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Oscars 2023: When are the 95th Academy Awards?

The climax of awards season is upon us

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 26: Oscar Statue on display at the 94th Oscars Week Events: Animated Feature Film at Samuel Goldwyn Theater on March 26, 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
The Oscars takes place in March.(Getty Images)

The 2023 Oscars are taking place this weekend, and organisers will be hoping to hit the headlines for all the right reasons this year.

In 2022, the ceremony was dominated by best actor winner Will Smith getting up on stage and slapping host Chris Rock after taking offence at a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Read more: Oscar nominations 2023 in full

But what will everyone be talking about this year, and who is up for an award?

When is the Oscars 2023 being held?

The 95th Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars 2023, will be held on 12 March.

As usual, the ceremony will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

How can I watch the Oscars 2023?

Jimmy Kimmel will host the 95th Academy Awards. (The Academy)
Jimmy Kimmel will host the 95th Academy Awards. (The Academy)

Keen UK film fans hoping to watch the ceremony as it unfolds will have a late night ahead of them, as the awards will be announced through the night while they take place in West Coast US.

The ceremony kicks off in the evening in Hollywood, meaning that UK viewers will need to be awake at 1am to watch who the winners are.

Read more: Oscars 2023 biggest snubs and surprises

Sky is the broadcast partner in the UK again, and is expected to air the ceremony on Sky Cinema. Fans can stream the ceremony through NOW with a Sky Cinema Memberhip.

Who is nominated for an award this year?

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 13: (L-R) Jamie Lee Curtis, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, and Jonathan Wang attend the 95th Annual Oscars Nominees Luncheon at The Beverly Hilton on February 13, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Monica Schipper/WireImage,)
Jamie Lee Curtis, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, and Jonathan Wang attend the 95th Annual Oscars Nominees Luncheon. (Monica Schipper/WireImage,)

The nominations for this year's awards were announced on Tuesday, 24 January.

Sci-fi comedy Everything Everywhere All At Once leads the pack with 11 nominations including Best Picture and four acting nominations, while All Quiet On The Western Front and The Banshees of Inisherin follow with nine each.

Read more: How to watch the Best Picture nominees

Top Gun: Maverick received six nominations in total, although Tom Cruise missed out on a Best Actor nod, while Avatar: The Way of Water received four including one for Best Picture.

Cate Blanchett (Tar), Ana De Armas (Blonde), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie), Michelle Willaims (The Fabelmans) and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once) are competing for Best Actress.

Austin Butler (Elvis) Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Brendan Fraser (The Whale), Paul Mescal (Aftersun) and Bill Nighy (Living) are in the mix for Best Actor.

Who is hosting the Oscars this year?

Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel will host the Oscars. (Getty)

After trialling a trio of hosts in 2022, with Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes sharing duties, chat show host Jimmy Kimmel taking over proceedings this time.

The Academy should be in safe hands with Kimmel as he has previously hosted the ceremony in 2017 and 2018.

He is also an old hand as awards host for the Emmys, which he hosted in 2012, 2016 and 2020.

Who are the musical performers at the 2023 Oscars?

Lenny Kravitz attends the 37th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Los Angeles, California, U.S., November 5, 2022. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Lenny Kravitz is set to perform at the 2023 Oscars ceremony. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

No Oscar ceremony would be complete without a few musical numbers and this year, Lenny Kravitz, Dianne Warren, David Byrne and Rhianna are among the many musicians confirmed to perform on the big night.

Kravitz's performance will accompany the show's 'In Memorium' section where the Academy pays tribute to the stars that we have sadly lost over the past year.

Meanwhile, live performances of each of the Oscar-nominated tracks from this year's 'Best Original Song' category are also set to light up the Dolby Theatre.

Viewers can expect renditions of "Nattu Nattu" from action epic RRR by performers Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava in their Oscar debut, "This is a Life" by Byrne, Stephanie Hsu and music trio Son Lux from awards frontrunner Everything, Everywhere All At Once, "Lift Me Up" from Marvel's Black Pantha: Wakanda Forever performed by Rhihanna and Warren and Sofia Carson performing "Applause" from 2022's Tell It Like A Woman.

While Lady Gaga was also due to make an appearance with her Oscar-nominated song "Hold My Hand" taken from box office catnip Top Gun: Maverick, she recently confirmed that she'll be unable to perform due to shooting commitments on Todd Phillips' upcoming Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux.

Who will present the awards at the 2023 Oscars?

Actor Florence Pugh on a red carpet, smiling.
Florence Pugh will present an award at the 2023 Oscars ceremony. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Winners aside, part of the (sometimes awkward) joy of watching any Academy Awards ceremony is seeing how different celebrity presenters choose to reveal who’s won what.

This year, we can expect a host of big-name presenters, with the likes of Antonio Banderas, John Cho, Andrew Garfield, Salma Hayek Pinault, Sigourney Weaver, Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth Banks, Halle Bailey, Danai Gurira, Jessica Chastain, Florence Pugh and Hugh Grant each recently confirmed to open envelopes.

These names join a previously confirmed presenter list that spans Samuel L. Jackson, Janelle Monáe, Jonathan Majors, Emily Blunt, Glenn Close, Riz Ahmed, Jennifer Connelly, Dwayne Johnson, Michael B. Jordan, Ariana DeBose, Troy Kotsur, Melissa McCarthy, Donnie Yen, Deepika Padukone, Questlove and Zoe Saldaña.

It’s currently unclear who’ll be presenting what, so we’ll have to tune in to find out which category each Oscars 2023 presenter is ultimately assigned to.

Will Chris Rock and Will Smith be at the Oscars?

HOLLYWOOD, CA - March 27, 2022.    Chris Rock and Will Smith onstage during the show  at the 94th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood on Sunday, March 27, 2022.  (Myung Chun / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Chris Rock and Will Smith at the 2022 Oscars. (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

It's not clear if Chris Rock will be back at the Oscars this year. He was presenting an award in 2022 when the infamous slap happened.

Will Smith will not be back at the Dolby Theatre either, as he had to resign from his membership of the Academy over the fight last year.

Smith has been banned from attending all Academy functions, including the Oscars, for ten years as a result of slapping Rock.

Watch: Will Smith receives Oscars ban