text: Here's our annual charts of predictions for the 86th Academy Awards. 
   
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   Awards season (which is less a season than the half of the year between September and March) is upon us, and Indiewire is offering up our annual charts of predictions for the grand daddy of them all: The Oscars. 
   
   Check out our predictions for the winners of the 86th Academy Awards below, which will be announced on March 2nd, 2014 (and clearly updated regularly between then and now). 
   
   BEST PICTURE 
   
   BEST DIRECTOR 
   
   BEST ACTOR 
   
   BEST ACTRESS 
   
   BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR 
   
   BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS 
   
   BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY 
   
   BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY 
   
   
   
   BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM 
   
   
   
   BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE 
   
   BEST ANIMATED FEATURE 
   
   BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 
   
   
   
   BEST FILM EDITING 
   
   
   
   BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN 
   
   
   
   BEST COSTUME DESIGN 
   
   BEST ORIGINAL SCORE 
   
   
   
   BEST ORIGINAL SONG 
   
   BEST VISUAL EFFECTS 
   
   
   
   
   
   BEST SOUND EDITING 
   
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   ||||| She will make her second appearance as the show's emcee on the March 2 broadcast. 
   
   Ellen DeGeneres will host this year's Oscars. DeGeneres herself announced the news Friday morning on Twitter, writing, "It's official: I'm hosting the ! I'd like to thank , my wife Portia and, oh dear, there goes the orchestra." 
   
   The Academy is getting an early start on next year's Oscar show. In April, it rehired producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to produce next year's 86th Academy Awards, which will air March 2 on ABC. The decision to bring back the two producers was made by outgoing president Hawk Koch, with the blessing of the board of governors, even though the decision is usually left to the current Academy president. 
   
   PHOTOS: A Day in the Life of Ellen DeGeneres 
   
   DeGeneres' announcement comes immediately after Cheryl Boone Isaacs was elected new president of the Academy on Tuesday. She promptly endorsed the selection of the two producers and said her first order of business was meeting with them to decide on a host. 
   
   Choosing DeGeneres, known for her kindler, gentler humor, signals that the Academy's next awards show will have a decidedly different tone than the 85th Academy Awards, hosted by Seth MacFarlane, who drew criticism for routines like his song about actresses' nudity on film. 
   
   DeGeneres previously hosted the show in 2007 and earned a Primetime Emmy nomination for her work. 
   
   "I am so excited to be hosting the Oscars for the second time. You know what they say -- the third time's the charm," DeGeneres said in a statement. 
   
   COVER STORY: The Booming Business of Ellen DeGeneres ||||| Ellen DeGeneres will host the Oscars. 
   
   The comedian and talk show host made the announcement via her Twitter feed on Friday. 
   
   @TheEllenShow 
   
   Ellen DeGeneres It's official: I'm hosting the #Oscars ! I'd like to thank , my wife Portia and, oh dear, there goes the orchestra. 
   
   DeGeneres has experience hosting the Academy Awards: She previously served as emcee during the 2007 ceremony. 
   
   "I am so excited to be hosting the Oscars for the second time," DeGeneres said in a press release announcing the big news. "You know what they say -- the third time's the charm." 
   
   That DeGeneres was chosen as host should please critics who were unhappy with this year's master of ceremonies, Seth MacFarlane. The "Family Guy" creator was criticized for his opening monologue, which included a parody song called "We Saw Your Boobs" that was directed at actresses who had disrobed onscreen. 
   
   "What I really didn’t like was the song and dance number about seeing actresses boobs," Oscar-winning actress Jane Fonda wrote after the 85th annual Academy Awards this past February. "I agree with someone who said, if they want to stoop to that, why not list all the penises we’ve seen? Better yet, remember that this is a telecast seen around the world watched by families with their children and to many this is neither appropriate or funny." 
   
   Despite the outrage, Oscar telecast producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron thought MacFarlane did a good job as host. "We weren't concerned at that level [of shocking people]," Meron said after the broadcast. "We were concerned with putting on entertainment, which we think we did, and people tuned in great numbers." 
   
   To that end, the 85th annual Academy Awards were watched by 40 million people, an increase of one million from the year before. The show also saw a 20 percent rise in the coveted 18-34 demographic from the 2012 ceremony. 
   
   "We looked at ratings and said, 'Men are not watching, and young men are not watching, and why does that have to be?'" Zadan told The Los Angeles Times in February. 
   
   Zadan and Meron made no mention of ratings in the press release announcing DeGeneres as Oscars host: 
   
   "We are thrilled to have Ellen DeGeneres host the Oscars," the duo said in a statement. "As a longtime friend, we had always hoped to find a project for us to do together and nothing could be more exciting than teaming up to do the Oscars. There are few stars today who have Ellen's gift for comedy, with her great warmth and humanity. She is beloved everywhere and we expect that the audience at the Dolby Theatre, and in homes around the globe, will be as excited by this news as we are." 
   
   The 86th annual Academy Awards will air on ABC on March 2, 2014. Head to the Oscars website for the full press release announcing DeGeneres as host. Watch DeGeneres' monologue from the 2007 Oscars below -- and see a pic of her in action -- below:
target: – Seth MacFarlane won't be back at the Oscars next year for an encore: Instead, Ellen DeGeneres is returning as host for a second time, reports the Huffington Post. DeGeneres herself confirmed via jokey tweet: "It's official: I'm hosting the #Oscars! I'd like to thank @TheAcademy, my wife Portia and, oh dear, there goes the orchestra." DeGeneres hosted previously in 2007 and earned an Emmy nod in the process, notes the Academy's news release via the Hollywood Reporter. The show airs on March 2. (IndieWire is already getting a jump on predictions.)