!

The E! red carpet host married baseballer Cole Tucker last year.

Helen Bushby
Culture reporter

Image source, Getty Images

This year's carpet is back to bright red (last year it was a beige-coloured champagne carpet, you may recall).

The Osage singers and dancers, who look fantastically colourful against the red, are no doubt here to support Martin Scorsese's film Killers of the Flower Moon.

It tells the true story of the murders of Osage people in Oklahoma in the early 1920s by white settlers.

Lily Gladstone’s nomination for her role in this film makes her the first Native American woman up for best actress.

Can she win? Not long to find out.