by The 2023 Oscars are here and looking for a comeback.
Ratings continue to be a struggle for the telecast of the ceremony — last year was the second lowest in the show’s history (15.4 million viewers versus 23.6 million in 2020 just before the COVID-19 pandemic).
And the specter of eventual lead actor Will Smith’s onstage slap at host Chris Rock, which derailed the show’s post-pandemic return to normality, continues to loom over this year’s ceremony.
However, the motion picture academy seems poised to keep Hollywood’s biggest night on the table with its new “crisis team” in case anything untoward happens during the ceremony.
The Best Picture nomination of several blockbusters aims to attract some buzz. The academy even had Rihanna perform her Oscar-nominated song, “Lift Me Up,” from the movie “Wakanda Forever.” After all, the pop star has given the 2023 Super Bowl its own ratings boost with more fans watching the pop star rather than the game itself.
But make no mistake, the academy is still trying to keep its version of the big game at center stage by bringing all 23 award categories back to live television.
What time is the show? How can I track it?
The 95th Academy Awards will air at 5 p.m. on Sunday Pacific on ABC and will be available to stream on Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV, DirecTV Stream and FuboTV, which have free trials for new customers.
The show will take place in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre, where every ceremony has been held since 2002, with the exception of a stop at Union Station in 2021 for an intimate ceremony due to pandemic gathering restrictions.
Who hosts?
Jimmy Kimmel, left, and Warren Beatty at the 2017 Oscars after Beatty mistakenly announced “La La Land” for best picture. “Moonlight” won the award. Kimmel will present for the third time at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday.
(Los Angeles Times)
Jimmy Kimmel returns to host the Oscars for the third time. It previously presented in 2018 and 2017, in which “La La Land” was mistakenly named best picture instead of the actual winner, “Moonlight.” Soon after, Kimmel launched into the awkward treatment between the two film producers and cracked jokes to add levity to the unprecedented meltdown.
A familiar face and calm amid the unexpected is what producers want in a post-slap world.
“That’s why you want someone like Jimmy on stage who’s used to doing live television: Things don’t always go the way you plan,” Bill Cramer, chief executive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, told Time. “So you have a host that can really spin and manage those moments.”
Kimmel joked about his return to the Oscars on Thursday on “Good Morning America,” saying, “Nobody got hit when I hosted the show — everyone was nice to me at the Oscars.”
The late-night talk show host also teased that he’ll “have some good things to say about” the slap as part of his comedy routine.
“I think it’s going to be on everybody’s mind, everybody’s going to be waiting for that moment,” Kimmel said, referring to his jokes that will face the slap. “That will be part of the show, but certainly not the focus of the show.”
Who and what is nominated?
The nominations were announced in January by actors Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams. “Everything Everywhere All At Once” leads with 11, followed by Netflix’s German war film “All Quiet on the Western Front” and Irish dark comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin” with nine each and “Elvis” with eight.
Box office triumphs “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” scored six, five and four nods, respectively. The best picture nominations for “Top Gun” and “Avatar” marked the first time more than one nominee had grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. Academy leaders hope that including more popular films at the awards show will attract more viewers.
Below are the plays and shows that have been nominated in some major categories, from the full list of 2023 nominees:
Better picture
“All Quiet on the Western Front”
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“The Banshees of Inisherin”
“Elvis”
“Everything everywhere at once”
“The Fabelmans”
“Tar”
“Top Gun: Maverick”
“Triangle of Sorrow”
“Women who talk”
Protagonist
Austin Butler (“Elvis”)
Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”)
Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”)
Bill Nighy (“Living”)
Protagonist
Cate Blanchett (“Tár”)
Ana de Armas (“Blonde”)
Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)
Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”)
Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Supporting actor
Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”)
Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)
Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Ke Huy Quan (“Everything everywhere everything at once”)
Second actor
Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”)
Hong Chow (“The Whale”)
Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)
Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)
Who’s playing?
Lady Gaga will not will perform her nominated song, power ballad “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick.” But there will be no shortage of star power, as Rihanna will headline this year’s bill of artists.
The “Anti” singer was the first to be announced and will perform “Lift Me Up,” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
“Descendants” star Sofia Carson, accompanied by songwriter Diane Warren, will perform “Applause” from the anthology film “Tell It Like a Woman.” This song marks Warren’s 14th Academy Award nomination. Her most recent nod came in 2022 for “Somehow You Do” from the drama “Four Good Days,” and she received an honorable mention at the academy’s Governors Awards in November.
David Byrne of Talking Heads, also an Oscar winner, will take the stage to sing “This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” with Hsu and musical trio Son Lux. Indie music icon Mitski, who co-wrote the song, will not appear.
Telugu language singers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava will make their debut at the Oscars by performing their song, ‘Naatu Naatu’, from the Indian action epic ‘RRR’.
Rock superstar Lenny Kravitz is set to perform during the In Memoriam segment.
Who presents?
The academy announced the latest of its presenters on Thursday, with Oscar winner Halle Berry the first and only black woman to win as a lead actress. Other presenters include Paul Dano, Cara Delevingne, Harrison Ford, Kate Hudson, Mindy Kaling, Eva Longoria, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Andie MacDowell, Elizabeth Olsen, John Travolta and Pedro Pascal.
Previously announced Oscar presenters include Riz Ahmed, Halle Bailey, Antonio Banderas, Elizabeth Banks, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, John Cho, Glenn Close, Jennifer Connelly, Ariana DeBose, Andrew Garfield, Hugh Grant, Danai Gurira, Salma Hayekault. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Nicole Kidman, Troy Kotsur, Jonathan Majors, Melissa McCarthy, Janelle Monáe, Deepika Padukone, Florence Pugh, Questlove, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver and Donnie Yen.
The jury has not decided who will award the leading actor award. Usually, the previous year’s winner does the honors. Smith, who won the category in 2022, has been banned from the show for the next decade.
Times staff writers Josh Rottenberg and Nardine Saad contributed to this report.
