Oscars latest: Who should win – and what’s inside nominees’ unofficial £260k goodie bags

It's Oscars Sunday and stars including Jessie Buckley, Michael B Jordan, Timothee Chalamet, Leonardo DiCaprio and Emma Stone will arrive at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood for the ceremony later today. Follow the latest Sky News coverage from LA right here.

In a few years, the Oscars may have a very different feel.

From 2029, for ceremony nuumber 101, the show will be streamed live on YouTube after decades on the ABC network in the US.

It means the annual film awards will be available to the video-sharing platform's two billion users for free around the world.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the deal with Google-owned YouTube at the end of last year, saying the streaming giant will have the exclusive global rights to the awards, including the red carpet and Governors Ball afterparty, from 2029 to 2033.

"We are thrilled to enter into a multifaceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round academy programming," said Academy chief executive Bill Kramer and president Lynette Howell Taylor.

Last year's Academy Awards were watched by 19.7 million viewers on the Disney-owned ABC, a five-year high but far below the show's biggest audience of 57 million in 1998.

The network has been the broadcast home to the Oscars for almost its entire history. NBC first televised the Oscars in 1953, but ABC picked up the rights in 1961.

Aside from a period between 1971 and 1975, when NBC again aired the show, the Oscars have been on ABC.

They will bow out in style, airing their final broadcast for the Oscars 100th anniversary.

It's just after 11.30am here in Los Angeles, and the Sky News Oscars team is busy getting red carpet ready.

As our on-camera arts and entertainment correspondent,Katie Spenceris getting her glam done professionally at our hotel before we head off to our respective positions to cover the show.

It's interesting chatting to hair stylist Melissa and make-up artist Naisha, who are used to adding the zhuzh for those going to awards shows – while the Oscars is the biggie, LA has plenty of other star-studded events to keep them busy all year.

Melissa, who has helped colour the hair of A-listers including Jennifer Lopez and Ariana Grande in the past, is working on five people today, and Katie is her first.

"I consult about what they're wearing, what kind of style they want and then we both come to an image together," she says. "For Katie we're doing waves, old school Hollywood.

"These can be long days so you kind of have to power through the whole entire weekend."

Naisha, who has been a make-up artist for almost 10 years, says awards weekends are always busy. She started at 7am and Katie is her fourth client today

"I love doing red carpet looks," she says. "I'm thinking a brown, smoky eye for Katie. I don't like to do black because I feel like it's too heavy and it's still light out."

"A lot of times I don't know people. I do make-up and they're like, oh, I wrote this movie."

Earlier this week, we caught up with the experts at Gold Derby, who have been tracking entertainment events for more than 25 years.

The LA organisation compiles predictions from pundits, industry insiders and film fans and is the go-to place for Oscars predictions.

Here's a reminder of how editor-in-chief Debra Birnbaum thinks today will pan out.

"Usually, it gets kind of boring by this point," she says. "We have all the precursor awards and at this point by the Oscars you've often seen the same people make the same speeches, and you know who's gonna win."

But this year is different. "This time, the only person I would say I feel reasonably confident about is Jessie Buckley," says Birnbaum. "It's really been a crazy awards season, pretty unprecedented, and that's what makes it really exciting. We haven't seen a race like this in a lot of years. I think pretty much anything can happen on Oscar night."

According to Gold Derby's predictions, Buckley's chances of winning are 96.97%. The Hamnet star is the only acting nominee to have picked up all four trophies from the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Critics' Choice and Actor Awards, which is why experts are so confident.

"It's a transformative performance, it's the kind of performance award voters love to recognise," says Birnbaum. "She has consistently won every award… and no one has ever won all the precursor awards and then gone on to lose the Oscar, with the exception of Russell Crowe."

In 2002, Crowe was cleaning up during awards season, winning all four of those big Oscars precursor awards for his performance in A Beautiful Mind. Having taken home the Academy Award for Gladiator the year before, the win would have put him in an elite group of just a handful of performers with consecutive acting victories.

But… then came a well-publicised incident at the BAFTAs, apparently after his speech was cut. "There was an incident where he yelled at a producer," says Birnbaum. "I think it turned sentiment against him."

Oscars voting for this year is now closed, and Buckley hasn’t upset anyone, so it seems highly unlikely she will follow the same fate as Crowe. But could outside factors have influenced voting for other awards?

"In an ideal world… it would just be based on the performance," says Birnbaum. "You would watch the movie and then you would turn to your ballot and be like, yes, this is the performance that deserves to win."

But voters can go with their heart sometimes, she says. And this year has been a longer voting cycle than usual, she adds, pushed back due to the Winter Olympics, which means more potential outside factors to impact decisions.

At the start of 2026, Timothee Chalamet was the clear frontrunner to win the best actor gong, for his performance in Marty Supreme, after picking up a Critics Choice award and a Golden Globe.

"But lots of things happened over the course of the season that impacted his campaign," Birnbaum says, highlighting questions raised by some about his campaigning. "Was it too brash? Was he too overconfident? Is he too young to win an Oscar?"

She also highlights the BAFTA Awards, where a racial slur was shouted out by Tourette's campaigner John Davidson, who was there to celebrate a film about his life, as Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award on stage.

This, of course, had nothing to do with Chalamet. "But it created a lot of sentiment in favour of the Sinners actors," Birnbaum says. "This isn't to say the [Sinners] cast don't deserve to be recognised… but I think it turned the tide in their favour."

Since the BAFTAs, and after picking up the Actor Award, Jordan has now moved into poll position for the Oscar, according to Gold Derby, with a 53.4% chance of winning. Chalamet is second, with 32.6%, while The Secret Agent star Wagner Moura is ranked third, with 10.5%.

Birnbaum is predicting Jordan, who plays twin brothers in Sinners, for the win. "It's an incredible performance. He was very deserving from the start, and this is nothing against Timothee Chalamet. I think it's a great way of acknowledging someone for playing twins, someone who's been in the career a long time, recognising that performance."

"I think supporting actor is up in the air, I think supporting actress is up in the air," she says. "Supporting actor felt like it was Stellan Skarsgard's to lose, but I don't think that that's a foregone conclusion. I think Sean Penn could win. I think Delroy Lindo could win.

"In the supporting actress race, I think it could be Amy Madigan. Her win at the Actor Awards, I thought she gave a great speech talking about her career. And I really think it would be a career recognition award for her."

And what about the biggie – best picture? Director Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another has been the favourite throughout awards season.

Birnbaum is still predicting it for the win – but hasn't ruled out a Sinners shock. "I really do think that could be a surprise."

If you're planning to stay up late to watch the ceremony tonight, you can watch the show on ITV1 and ITVX in the UK.

Presenter Jonathan Ross is anchoring the coverage, joined by panellists Elle Osili Wood, Samson Kayo and Fred Asquith, with coverage starting at 10.15pm.

The Sky News entertainment team here in LA will be bringing you updates all day from the red carpet, the ceremony and after parties.

To straddle the time differences that's a loooong day, but don't feel too sorry for us out here in the sunshine.

Having said that, it started out as a misty morning here and the forecast is for cloud today which is a little disappointing after days of blue skies.

The most popular Netflix film of all time, KPop Demon Hunters is the story of a girl group who use secret identities to protect their fans from supernatural forces.

It has crossed cultural barriers and garnered fans around the world, and it's up for two awards today – best animated film and best song, for Golden.

The film has already picked up Critics Choice and Golden Globe awards, and Golden was performed at both the BAFTAs and the Brits in the UK last month after climbing to the top of the official singles chart last August.

Now, it's the Oscars turn to welcome Rei Ami, Ejae and Audrey, the singing voices behind the star characters, for a performance.

The film, for which a sequel has just been announced, is favourite to win in both its categories.

Sinners, One Battle After Another, Marty Supreme, Hamnet, Sentimental Value and Frankenstein are some of the big films up for awards today.

With just a few hours to go now, here's a reminder of all the nominees.

Speaking of Timothee Chalamet, our This Is Why podcast team has taken a deep dive into why the star has dropped from poll position in the race for best actor.

When the nominations were announced he was initially the firm favourite, but the momentum has dipped in recent weeks.

Ourarts and entertainment correspondent Katie Spencer,who's here in LA with me this weekend, and Paula Froelich, senior story producer and on-air talent for NewsNation, explain all to This Is Why host Niall Paterson.

For some filming shoots you have to get creative, and so it was for ourcamera operator-editor Paul Nasrwhen we went to see ping pong experts Diego Schaaf and Wei Wang to find out more about how they coached Timothee Chalamet for the role of Marty Supreme.

You can watch ourarts and entertainment correspondent Katie Spencer's report below – but first, here's Paul on how he filmed it.

"Shoots like these are always an exciting challenge for camera operators and as soon as I was told about it I began preparing which cameras to use and what creative angles could be utilised to create a fun and fast-paced piece.

"One of the key goals I had in mind was to build a series of fluid, seamless sequences whereby the viewer is convinced they're watching one continuous take, rather than multiple shots. I'm editing out here in LA as well as operating the gear so I had full autonomy and I knew exactly where and when to make the necessary 'cuts'.

"Using a Sony FX3 as my primary camera, I placed wireless microphones on both Diego and Katie.Arts and entertainment editor Claire Gregory, who's producing our pieces out here, synced the audio between the multiple cameras by using a good, old fashioned hand clap – a mundane alternative to the iconic film studio clapper boards used in Hollywood.

"In order to make the audience feel part of Katie's back-and-forth with Diego, I strapped a DJI OSMO Action camera to a mount on her chest – which allows us to see the paddle hitting the ball.

"I wanted to include a birds-eye perspective looking down at the table and this was achieved using a light stand with some careful balancing on an unnervingly wobbly chair, booming over the top while Katie and Diego rallied. The Osmo is the perfect camera for this as it offers incredible image stabilisation, taking away any unwanted shaky movements."

Among the best actress nominees today is Kate Hudson for her performance in Song Sung Blue.

The star plays a Milwaukee-based hairdresser who becomes a Neil Diamond tribute performer alongside her husband, Mike Sardina (played by Hugh Jackman), and the film is based on a real-life couple.

Ourentertainment reporter Debbie Ridgardcaught up with her dad, Kurt Russell, during interviews about his show The Madison with Michelle Pfeiffer, and he had this lovely message for the Academy Award nominee.

Russell is the long-term partner of Hudson's mother Goldie Hawn and says he is a "proud dad". Pfeiffer is also a fan, it seems.

Kate, we hope you're reading – and good luck today!

It's still early here, 8am, and Los Angeles is waking up on Oscars morning.

So much hard work has gone into getting Hollywood's Dolby Theatre red-carpet ready in the past few days, and today there's just the small matter of the last-minute vacuuming to take care of ahead of the celebrity arrivals later on.

It's been covered with plastic until last night and there has been no foor or drink allowed, so hopefully there are no crumbs – but this is the Oscars and the carpet has to be pristine.