Oscars 2019: Everything You Need to Know

At long last, the 2019 Oscars have arrived.

After much anticipation, the 91st Annual Academy Awards will take place this weekend, honoring the best of the best in cinema. You're in charge of making sure you've screened all the nominated films, but if you have any questions about the show itself -- from where to watch to who's presenting to this year's seemingly endless parade of controversies -- ET breaks down everything you need to know, below.

When are the 2019 Oscars?: The show kicks off Sunday, Feb. 24, at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood and Highland Center and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT.

Who's Hosting? In short: Nobody. Kevin Hart was originally hired as master of ceremonies but announced in December that he was stepping down after facing backlash over resurfaced homophobic tweets. Amid speculation over who -- if anyone -- would replace the comedian, ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke confirmed earlier this month that the show would "wisely" go without a host this year, the first time the Academy Awards has done so since 1989.

Who's Presenting? A shorter list would be who's not presenting. This year's roster of presenters include plenty of Avengers (Chris Evans, Michael B. Jordan, Paul Rudd, Danai Gurira, Samuel L. Jackson, Angela Bassett, Chadwick Boseman, Brie Larson and Tessa Thompson) and some Crazy Rich Asians (Awkwafina and Michelle Yeoh), plus the likes of Helen Mirren, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Keaton, Pharrell Williams, Jason Momoa, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Whoopi Goldberg, last year's Oscar winners Frances McDormand, Gary Oldman, Allison Janney and Sam Rockwell, and so many more. See the full list of presenters here.

Who's Performing? Details have been confirmed for four of the five Best Original Song nominees, including Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga singing "Shadow," Jennifer Hudson performing "I'll Fight," Gillian Welch and David Rawlings doing "When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings" and Bette Midler taking over for Emily Blunt singing "The Place Where Lost Things Go." (No word yet on "All the Stars.") The Academy also revealed that Queen and Adam Lambert will "rock" this year's telecast.

Notable Nominations: Roma and The Favourite picked up the most nominations this year, with 10 apiece, while Black Panthermade history as the first superhero movie to be nominated in the Academy's prestigious Best Picture category. (Marvel's mega-hit scored seven nominations in total, including Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.) See the full list of nominees here.

What's All the Controversy About? Where to start? In addition to the Academy's decision to go hostless this year and the short-lived plan for a Best Popular Film category, the Oscars faced backlash when reports surfaced that last year's Best Acting winners would not be asked back to present, as is tradition. Janney, who won Best Supporting Actress in 2018, said the decision "[broke] her heart" and the Academy quickly backtracked.

However, the Academy was soon hit with another controversy when it was reported that only two of the songs nominated for Best Original Song would be performed -- "All the Stars" from Black Panther and "Shallow" from A Star is Born -- which they also quickly walked back after Lady Gaga and her team reportedly got involved. Additionally, as a means to keep the show to three hours, the Academy announced that four categories would be presented during commercial breaks, then later spliced into the broadcast.

As with the other changes, AMPAS eventually backtracked on that too following criticism from filmmakers like Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro, among other members of the Academy, and fans on social media, announcing that "all Academy Awards will be presented without edits, in our traditional format."


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