Plot Synopsis

Since 1929, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has annually recognized outstanding performances by professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The first ACADEMY AWARDS ceremony was a May 16, 1929 banquet at the Roosevelt Hotel's Blossom Room with 270 attendees. Recipients were announced three months earlier for the inaugural event; the next year the Academy kept the results secret but gave an advance list to newspapers for publication at 11pm. This process continued until 1940 when the "Los Angeles Times" published the winners in its evening edition, making them readily available to arriving guests. That prompted the sealed-envelope system in use today. By the second year, a Los Angeles radio station produced a live broadcast, and the ACADEMY AWARDS were first televised in 1953 by NBC, enabling millions throughout the United States and Canada to watch the proceedings. Broadcast in black and white through the 1950s and early 1960s, the ACADEMY AWARDS were telecast in color for the first time in 1966, and expanded internationally in 1969. During its history, the ACADEMY AWARDS were postponed twice: for 24 hours in 1981, because of the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan; and for two days in 1968, out of respect for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who had been assassinated a few days earlier.
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Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel for the fourth time -- and second year in a row -- The 96th ACADEMY AWARDS are broadcast live by ABC from 7-10:30pm ET/4-7:30pm PT on Sunday, March 10, 2024 from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood.

The event features special performances of these Oscar-nominated songs:

- Ryan Gosling with Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, "I'm Just Ken" from BARBIE

- Billie Eilish with Finneas, "What Was I Made For?" from BARBIE

- Jon Batiste, "It Never Went Away" from AMERICAN SYMPHONY

- Becky G, "The Fire Inside" from FLAMIN' HOT

- Scott George with The Osage Singers, "Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)" from KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

Presenters include Mahershala Ali, Emily Blunt, Bad Bunny, Nicolas Cage, Jamie Lee Curtis, Cynthia Erivo, America Ferrera, Sally Field, Brendan Fraser, Ryan Gosling, Ariana Grande, Chris Hemsworth, Dwayne Johnson, Michael Keaton, Regina King, Ben Kingsley, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Lawrence, Melissa McCarthy, Matthew McConaughey, Kate McKinnon, Rita Moreno, John Mulaney, Lupita Nyong'o, Catherine O'Hara, Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Ke Huy Quan, Issa Rae, Tim Robbins, Sam Rockwell, Octavia Spencer, Steven Spielberg, Mary Steenburgen, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlize Theron, Christoph Waltz, Forest Whitaker, Michelle Yeoh, Ramy Youssef, Zendaya.