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IT’S THE BIGGEST night in Hollywood, seen as the grand finale of awards season, and it’s happening tomorrow.
The 98th Academy Awards are taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
After a successful first stint last year, US late night television host Conan O’Brien is returning to host the ceremony.
While this year’s Oscars have shaped up to be one of the most competitive in recent memory, one thing is almost guaranteed: all eyes – Irish and otherwise – will be on Jessie Buckley, who is (without jinxing it) almost certain to take home the Best Actress gold statuette.
The Journal will be bringing you all the latest as it happens.
The Academy Awards ceremony will be broadcast live on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player from 11pm.
Highlights from the Oscars will also air on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player from 9.30pm on Monday.
A few weeks ago, most critics would have put their money on One Battle After Another scooping the Best Picture award on the night.
It’s been one win after another for Paul Thomas Anderson’s acclaimed American epic, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a former revolutionary returning to his old ways to protect his daughter from his military officer nemesis.
The film won the top gongs at the Critics’ Choice Awards, the Golden Globes and the Baftas, making it the frontrunner for the Oscar.
However, momentum has been building around Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller Sinners, which received a record 16 Oscar nominations. This has only grown since it claimed the top prize at the SAG Actor Awards, alongside a surprise best actor win for the film’s male lead Michael B Jordan.
Given that almost every surprise best picture Oscar winner in recent times has won the top SAG prize, could Sinners sink its teeth into the gold statuette on the night? We’ll have to wait and see.
The full list of nominees for Best Picture are:
The acting races feel quite open this year – with the exception of one Jessie Buckley, of course.
The Kerry actress has swept the board this season, having been named best actress by the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, IFTAs, Critics’ Choice and Actor Awards for her stunning performance in Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet. She plays Agnes, the wife of William Shakespeare who navigates grief after the loss of their son.
It’s fair to say the award is hers to lose. Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) and Emma Stone (Bugonia) are her competition.
If (or when) she wins, Buckley will become the first Irish woman to win the Best Actress Oscar. Her win would also mean that an Irish person has won in every acting category.
Speaking of the other categories, the potential winners feel a lot less certain.
At the start of awards season, Timothée Chalamet was tipped to scoop the Best Actor gong for his turn as an aspiring table tennis champion in Marty Supreme following wins at the Golden Globes and the Critics’ Choice awards.
But his losses at the BAFTAs and the Actor Awards are a bad sign for his chances at the Oscar. Michael B Jordan is now tipped to win, but anything can happen on the night. Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon) and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent) are also nominated.
Sean Penn is the current frontrunner in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role as the ruthless Colonel Steven J Lockjaw in One Battle After Another. He’s already won the BAFTA and the Actor Award for his performance.
But Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein) won the Critics’ Choice award and Stellan Skarsgård (Sentimental Value) took home the Golden Globe, with Delroy Lindo (Sinners) and Benicio del Toro (One Battle After Another) also winning praise for their performances. The competition is tough.
Best Supporting Actress looks like a three-horse race: Amy Madigan, Teyana Taylor and Wunmi Mosaku have all won awards in the lead-up to the Oscars.
However, Madigan might just pip Taylor (One Battle After Another) and Mosaku (Sinners) to the post for her creepy performance as Aunt Gladys in the horror-thriller Weapons. Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas are also nominated for their respective performances in Sentimenal Value.
The full list of nominees in all categories can be found here.
If you haven’t heard of KPop Demon Hunters, where have you been? The animated blockbuster has become Netflix’s most-watched animation of all time.
The singing stars of the film - EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami – will be taking to the stage to perform the Oscar-nominated song Golden from the soundtrack. The performance will open with a fusion of traditional Korean instrumentalists and dance, celebrating the folklore and culture behind the film.
A separate performance will celebrate Sinners. Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq will perform the Oscar-nominated original song I Lied To You. They will be joined by Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey and Alice Smith in an homage to the film’s visual style.
The Academy has said Josh Groban and the Los Angeles Master Chorale will also perform on the night.
HUNTR/X fans, it's time to get your light sticks out!
— The Academy (@TheAcademy) March 10, 2026
EJAE, AUDREY NUNA and REI AMI will bring “Golden” from KPOP DEMON HUNTERS to the stage at the 98th Oscars.
Watch the #Oscars LIVE on Sunday, March 15, at 7e/4p on ABC and Hulu, with Conan O’Brien hosting. #OnlyAtTheOscars pic.twitter.com/SpiE1iaEmz
While nothing has been confirmed, rumours have also emerged in recent days that Barbra Streisand was in talks to sing during the ceremony’s In Memoriam segment in a tribute to her late friend Robert Redford, who died last September.
The pair starred together in the 1973 romantic drama The Way We Were, the soundtrack of which was also sung by Streisand.
A host of famous faces are lined up to present the gold statuettes on the night.
With the last winner of the respective best acting awards usually giving the new recipient the gong, Adrien Brody, Mikey Madison, Keiran Kulkin and Zoe Saldaña are carrying on the tradition.
Other confirmed presenters include Ireland’s own Paul Mescal, Demi Moore, Javier Bardem, Anne Hathaway, Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, and many more.
There are a couple of other Irish nominees to keep an eye on.
Retirement Plan, created by Irish filmmaker John Kelly, is nominated for Best Animated Short. The 7-minute film tells the story of Ray, a middle-aged man who dreams about all the things he’ll do when he retires.
The film was produced in collaboration with The New Yorker and is narrated by Domhnall Gleeson. It is currently available to stream on the RTÉ Player, and it will be shown on RTÉ One at 10.50pm on Sunday – just before the ceremony gets underway.
In the technical categories, Avatar: Fire and Ash picked up a nomination for Visual Effects. Two-time Oscar winner Richard Baneham, from Tallaght in Dublin, was the visual effects supervisor for the film.
Irish film production company Element Pictures’ co-CEOs and founders Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe are also nominated. Their film Bugonia is nominated in four categories, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Meanwhile, comedy-drama Blue Moon – which was produced in association with the Dublin-based Wild Atlantic Pictures – is nominated for Best Original Screenplay.
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