The 93^rd Oscars could go down in the history books as one of the strangest presentations or one of the best ever. We just don’t know. We do know that it will be another host-less venture – the fourth in Oscar history. Despite the pandemic, we know that some people will be in attendance at the Dolby® Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood and others will be set up a satellite feed in remote locations which is expected to be a lot better than the recent Zoom award shows. We also know that producers Jesse Collins, Stacey Sher and Steven Soderbergh plan the special to play out more like a movie than an awards show, but nobody seems to know what that means.

The thing is, a good portion of the viewers watching the special do so to see if their favorite film will win any awards. But a lot movies were not even released last year due to the pandemic and the ones that were saw very few audiences whether they were played in movie theaters or on a streaming service. How many of these Best Picture nominations have you seen:The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal, The Trial of the Chicago 7.

So this year’s crop of Academy Award nominees might not appeal to the masses. We’ll just have to wait and see.

This year’s list of presenters include Riz Ahmed, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Bong Joon Ho, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Viola Davis, Laura Dern, Harrison Ford, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Rita Moreno, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Steven Yeun, Renée Zellweger and Zendaya.

“In keeping with our awards-show-as-a-movie approach, we’ve assembled a truly stellar cast of stars,” said Collins, Sher and Soderbergh. “There’s so much wattage here, sunglasses may be required.”

The Oscars will be presented live on Sunday, 25, 2021 beginning at 5 p.m. (PDT) on ABC, HULU and YouTube.

Before the Big Show

“We’ve come up with some serious pre-game and post-game action to enhance our main event,” said Collins, Sher and Soderbergh. “Our suggestion is just tune in for the whole shebang, otherwise you’ll miss something really unexpected and fun.”

Hosted by actors Ariana DeBose and Lil Rel Howery, the 90-minute Oscars: Into the Spotlight is said to  highlight the nominees’ journey to Hollywood’s biggest night and will give fans the ultimate insiders’ sneak peek to the party. It will also feature a lot of music. Celeste, H.E.R., Leslie Odom Jr., Laura Pausini, Daniel Pemberton, Molly Sandén and Diane Warren will perform the five nominated original songs in their entirety for the special before the special. One performance was recorded in Húsavík, Iceland, and the other four were filmed at the Dolby Family Terrace of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles.

Oscars: Into the Spotlight will air Oscar Sunday, April 25, at 3:30 p.m. (PDT)

The After Show

After the big show, actors Coman Domingo and Andrew Rannells will host Oscars: After Dark. This special will feature interviews by film critic Elvis Mitchell as well as special recaps the evening’s must-see moments and showcases Oscar winners as they have their statuettes personalized.

Oscars: After Dark will air immediately after the award show.

Don’t know who is in the running this year? Find out here.