This is it. Tonight’s the night. The Oscars are back, and the best and brightest of Hollywood are assembling to hand out shiny gold statues. Who will win? Who’ll be snubbed? Who’ll be played off stage for a ridiculously long speech? Empire is following all of the action live as it happens, so stick with us as we report on every award, every performance, every awkward joke and more. Bring your snacks, stock up on coffee, and prepare yourselves: at the Oscars, anything can happen.
Here’s the latest:
00:00am | It’s midnight, and that brings with it an Oscars first: the Casting award. And to mark the occasion, a cast member from each nominated film is on stage to pay tribute to their respective casting director: Paul Mescal, Gwyneth Paltrow, Chase Infiniti, Wagner Moura, and Delroy Lindo.
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11.54pm | Frankenstein also wins Makeup And Hairstyling (beating out sicko horror The Ugly Stepsister – go, see it, gag!) “Shit!” swears winner Mike Hill when he couldn’t find his specs on the stage. In his speech, he pointed out that Frankenstein star Jacob Elordi sat for 400 hours in the makeup chair.
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11.51pm | And the winner is, Frankenstein! Kate Hawley comes up to collect her award while Guillermo del Toro cheers. She pays tribute to her director: “Thank you for the vision and for taking us on your journey. It’s been a great privilege to be part of it. All our nominations are your nominations.”
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11.50pm | Power duo incoming! Anne Hathaway and actual Anna Wintour are here to present Costume Design, fittingly. And promote The Devil Wears Prada 2, of course.
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11.38pm | Here we go, one of two performances tonight, and a particularly anticipated one: it’s ‘I Lied To You’, from Sinners. Miles Caton is on stage with a steel guitar, bringing pure blues flavour, with several other stars from the film joining him on stage. And they’re recreating the reality-busting oner! There are electric guitars galore on stage, a DJ on the decks, breakdancers, and Brittany Howard and Shaboozey accompanying. Oh, and a quick cameo from Jack O’Connell! Michael B. Jordan nods his approval. This is easily one of the coolest things to have ever hit the Oscars stage.
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11.35pm | And the award for Animated Short goes to The Girl Who Cried Pearls.
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11.30pm | It’s time for Animated Feature, presented by Will Arnett and Channing Tatum. And the winner is… Kpop Demon Hunters! The filmmakers, appropriately, get a Golden statue. “Thank you to the Academy and all fans who got us here,” says writer-director Maggie Kang. She dedicates the win “to those of you who look like me” apologising that it took so long to represent them on screen. “This is for Korea, and Koreans everywhere,” she says tearfully.
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11.23pm | OK, first award of the night is Supporting Actress, presented by Zoe Saldaña. And it goes to… Amy Madigan for Weapons! The unofficial ‘horror Oscars’ is off to a strong start. She stars her speech by doing a terrifying Gladys cackle. In thanking director Zach Cregger, she calls Aunt Gladys her “dream role”. “As you can tell, I’m a little flummoxed,” she says, and hails her fellow nominees, before thanking her husband: Ed Harris.
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11.19pm | Now we’re on a whole riff, with Conan imagining himself being awarded ‘Best Achievement’ at the Oscars. He’s been crowned, has a (stuffed) hawk swooping on stage, and Josh Groban as a singing knight of some kind. Or have the sweets gone to our brains already?
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11.14pm | Conan O’Brien’s monologue is here bringing gentle laughs; he’s not going too hard on his Hollywood peers. This is fun though: he’s declared that all the seat fillers this year will be Michael B. Jordan. And here they all are!
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11pm | And away… we… go! Conan O’Brien’s opening monologue begins with the host in full Aunt Gladys getup. “I look like Bette Davis with lupus!” he says, before a crowd of kids chase him through the final scenes of Weapons. And now, he’s running through a bunch of nominated films, playing ping pong with Marty Mauser, dashing across the Globe stage in Hamnet, and cruising with Sensei in One Battle. He’s even here in animated form with the KPOP Demon Hunters!
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10.59pm | Phew! Michael B. Jordan has made it just in the nick of time. It starts in one minute Michael, get in the Dolby Theatre! Even more worrying, still no sign of his Sinners co-star Michael B. Jordan. Where’d he go?!
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10.52pm | Here’s director Ryan Coogler, in support of Sinners – which not only leads the pack tonight, but has a record-breaking 16 nominations under its belt. The live performance of ‘I Lied To You’ is among the most anticipated moments of the night. It may even break down the boundaries of the past, present and future.
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10:44pm | Get your ping pong paddles out: Timothée Chalamet is here, disappointingly not in the Marty Supreme jacket. Hopefully Susan Boyle is wearing hers, wherever she is right now.
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10.30pm | Here’s Amy Madigan, nominated for her terrifying performance as Aunt Gladys in Weapons. Just out of shot, a gaggle of vengeful children are tearing down the red carpet. Run, Amy, run!
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10:20pm | The ITV coverage has begun, and the red carpet arrivals continue. The latest to turn up: Elle Fanning, who brought real sentimental value to Sentimental Value.
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9.50pm | Hamnet‘s Jessie Buckley has arrived on the Oscars red carpet – a strong contender for Leading Actress this year. Be honest, she made you sob didn’t she?
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9.30pm | Important: it’s all kicking off on the snack front here, in a vicious battle of chocolate egg snacks. Mini Eggs, or M&S Speckled Eggs? You decide!
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9.22pm | Hello everyone! This is it, the start of the Empire live blog, and there’s just under two hours until the real action begins. If you’re watching in the UK, it’s on ITV this year – coverage starts at 10.15pm, and the ceremony itself kicks off at 11pm. So, it’s the perfect time to get an extra coffee brewing and prepare yourself for the marathon ahead. Pace yourselves, people! We’ll be back soon with some red carpet updates now that the celebs are starting to arrive…
