Here’s our gallery of Oscars afterparties, featuring more celebs than you could shake a gold statuette at:

Here’s some breaking news: just after tonight’s ceremony ended, an earthquake hit LA. Thankfully there don’t seem to be any reports of significant damage or injuries. We’ll have a full news writeup soon.

So what were the big things we learned from this year’s ceremony? The Guardian’s tireless (well, ok, at this stage pretty tired) team of writers share 13 takeaways:

Strangely unmentioned in the ceremony? That guy in the White House. Jenna Amatulli looks at why everyone was so taciturn on Trump:

On the other hand, Catherine Shoard isn’t quite as taken with Sean Baker’s film as the rest of us. Here’s why she found Anora a snorer:

Our film critic supremo Peter Bradshaw has scrutinised last night’s results, and is delighted by Anora’s victory:

An amazing win for this exhilarating and scintillating film, and what a career arc for the American indie auteur Baker

And here are the best quotes of the night. My personal favourite? Conan gently dipping his toe into political waters:

“Anora is having a good night … I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian.”

From Chalamet’s delicious buttery suit, to the Emilia Pérez songwriters’ horrible, horrible singing, here are the most viral moments of the 97th Academy Awards:

Thought the Emilia Pérez apology tour was over, now that the Oscars have been and gone? Think again – Zoe Saldaña has been forced to the defend the film after some tough questioning in the press room.

There has been a lot of news, comment and more knocking around this evening, so here, for our benefit as much as yours, is a roundup.

• A complete list of winners
• Our main news wrap of the night
• A red carpet gallery
• Kieran Culkin wins best supporting actor Oscar for A Real Pain
• Flow wins best animated feature Oscar
• Halle Berry ‘pays back’ Adrien Brody for 2003 Oscars kiss – with a red-carpet kiss
• Oscars pays tribute to Los Angeles after devastating wildfires: ‘The work continues’
• Sean Baker wins best original screenplay Oscar for Anora
• Peter Straughan wins the best adapted screenplay Oscar for Conclave
• Songwriter Diane Warren loses original song Oscar for the 16th time
• Zoe Saldaña wins best supporting actress Oscar for Emilia Pérez
• No Other Land directors criticise US as they accept documentary Oscar: ‘US foreign policy is helping block the path’ to peace
• Oscars 2025: Halle Berry and Margaret Qualley lead star-studded James Bond tribute
• Gene Hackman, David Lynch and Maggie Smith honoured at 2025 Oscars ceremony
• I’m Still Here wins Oscar for best international film, becoming first Brazilian film to do so
• British composer Daniel Blumberg wins best original score Oscar for The Brutalist
• Adrien Brody wins best actor Oscar for The Brutalist
• Sean Baker wins best director Oscar for Anora
• Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg and Queen Latifah honor Quincy Jones at Oscars
• Sean Baker matches Walt Disney’s 70 year old Oscars record

Here’s an update on all the night’s events:

How would you summarise the last several hours of your life? As far as entertainment goes, it felt like a bit of a bust to me. Conan O’Brien didn’t leave his stamp on the show as much as I’d hoped; the musical performances were the worst I’ve seen in the decade and a half I’ve been covering the Oscars; the much-promised focus on the California community failed to materialise; and the whole thing felt like it limped through its duration, depleted.

Maybe it was the lack of tentpole nominees, or the huge unrest in America. But whatever it was, this was one of the least enjoyable Oscars I’ve ever watched. And I watched the Covid one that they had in a train station, for crying out loud. Let’s regain our focus and do better next year.

It all seems fairly unanimous, doesn’t it. These were the most open Oscars of recent years, and anyone could have won. But in the end, one film swept in and dominated everything before it. When we come to talk about the 2025 Oscars, we will only be talking about one film. That film, of course, is The Wiz.

And now, following their successful mayonnaise advert, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan are here to present best picture.

As with best actor, the Oscar best actress winner hasn’t matched the Screen Actors Guild winner. This time around it’s less of a surprise, though – the same thing happened last year when Lily Gladstone won the SAG and Emma Stone, slightly controversially, won the Oscar. Still, Mikey Madison’s win is unlikely, given how Demi Moore has snaffled every award this winter: Madison’s only win came at the Baftas.

What a charming speech from a charming man. And what an antidote after the long flat slog that was Adrien Brody’s endurance test.

He thanks his parents. And then he discusses his roles, and racism, and antisemitism. And then he’s played off again, and keeps talking. Keep smiling, he says, to a roomful of people who now have numb behinds.

Adrien Brody wins the Oscar despite not having won the Screen Actors Guild award prize, which went to Timothée Chalamet – those two don’t tend to deviate very often. The last time they did was in 2020 when Chadwick Boseman won the SAG and Anthony Hopkins won the Oscar. Could this mean there’s wider support in the Academy for The Brutalist? Is best picture in play? Or were voters just particularly taken with Brody’s brilliant performance? We’ll see!

Brody promises to be brief, but that doesn’t seem to be his agenda. He thanks the studio, his director, his cast, his partner, his children. And he’s played off, and then refuses to leave the stage, and then continues.

Four awards left, and they’re the four big ones. These are the awards we suffered through The Wiz together for. It’ll all be worth it in a minute.

With four awards left to come, the most Oscars any film can win this year, by my count, is five. So nothing here will match Oppenheimer’s haul of seven Oscars from last year, let alone the record 11 won by Ben-Hur, Titanic and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

Listen, I want you to ignore all the other headlines on this website. Forget Anora. Forget The Brutalist. The big winners at this year’s Oscars are The Wiz and the dormant James Bond franchise.

And now, a tribute to Quincy Jones. Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg are on stage, paying tribute to a man whose work stands the test of time. Winfrey says he “lived out loud in human form”, and then introduces Queen Latifah to sing a song from The Wiz. I don’t know if you’re keeping score, but there have now been two songs from The Wiz performed tonight, which is two more than any film that was literally nominated for best song this year.

The Academy continues to share the love: The Brutalist joins Anora, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez and Wicked on two awards.

I don’t think any of us who nodded along to Cajun Dance Party at indie discos ever imagined one of its members winning an Oscar. And Hackney hipsters certainly wouldn’t have imagined brilliant avant garde venue Cafe Oto getting a shout out either. But Blumberg, who also appeared in the great grunge band Yuck, has developed into an accomplished scorer of films in recent years.

Conan O’Brien just went political, earning applause for stating that at least someone from Anora had the balls to go up against a powerful Russian.

So no best international film for Emilia Pérez. But even without the controversy this would have been a tight race: I’m Still Here has been nothing short of a sensation in Brazil, and came up quite a bit in the anonymous Oscar ballots the trade papers publish. We probably shouldn’t be ruling out Fernanda Torres completely for best actress just yet.

For best cinematography, they’re going down the costume route and getting performers from each nominated film to floridly pay tribute to each nominated cinematographer. If you want to pop out and make a cuppa, you’ve probably got a few minutes here.

Although, now I think of it, I’m not sure that ending an In Memoriam segment with a prompt to scan a QR code is necessarily the graceful touch the Oscars think it is.

Ahead of the In Memoriam segment, Morgan Freeman paid personal tribute to Gene Hackman, who was found dead this week:

“This week our community lost a giant,” Freeman said. “And I lost a dear friend – Gene Hackman. I had the pleasure of working alongside Gene on two films: Unforgiven and Under Suspicion. Like everyone who has ever shared a scene with him, I learned he was a generous performer and a man who elevated everyone’s work. He won two Oscars and won hearts of people around the world. Gene told me, ‘I don’t think about legacy, I just hope people will remember me as someone who did good work.’ Gene, you’ll be remembered for that and so much more. Rest in peace, my friend.”

This is a very traditional In Memoriam. Nothing flashy, just a lot of (big) names and sad music. It did the job.

Here’s Morgan Freeman now, paying tribute to Gene Hackman. It’s as heartfelt as you can get, and it plays to absolute silence. And it is a prelude to the In Memoriam section.

And they were played off just as they were expressing their love for each other. Perfect timing.

There has been a widespread assumption that Dune: Part Two’s Oscar chances had been hampered by the fact that there’s another instalment to come: no one wants to hand a prize to the middle film in a trilogy. So it’s good that it at least has managed a few below-the-line awards. In fact it’s now at the top of the leaderboard with Emilia Pérez and Anora.

Still I wonder if that third Dune film is going to do as well at the Oscars as people might expect. By all accounts the source material is pretty loopy:

And now, a tribute to the firefighters who battled the California wildfires. Standing ovations all round. And then Conan O’Brien makes them all read jokes that he’s not brave enough to tell. They tell jokes about Joker: Folie à Deux being bad. They tell jokes about Bob Dylan not being able to sing very well. They tell a joke about Conan O’Brien getting stuck in a tree.

It’s striking that the night’s most powerful and political speech came for a film that still has not been picked up for distribution in the US. Remarkably, though, No Other Land was still the highest-grossing documentary of the five Oscar nominees, thanks to bold self-releasing campaign by its co-directors. Adrian Horton wrote for the Guardian this week about the challenges faced by political documentaries in 2025:

Even better, the speech seemed to be universally well received in the auditorium. Typically, with Michael Moore in 2003 and Jonathan Glazer last year, speeches this strident tend to get a mixed reaction in the room. The fact that this didn’t is absolutely a testament to the power of No Other Land.

A small cheer in the Guardian office as The Only Girl in the Orchestra wins. Imogen Tilden, who is sat to my left, interviewed its subject, the double bassist Orin O’Brien earlier this year

Twelve awards left. We can do this.

Sixteenth time unlucky for Diane Warren, whose first Oscar nomination came in 1987 for Mannequin. She’ll surely be back next year with another best song nominee though. Meanwhile, two hours into the ceremony, and Emilia Pérez, which everyone assumed was doomed, currently has the joint most Oscar wins! Admittedly with only two, alongside Anora.

As Zoe Williams points out in her piece on why Wicked should win best picture, 9m tulips were sourced and planted for the film’s opening scene. By a Norfolk tulip farmer no less. That’s the lengths you need to go to to win best production design – up your game, fellow nominees!

Jagger is presenting best song. Usually the best song nominees are performed at the Oscars, but this year that hasn’t happened, because they needed to fill 45 minutes with people singing Thunderball or whatever. It’s a weird choice. Not even in the nominee film are they really letting us hear the song.

Mick Jagger gets a standing ovation, which is probably more than the winner of his award will get. This is followed by several minutes of Jagger’s observational standup comedy. Hulu viewers, be thankful for your technical difficulties.

Ben Stiller is here, doing a jokey bit like he used to 20 years ago. He’s praising production designers while trapped in a hole. And to think, he could have spent that time singing a James Bond theme.

Zoe Saldaña again avoided mentioning Karla Sofía Gascón during her awards speech – the only nod she’s given to her co-star since the emergence of those tweets was at the Baftas. Saldaña’s awards season campaign has been a masterclass in careful distancing.

If you’re wondering what Bunsen, Sean Baker’s dog – who he just shouted out in his editing acceptance speech – looks like, wonder no more:

Da’Vine Joy Randolph is here now, to do the Robert Downey Jr thing of individually praising each best supporting actress nominee in a weirdly bland way. Which is very touching, but it does allow us to see how Ariana Grande is managing to sit in her dress. The answer? Not very comfortably.

Here comes Daryl Hannah, because it’s the 20th anniversary of the second Kill Bill film, and apparently that’s enough. She mentions Ukraine, and everyone is relieved that she did that instead of singing another James Bond song.

At 95, June Squibb, who handed out best hair and makeup, must be among the oldest ever presenters of an Oscar. Here’s a Guardian interview with her, conducted when she was a mere sapling at 94 years old:

Oh, it actually is over now. Thank god. Imagine doing a James Bond performance that isn’t as good as Sheena Easton’s 1982 nightmare.

And now it’s over. No, I’m just joking. Raye is singing Skyfall now. This will never end. The rest of your life is going to be spent watching people do James Bond karaoke. The sun will expand and swallow the Earth and you won’t know because you’ll be too busy watching an underpowered cover version of You Only Live Twice.

Like Paul Tazewell for costume design, Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli earned their makeup and hairstyling Oscar: The Substance avoided CGI and instead went hard on the practical effects for its gruesome climax, according to GQ: plasticine, silicone, gelatin, foam and clay were used to make its monstrous creations, and Demi Moore spent up to seven hours at a time in makeup.

Now Doja Cat is singing Diamonds are Forever, surrounded by diamonds. Did Amazon pay her to do this? Because I properly hate it.

And now Lisa from Blackpink is singing version of Live and Let Die that you’d only really hear at an upmarket spa. And there’s a big eyeball at the back of the stage. You know, like how you immediately think of eyeballs when you think of James Bond. Right? Anyone? Hello?

And now for something weird. Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson, the outgoing Bond producers, are being honoured tonight. So here’s Margaret Qualley dancing with some men in tuxedos. Sure, that works, right? Right? Anyone?

Scarlet Johansson and June Squibb are here to announce the hair and make-up categories. Squibb announces that she’s currently being played by Bill Skarsgård, which might be a weird thing for Hulu viewers to see out of context.

Gateshead-born Peter Straughan started his career in theatre, writing for Newcastle’s pioneering Live Theatre. This has been a pretty major 12 months for him, given that he also wrote the much-admired TV adaptation of Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light.

I’ve been informed that American viewers trying to follow the ceremony on Hulu are being hit by a number of technical difficulties. If you are attempting to work around this by following the liveblog, I sincerely apologise for missing Conan O’Brien’s running joke about Estonia, because that’s really adding a lot to the night.

This could be the start of a historic night for Sean Baker: if he wins for all four the awards he’s nominated in, he’ll tie Walt Disney for the most Oscars won by one person in a single Oscars year.

Amy Poehler is here to present the writing awards. “I believe it was William Shakespeare who said, ‘Writing is a bitch,’” she says, and we’re off to the races.

Paul Tazewell’s costume design win was hard-earned to say the least: he designed more than 1,000 costumes for Wicked. He’s better known for his work on Broadway than in Hollywood, earning nine Tony award nominations for his work on the likes of In the Heights and A Streetcar Named Desire, and won best costume design in a musical in 2016 for his work on Hamilton. Not a bad career, then.

I feel like the theme of tonight is going to be, “This is going on a bit.” In retrospect, getting five actors to emote at length about their costume designer might have been a mistake. I’m already worried that my kids are going to be taken to school late tomorrow morning.

Five people – one from each nominated film – are going to present best costume. Bowen Yang is dressed up like someone from Wicked. Lily-Rose Depp seems to be phonetically monotoning her speech. It’s all very exciting.

Shortly before the start of tonight’s ceremony, there was an unlikely reunion on the red carpet. Halle Berry and Adrien Brody locked lips more than two decades on from their controversial onstage kiss, initiated by Brody, at the 2003 Oscars. This one was a fair bit less problematic:

Three awards down, 20 more to go. But those three awards took 50 minutes to hand out. It’s fine. It’s going to fly by.

Andrew Garfield and Goldie Hawn are here to announce the animation categories. And they’re going on a lot, both about how amazing Goldie Hawn is, and about how Goldie Hawn’s cataracts prevent her from reading the nominations.

The best picture roundup begins with a look at A Complete Unknown. And if the Oscars ever wanted to tighten things up, it could probably lose segments where James Mangold says things like, “What is folk music?”

The problem with starting a ceremony with a big award is that it sets the tone for speech length. Now that Culkin has gone without being played off, everyone else is going to push the boundaries. Nobody is going to sleep tonight, are they?

Robert Downey Jr is on stage, introducing each of the best supporting actor nominees with a little speech that seems to mainly seems to be about Robert Downey Jr.

And now, a tonal change to acknowledge the fires. The Oscars also shines a light on behind-the-scenes craftspeople, not famous or wealthy, who come from a community devastated by disaster. The sincerity is undercut somewhat by a bizarre song and dance number about how Conan O’Brien won’t waste anyone’s time. He’s accompanied by the sandworm from Dune playing piano. It’s not great, but at least it’s over quickly. And now for the first award.

Our red carpet gallery is now live! Catch all the best looks, from Emma Stone’s chainmail to Margaret Qualley’s “backlace”.

A very good joke about Amazon’s takeover of the Bond franchise, announcing that the new 007 is (fictional) Amazon senior executive Steven Belsky. This is followed by housekeeping. If speeches go too long, O’Brien says, winners will first be greeted by the sight of John Lithgow looking slightly disappointed, and then a headshot from the early part of their careers.

Karla Sofía Gascón, who is in attendance, has been the butt of two jokes so far. “If you’re tweeting about the ceremony, my name is Jimmy Kimmel,” O’Brien tells her. He’s also made a joke about The Brutalist’s use of AI. And, to a lesser extent, how confusing Dune: Part Two was.

After his recent BAFTA look that consisted of a long black trench coat and statement shirt from Versace, Colman Domingo’s Oscars look is a little more pared back. If a hot crimson coloured blazer with contrasting black lapels and an exaggerated tie detailing can be considered subtle?

Coming on as “four-time Oscar viewer”, O’Brien immediately berates the audience for his lack of standing ovation. And so far they are his worst enemy, stomping all over his setups by cheering whenever he says the name of a film out loud.

And over to Mikey Madison in another two-parter of a dress by Dior to temper any stuffiness on the red carpet. More updos, more bows at the waist, more golden age of Hollywood-meets-boudoir-meets-bombshell, and finally a bit of colour – Peppa pink! How grown up.

And now for Conan O’Brien, starting the show proper with a spoof of The Substance. He makes his entrance by crawling out of Demi Moore’s back. Thank heavens he’s here.

Grande’s off, and Cynthia Erivo has taken her place, singing a song from The Wiz. It’s a bit less well known than Somewhere Over the Rainbow, but Erivo is belting it like there’s no tomorrow. And once that’s done, Grande comes back on to duet Defying Gravity. In a nice nod to the berserk Wicked press tour, they’re holding hands and fighting back tears.

For an actor not afraid to challenge established norms of dress, this is a relatively sober taupe look from Jeremy Strong. It is by Loro Piana, though, his favourite brand – and Kendall Roy’s.

More protest dressing. The actor Kayo Shekoni has just turned around to the cameras and lifted her right foot to showcase her black heels that are emblazoned with the words Free Congo in gold text.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the controversial Karla Sofía Gascón has, perhaps understandably, swerved the red carpet. She hasn’t skipped the ceremony entirely, however: she’s been spotted in the auditorium, after Netflix agreed to pay her travel costs.

And the “backlace” – an homage to the back-opening scene from The Substance? Why not.

And now Ariana Grande is singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow. There is a LOT of smoke around her, which might be a little tone deaf given the focus on the wildfires, but let’s give it the benefit of the doubt.

Just having a brief pause to appreciate some of the accessories. First up, the little lace glove. Miley Cyrus, Zoe Saldaña and Arianne Phillips are all wearing a specifically sheer type of glove (very Valentino and very Givenchy SS25).

Just as I was thinking, when can I make another coffee? (hey, we have a long night ahead of us live-blogging), here comes Andrew Garfield in a head-to-toe espresso-coloured look by Gucci. Even the sunglasses that he is whipping on and off for the cameras are amber-tinted. And yes, that silky shirt is smoother than any coffee a barista could attempt to master.

This is your five-minute warning. Settle in, get caffeinated, don your deep vein thrombosis stockings. The Oscars are about to begin.

And Adrien Brody has arrived with … Georgina Chapman. Nothing to see here! Just the most-likely-to-win actor wearing an Armani tuxedo and yet another colossal brooch – and Chapman wearing a diaphanous broom-shaped gown by Marchesa, the label she started. Just smile and wave, smile and wave.

A polite request: my favourite part of being at the Oscars last year was the moment when I realised the guy sitting in front of me was reading Gwilym’s liveblog on his phone along with the ceremony. If you are at the Oscars and you are reading this liveblog, I’d appreciate it if you could make yourself known, ideally by shouting “WOO GUARDIAN!” at the top of your voice during a lull in the proceedings. Thank you.

After a wave of boring tuxes, here comes Timothée Chalamet brightening up the carpet in a buttery yellow three-piece look. Zooming in, it looks as if the blazer and trousers are leather. Smooth! Please note the baggy shape of the trousers – everyone breathe a sigh of relief they are not skinny. In place of a tie or bow tie he has gone for a jazzy neck brooch. His look is by Givenchy. Elle Fanning is also wearing the brand, and her dress marks the first custom look by Givenchy’s new creative director, Sarah Burton. This has left us wondering if maybe Chalamet’s look is also by the British designer?

Emma Stone is back in custom Louis Vuitton, a year after zip-gate, and with that a theme is emerging – silver chainmail, but make it lite! Along with gloves, this silhouette is becoming a firm favourite: form-fitting, floor-length gowns with absolutely no give are coursing through tonight’s red carpet.

Timothée Chalamet, who has just arrived on the red carpet in a suit that could be best described as mango lassi yellow, can break a longstanding Oscars record if he takes home the best actor award tonight for his performance in A Complete Unknown. He will become the youngest best actor winner ever at 29 years and two and a bit months old, overtaking … his main rival for tonight’s award, Adrien Brody, who was 29 years and 10 months old when he won in 2003 for The Pianist.

Should he be victorious, Brody would also claim a record, for the longest screen time of any best actor winner, beating Charlton Heston for Ben Hur (props to Screen Rant for their excellent research on this). And Emilia Pérez could claim the night’s most unwanted possible record: should it win nothing, it would be the most nominated film ever to go home empty-handed. Unlikely, I think, as Zoe Saldaña at least should win supporting actress.

If you’re wondering why The Brutalist – once the clear frontrunner for best picture – has now fallen behind a little, just look at how Felicity Jones reacts when this Deadline reporter asks her about the film’s use of AI. First there’s a visible gulp, and then a look of sheer dread. If nothing else, she must be relieved that tonight is the last time she’ll be asked this question.

Continuing her campaign to cosplay actors of yore with spectacular aplomb is Elle Fanning, doing her best Audrey Hepburn impression in an off-white, full-skirted Givenchy dress with a black velvet bow and, like a lot of the stars tonight, a nostalgic updo. Apparently it’s Sarah Burton’s first collection for the brand. The heavy jewellery looks like Cartier.

Selena Gomez is leaning into old-school glamour with a custom gown from Ralph Lauren. The off-the-shoulder shape and sweetheart neckline gives a nod to 50s Hollywood stars. The webbed overlay is shimmering as she moves along the carpet, as is her mega diamond necklace. Gomez has stuck to the retro brief with some gentle pin curls and winged eyeliner.

In the office we’re trying to figure out whether The Substance, Coralie Fargeant’s squelchy, entraily body horror, would be the goriest ever Oscar winner, should its star Demi Moore take home best actress, as she’s expected to do. Usually the Academy runs a mile from blood and guts, but occasionally something nasty sneaks in: David Cronenberg’s The Fly won best makeup in 1986, and of course The Silence of the Lambs, the last film to win the “big five” Oscars in 1991, didn’t exactly skimp on the grisly bits. Any more that we’re missing?

Here she is – Demi Moore in Giorgio Armani Privé (you can tell by the little fans). A lot of actors are playing it safe wearing gowns shaped à la statuette, but in … silver rather than gold. Don’t want to tempt fate! The Substance star looks fabulous, though, a modern Venus de Milo, and a silhouette that evokes old Hollywood.

The Brutalist star Guy Pearce, who is up for best supporting actor, has added a Free Palestine dove-shaped pin to his lapel. This is the first protest pin we have seen so far on tonight’s red carpet. Last year stars including Billie Eilish and Ramy Youssef wore red Artists4Ceasefire pins. Pearce previously wore tonight’s protest pin at a special screening of The Brutalist in London in January. At the time he told reporters that he thought it was “important to recognise everybody in the world, particularly when things are imbalanced”.

The hot favourite for best supporting actress, Zoe Saldaña is wearing a triple-layered claret “bubble” dress with a beaded bodice and long sheer gloves (more gloves!). It’s probably custom-made by Saint Laurent, given the film was made by Saint Laurent Productions (and their last show had an awful lot of sheer bodices). Retro classicism meets bed skirt. What a colour, though.

Favourite for best picture this year is Anora, which took the top prizes at the Producers’, Directors’ and Writers’ Guild awards, usually key determiners when it comes to the Oscars. Its main rival for best picture at this stage is probably Conclave, which won at the Screen Actors Guild, but The Brutalist (a big winner at the Golden Globes) and even A Complete Unknown (thought to be well-liked by Academy members) might be in with a shot too.

Should Anora win it is likely to become the lowest grossing best picture winner of all time (excluding the pandemic years when cinemas were shut), having earned $15.6m at the US box office. It would overtake, or undertake perhaps, the current lowest grosser, which is the Hurt Locker ($17m).

An Anora victory would likely prompt plenty of anguished conversations about the Oscars’ place in popular culture, and its failure to recognise films that lots of people have actually watched. At the same time though, the award is called best picture, not ‘best picture to have grossed a squillion dollars’, and Anora would be one of the better best pictures in some time, the finest perhaps since Parasite.

And, having skipped the red carpet, here’s our own Xan Brooks at the Dolby theatre …

For anyone worrying about pacing themselves, tonight’s ceremony is due to last about three and a half hours. For reference, that’s slightly shorter than The Brutalist. Although, that said, the Oscars are famous for going agonisingly long (in 2022 the show lasted nearly five hours), which could be bad news for anyone who has stayed up to watch Ainsley’s National Trust Cook Off at 3.45am.

Felicity Jones has also gone for a molten effect gown. For the promotional tour for The Brutalist, for which Jones is nominated for best supporting actress, she stuck to simple dresses generally in a column shape. She and her stylist, Nicky Yates, seem to be sticking to the same formula tonight. She favours brands such as Bottega Veneta, Valentino and Chanel, but we’re guessing tonight’s gown with its pretty bow detailing and demure neckline is Armani Privé.

A closeup for those sat in the nosebleed section – Erivo’s middle finger has been manicured with an actual watch.

First celebrity spot: Jeff Goldblum in his element. He’s like the Oscars’ apex predator, smiling and glad-handing as he sharks through the crowd. Thankfully, his prey are all too happy to be devoured.

After months of wearing green on the press circuit, the Wicked star Cynthia Erivo defied expectations by wearing … another green dress. This one by Louis Vuitton. Fair play to her, though, this one looks like a gothic meringue, with a witchy collar, off-the-shoulder sleeves so generous they could serve as an armrest and, of course, those nails. I think they deserve a separate post, in fact – hang on …

Every year there’s an Oscar attendee or two who make you wonder, “Who invited them?” This year’s most incongruous Oscars invite must surely go to the cast of Netflix teen drama Heartstopper, who seem to be there en masse. Is someone on the Academy production board a Heartstopper superfan? Did they pretend to be waiters and jib into the ceremony? Any answers or theories will be much appreciated!

This time last year I was in the Dolby theatre, and by my calculations now is approximately the time that people start screaming at the less impressive attendees to take their seats in the auditorium. My sincere hope is that Xan Brooks is currently rebelling against their orders and not spending 90 minutes sitting alone in an empty cinema like I did.

Whoopi Goldberg appears to be almost levitating on the red carpet in a molten effect gown. The dress taps into “medieval core” – a huge fashion trend on TikTok that takes inspiration from the Dark Ages. This dress has an armour-like feel but its deep pockets add a modern touch.

Tuxedoes are bomb-proof if you stick to the formula, and here is Edward Norton in one by Dior Men. I predict a lot of Dior tonight, partly because artistic director Kim Jones makes great suits which are traditional without being stuffy, and partly because this is his last collection as he’s now left the brand. This look is a case in point: classy, trad, and not even a brooch to mix things up. Let’s see what Chalamet, his co-star, wears tonight eh?

Once again, for those in the UK, ITV’s coverage has now begun. It’s Jonathan Ross in a very brightly lit cupboard with Jason Isaacs and Mariella Frostrup. In all honesty, it probably isn’t worth rushing to your television for another 90 minutes.

According to this year’s Oscars producers, tonight’s ceremony will be “a love letter to LA”, in the wake of January’s California wildfires.

“It’s definitely influenced our show,” producer Raj Kapoor told Deadline earlier this week. “We have moments that acknowledge the fires, what has happened. It’s kind of our unique spin of how we acknowledge that, but there will be at least three moments within the show that touch on it and hopefully have some messaging that may be inspiring. There’s a charitable component with the Motion Picture Academy and the charities that they are supporting. And then there is the way that [host] Conan [O’Brien] will acknowledge it, as well.”

In January the Academy confirmed that this year’s ceremony would go ahead as planned, despite a number of other awards season ceremonies being delayed due to the fires. “We will reflect on the recent events while highlighting the strength, creativity, and optimism that defines Los Angeles and our industry,” a letter to Academy members confirmed.

Last month’s Grammys ceremony also paid tribute to those affected by the fires, with members of the Los Angeles country fire department presenting Beyoncé with her award for album of the year.

Ariana Grande has arrived in full Glinda mode wearing a bustier dress in butter satin with a wide tulle skirt by Schiaparelli couture, fresh-ish off the catwalk in January. You won’t be surprised to hear the whole look, which has a corset and is tied at the back, was inspired by an Alberto Giacometti lamp.

A moment, please, for songwriter Diane Warren, who is up for her 16th Oscar nomination this year and is sending a rather veiled message with the popped collar of her jacket.

The longstanding Oscar tradition of having the best original song nominees perform at the ceremony has been brutally nixed this year. That seems a bit of a shame, given some of the great performances previous ceremonies have thrown up – Celine Dion, Elliott Smith, Gaga and Cooper, Robin Williams doing an artfully censored Blame Canada from Team America, and, last year, Ryan Gosling’s bravura version of I’m Just Ken from Barbie.

Then again, this year’s lot are a pretty rum bunch, so you can perhaps understand why the Academy is giving them a swerve. But Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo will perform at the ceremony – they’re expected to open the show with a medley from Wicked, whose songs are ineligible for the best original song category. Other musical performances at this year’s ceremony will feature Queen Latifah, Doja Cat, Blackpink’s Lisa, Raye and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Expected to win this year’s best original song is El Mal from Emilia Pérez, though Diane Warren will be hoping to make it 16th time lucky with The Journey from Tyler Perry’s The Six Triple Eight. Frankly, if she can’t win this year, when her rival is taken from one of the most maligned Oscar contenders in years, she should probably pack up and go home. Judging from the outfit she is wearing on the red carpet, which features some sweary messaging presumably aimed at the Academy, Warren’s getting a bit impatient.

Alba Rohrwacher, the Italian actor (in Maria, nominated for best cinematography) and director of La Chimera, has opted for a gown with more layers than a Marie Antoinette frilly cake. It’s pleated, it’s tiered, it’s ruffled and it’s giving Drama with a capital D. Love the double ruffled sleeve detailing, although given the rumours that chicken pot pie will be served at the governors’ ball after the ceremony, they might not prove the most practical.

The march of the penguins is now underway with Joe Alwyn, of The Brutalist fame (and absolutely not of Taylor Swift ex fame whatsoever). Alwyn loves a Celine suit and he loves a Tom Ford suit, so my money’s on one of those.

More intriguing is the brooch – we’ve seen three so far. He wore a Tiffany one to the Baftas so no doubt this is another from the LVMH stable. But are those Chelsea boots? In LA? You can take the man out of Tunbridge Wells …

For those of you following along in the UK, ITV’s televised coverage doesn’t begin for another 30 minutes. In the past, you could have chosen to fill this void by watching the various red carpet shows, which are traditionally full of presenters performing a sort of glam equivalent of Speed, where their careers are terminated the second they drop below maximum enthusiasm. It is wearying, and not recommended.

Instead, here’s the AP red carpet feed, which has no presenters, but plenty of audio of photographers screaming the names of different body parts to a succession of terrified-looking celebrities. It’s much more fun.

Who needs a tux when you have an embroidered leather blazer? The Wicked actor and Saturday Night Live cast member Bowen Yang is presenting one of the awards during tonight’s ceremony and has decided to shun a traditional suit for something with a bit more personality. Leather under those spotlights, though? We fear he has got a long sweaty evening ahead.

I was going to go out on a limb here and say that Arianne Phillips, the very brilliant costume designer behind A Complete Unknown (and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), is wearing vintage. It is in fact Valentino, but inspired by the 1960s. Almost the entire costume department for the Dylan film came from flea markets, dealers and markets, so it’s safe to say she knows her way around Vinted.

And now a special live update from the Guardian’s Xan Brooks at the Dolby theatre in Hollywood …

First trip to the Oscars. Impossibly glamorous arrival. Non-celebrity guests, I discover, access the Dolby theatre by walking around the police cordons, across a filling station forecourt and past a shuttered bowling alley to the theatre doors. This is perhaps what’s known unofficially as the Karla Sofía Gascón Entrance. But I’m now safely inside and have been handed a spring roll to eat.

The Wicked star Jeff Goldblum is known for his love of a quirky red carpet look. Tonight he has played with clashing, taking more formal pieces and contrasting them with more unexpected choices. He has left a traditional cream double-breasted blazer undone to reveal a bold patterned shirt underneath. On top, he has added a purple scarf and a classic bow tie. Throughout the promotional tour for Wicked he experimented with various brooches, including sparkly versions, and oversized corsages. This evening he has taken it one step further with some fresh flowers that almost appear to be blooming from his lapel. No notes!

Interesting bit of detail from Observer film columnist Guy Lodge: this year features the lowest number of different feature films nominated since 1991. We’ve talked about this being the most unpredictable Oscars in years, but the pool that those winners are coming from is unusually shallow. Strange Oscars year, huh!

Brady Corbet, director of The Brutalist and award nominee, has arrived with his partner, the Norwegian actor Mona Fastvold. The black sunglasses and suit, the off-white drop shoulder gown – it looks like a nice little his-and-hers monochrome double act. But squint and you’ll see Corbet is actually wearing a “blavy” (black/navy) shirt. Ask any politician and they’ll tell you that blavy is the safest colour you can wear.

The most exciting part of the outfit, though, is actually the brooch. It’s designed by Sauvereign, who also made Cillian Murphy a bespoke brooch the night he won his best actor award. Not saying the two things are linked, but … the two things are probably linked.

Peter Bradshaw, Andrew Pulver and Catherine Shoard have all had their say on Oscar predictions, so here’s my stab at them. I’m bravely/idiotically veering from the herd by backing Chalamet for best actor instead of Brody:

Best picture Anora

Best actor Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown

Best actress Demi Moore, The Substance

Best supporting actor Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain

Best supporting actress Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Best director Brady Corbet, The Brutalist

Best song El Mal, Emilia Pérez

Best adapted screenplay Conclave

Best original screenplay Anora

Best documentary No Other Land

Best animated film The Wild Robot

Best international film I’m Still Here

As Stu has already mentioned, Conan O’Brien is hosting this year’s ceremony, taking over from Jimmy Kimmel, who hosted the last two. Did the Academy opt for someone less likely to take aim at Trump? Did Kimmel not fancy it? Regardless, O’Brien should be a fun host – likable, irreverent and not afraid to tackle a song and dance number:

Meanwhile, this year’s presenters have been announced and as per Oscar traditions, last year’s winning actors – Cillian Murphy, Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr and Da’Vine Joy Randolph – will be presenting this year’s acting categories. Other stars lined up to present categories include Dave Bautista, Gal Gadot, Andrew Garfield, Samuel L Jackson, Margaret Qualley, Alba Rohrwacher, Zoe Saldaña and Rachel Zegler. But Harrison Ford, who was scheduled to present an award, will miss the ceremony, reportedly due to a shingles diagnosis. Ouch.

We’re kicking things off with Amelia Dimoldenberg. The creator of the YouTube series Chicken Shop Date is back on the red carpet for the second year in a row, interviewing the stars as they arrive. Speaking to the Guardian earlier this month about dressing for events, Dimoldenberg said: “Red carpets are an amazing opportunity to showcase fashion, to express yourself.” We know from past red carpets and her Chicken Shop Dates that Dimoldenberg likes a flirty look. Her choice tonight of a blue sparkly cutout dress by Versace fits the brief perfectly.

Hello! Morwenna and Chloe from the Guardian’s fashion desk here. We’ll be watching the red carpet so you don’t have to, guiding you through the probable hits and unlikely misses from Timothée, Mikey, Demi et al. Wherever you stand on red carpet fashion, the question of who will wear what is almost as common as the question of who will take home a statuette. It just is! The traffic doesn’t lie. We all know that the red carpet is now an economy unto itself, a strangely cultivated branding exercise for celebrities and a marketing tool for the fashion industry, built on an illusion that the gowns and dandy suits are an expression of a celebrity’s personal style, when in fact they’ve been picked by a stylist. But that doesn’t stop it being fun, too.

Maybe you’re coming to this year fresh, having seen none of the films and not having heard of Karla Sofía Gascón. If so, we’re here to help!

Here’s everything you need to know about the 2025 Academy Awards but were too afraid to ask.

The timetable
The red carpet heats up about 10pm GMT; the ceremony starts at midnight GMT and ends at 3am Monday; and we’ll wrap up live coverage about 7am. For more, including how to watch, try here and here.

The competition
Ten films are up for best picture this year. You can read Guardian writers put the case for each one of them here, and there’s an overview of the race here – and of the best director, actor and actress contests.

Predictions
Peter Bradshaw has done his here and Andrew Pulver here. For what it’s worth, here are my last-minute tips in some key categories:

Best picture: Anora (spoiler, Conclave)

Best director: Brady Corbet (spoiler, Sean Baker)

Best actor: Adrien Brody

Best actress: Demi Moore

Best supporting actor: Kieran Culkin

Best supporting actress: Zoe Saldaña

Best original screenplay: A Real Pain

Best adapted screenplay: Conclave

Best international film: I’m Still Here

Best documentary: No Other Land

Further reading
What’s in those goodie bags?

Is this the most open Oscars race in recent memory?

Timothée Chalamet deserves an Oscar – for his Oscar campaign

A Wicked shame! In 2025, blockbuster success spells Oscars failure

Saldaña squished and Chalamet chafing as Ariana and Cynthia bag the best seats: the 2025 Oscars class photo

‘The camera is more impactful than a rifle’: the married Ukrainian artists who filmed the war – and are now up for an Oscar for Porcelain War

An interview with the makers of fellow documentary contender, No Other Land

From Blitz to Gladiator II: the Oscar-aiming films that missed this season

The rise and fall of Emilia Pérez: how did it all go so wrong for the Oscar-nominated film and its star?

‘Stick-it-to-the-man sentiment’: Oscar-nominated films compete to bait Donald Trump

God’s role in this year’s race

Plus interviews with key players: Cynthia Erivo, Demi Moore, Mikey Madison, Karla Sofía Gascón, Sean Baker, Brady Corbet, Coralie Fargeat, Jesse Eisenberg & Kieran Culkin, Adrien Brody, and Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow & Stanley Tucci.