The biggest awards ceremony in the world is almost here and cinema lovers can't keep calm. However, this time the Academy Awards, or Oscars as they are popularly called, has generated much controversy and hype. For starters, there will be no host. Comedian Kevin Hart was forced to bow down just two days after he was brought on board, when his homophobic tweets resurfaced on the internet. The Academy made another surprising decision when it decided to drop four categories and this brought about heavy backlash, causing the Academy to retract its decision. However, all said and done, the Academy Awards are almost here, and here is when, and where you can watch it. OSCARS 2019 DATE IN INDIA The ceremony will kick off at 8pm in US on February 24, which means the live telecast will begin at 6:30 am IST on Monday, February 25. Live coverage of the red carpet will be live-streamed on Twitter at 5.30 am. WHERE TO WATCH THE OSCARS In India, Oscars 2019 will be broadcast on Star Movies, Star Movies HD, and Star Movies Select HD. If you want a live stream, go watch on Hotstar. Films like Black Panther, Vice, Roma, Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star Is Born are among the top contenders for the big award night. ALSO SEE| Oscars 2019 this Sunday: 91st Academy Awards full nominations list ALSO SEE I Oscars 2019 will have no host for first time in 30 years<doc-sep>The 91st Academy Awards will honour the biggest and best Hollywood films of 2018 on February 25. Eight films will contest for the top award at the Oscars. They are Black Panther, BlackKklansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Green Book, Roma, A Star is Born and Vice. Before the Oscars, here is a basic rundown of things you should know. Notable presenters The 2019 Oscars will be the first ceremony in several decades to be conducted without a host. Kevin Hart was originally announced as host, but soon vacated the post after his controversial old tweets were unearthed. The Academy will hope for a star-studded lineup of presenters to make up for the lack of host. They include Chadwick Boseman, Emilia Clarke, Chris Evans, Jason Momoa, Charlize Theron and several others. The favourites Netflix’s Roma and the British period drama The Favourite lead the pack with 10 nominations each. Christian Bale and Rami Malek are considered front-runners for the Best Actor award, while Glenn Close, Rachel Weisz and Lady Gaga are in the running for Best Actress. Alfonso Cuaron is poised to win his second Best Director Oscar, while the Best Picture race has yet to crown a favourite. Also read: Oscars 2019 predictions: From Roma to Rami Malek, here are the most likely winners in six major categories This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Bradley Cooper, left, and Lady Gaga in a scene from A Star is Born. (AP) Performers Jennifer Hudson, Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper and others will be performing the nominated songs at the ceremony, which will be opened by a live performance by Queen, whose biopic Bohemian Rhapsody has been nominated for Best Picture. Adam Lambert will act as lead vocalist. Where to watch in India The Oscars will be telecast live at 6:30 am in India, preceded by the red carpet event at 5:30 am. You can watch the show on Star Movies and Star Movies HD on Monday. There will be a repeat telecast at 8:30 pm. The red carpet will also be live streamed on Twitter and Facebook. You can stream the Oscars on Hotstar at 6:30 am. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10<doc-sep>It's not been a good year for the Oscars. In September last year, its organising body — the Academy — announced that it was adding a Best Popular Film category and that some awards would be presented during commercial breaks. The backlash that followed led to the former being scrapped less than a month later. And when the 2019 Oscars revealed which categories would be hidden behind ad breaks, it brought out another swift wave of backlash, prompting the Academy to once again retract its steps. In between, the 2019 Oscars' host choice — Kevin Hart — turned out to be problematic. Hart's homophobic tweets resurfaced, which forced him to step down. With the Academy unable to find a new host, the 91st Academy Awards — as they are officially called — will be the first in three decades that won't have a host. And there was a time when the Academy had chosen to not invite all Original Song nominees to perform, which too naturally backfired. Conceptually, all these failed attempts — by the Academy and its US channel partner, ABC — were a marked effort to trim the runtime of the self-congratulatory awards ceremony to less than 3 hours and bring in new, younger viewers, what with ratings plummeting to a record low of 26.5 million in the US last year. India is one of the biggest foreign markets, with over 4.5 million viewers reportedly. But with every single decision mired in controversy, the 2019 Oscars will likely be as long as always. The impact on ratings remains to be seen, but there is a possibility that the controversies might actually benefit the ceremony in the end. The 2019 Oscars will take place Sunday, February 24. The main ceremony will kick off at 5pm PT / 8pm ET in the US on ABC. The red-carpet pre-show begins at 3:30pm PT / 6:30pm PT and can be live streamed on Twitter in the US. Oscars 2019 time in India For those of us in India, the live telecast of the 2019 Oscars will begin at 6:30am IST on Monday, February 25. Live coverage of the red-carpet festivities will start at 5:30am IST. If you don't live in the US or India, here's a handy link to convert the Oscars 2019 date and time for your region. And you can head to the official website to find out where to watch the 2019 Oscars in your country. Preparations underway for the 2019 Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California Photo Credit: Robert Gladden/AMPAS Oscars 2019 live stream India and broadcast In India, the 2019 Oscars will be broadcast on Star Movies, Star Movies HD, and Star Movies Select HD. If you'd rather catch a live stream, Hotstar has you covered. And if you don't feel like getting up in the morning, Star Movies will have a repeat telecast later on Monday at 8:30pm IST. Will Oscars 2019 be live in India? Yes, Oscars 2019 will be broadcast and streamed live in India. Oscars 2019 host There is no host at the 2019 Oscars, as we noted in the beginning. Instead, presenters — including the likes of Serena Williams, Barbra Streisand, Diego Luna, Queen Latifah, and Trevor Noah among others — will introduce segments and Best Picture nominees. And as always, we will have dozens of celebrities announce the winners of the 24 Oscar categories. This year, the line-up of presenters includes Elsie Fisher, Danai Gurira, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael B. Jordan, Michael Keaton, Helen Mirren, John Mulaney, Tyler Perry, Pharrell Williams, Krysten Ritter, Paul Rudd, Michelle Yeoh, Javier Bardem, Angela Bassett, Chadwick Boseman, Emilia Clarke, and Laura Dern. Samuel L. Jackson, Stephan James, Keegan-Michael Key, KiKi Layne, James McAvoy, Melissa McCarthy, Jason Momoa, Sarah Paulson, Awkwafina, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Tina Fey, Allison Janney, Brie Larson, Jennifer Lopez, Frances McDormand, Gary Oldman, Amy Poehler, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Charlize Theron, Tessa Thompson and Constance Wu will also present awards at the 2019 Oscars. Oscars 2019 nominees A total of 52 films are nominated at the 2019 Oscars. Check out the full list that was announced by the Academy back in January. If you're looking for a deep-dive into the eight films nominated for the night's biggest prize, Best Picture, we also have you covered. What other Oscars 2019 nominations are noteworthy? Thanks to Roma, Netflix has picked up its first-ever Best Picture nomination at the Oscars — and several other categories. Roma also has the most number of nominations for a foreign-language film (10), tying it with Ang Lee's 2000 film Crouching Tigger, Hidden Dragon. And its filmmaker, Alfonso Cuarón, has tied an Oscar record for most nominations for a single film — four — due to his heavy involvement across the board on Roma. He's the writer, director, cinematographer, and one of the producers. Meanwhile, Black Panther is also making history as the first-ever superhero picture to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. We feel that's partly owed to The Dark Knight. Black Panther Is the King of Marvel Movies Lastly, 52 women are nominated in the 20 non-gendered categories, which represents a slight increase from last year's count of 44. Christian Bale and Rachel Weisz (centre), with Amy Adams, Spike Lee and Ruth Carter at the Oscar Nominee Luncheon Photo Credit: Aaron Poole/AMPAS Oscars 2019 performances After the backlash to the proposed changes, singers of all five nominated original songs were invited to perform. Unfortunately, Kendrick Lamar and SZA cannot make it due to logistical concerns. But the rest will be there. That includes Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga with “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, Bette Midler with “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns, Jennifer Hudson with “I'll Fight” from the documentary RBG, and David Rawlings and Gillian Welch with “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Additionally, Queen + Adam Lambert will also grace the stage, since the Queen-Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody is a nominee this year. Oscars 2019 predictions Let's do this in the order of our confidence. Roma's Alfonso Cuarón is a lock for Best Director, while “Shallow” from A Star Is Born seems set to pick up Best Original Song. Mahershala Ali is a strong pick in Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Green Book, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse looks set to upset the Pixar run at the Oscars and steal the Best Animated Feature Film prize. We think it's between Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) and Christian Bale (Vice) for Best Actor, and Olivia Colman (The Favourite) and Glenn Close (The Wife) for Best Actress. We aren't too sure about Best Supporting Actress, but if we had to pick, we would go with Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk). And of course, then there's Best Picture. Roma comes closest to being a front-runner, though it's possible that Green Book could spoil the party. Personally, we prefer Roma.<doc-sep>
It’s time to talk about one of the much talked about awards night of the year, Oscars 2019. Here's everything you want to know about the glitziest awards night. The event will be live streamed in India also and there is a lot of curiosity among the fans. Read to know more. Now that the Golden Globes and the Grammys are in the past, it’s time to talk about one of the much talked about awards night of the year that the world is eyeing at. The much awaited biggest and glitziest awards night of the year, Oscars 2019 is all set to bring all Hollywood legends under one roof. The nominations for the 91st Academy Awards in various categories were announced almost a month ago and the list was a combination of awards season favourites, surprise entries and some shocking entries. Hollywood's big night will witness who’s who of from the Hollywood entertainment industry putting their best fashion foot forward. The Oscars are set to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on February 24, 2019, in the US. The event will be live streamed in India also. Well, there is a lot of curiosity among the fans to know where to and how to watch every moment from the Oscars 2019. Don’t you worry, here’s everything you want to know about Oscar 2019: Watch the moment these filmmakers became #Oscars nominees. pic.twitter.com/QujyP4R9Dk — The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 19, 2019 Oscars 2019 host: Oscars, this year will have no hosts instead there will be presenters who will be introducing segments and Best Picture nominees. The line-up of presenters includes Samuel L. Jackson, Stephan James, Keegan-Michael Key, KiKi Layne, James McAvoy, Helen Mirren, John Mulaney, Tyler Perry, Pharrell Williams, Krysten Ritter, Laura Dern, Maya Rudolph, Angela Bassett, Amandla Stenberg, Melissa McCarthy, Sarah Paulson and Tessa Thompson among others. Kevin Hart stepped down as host following a backlash over his previous homophobic comments and tweets. He tweeted about the same, “ I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscars.” I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past. — Kevin Hart (@KevinHart4real) December 7, 2018 Oscars 2019 date, time in the US: Oscars 2019 will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on February 24, 2019, at 5 pm PT /8 pm ET in the US on ABC. The pre-red carpet event will kick start at 3:30 pm PT /6:30 pm PT. Oscars 2019 time in India: For people living in India, the live telecast of the 2019 Oscars will begin at 6:30 am IST on Monday, February 25. The red carpet will start at 5:30 am IST. Oscars 2019 performances: Jennifer Hudson will sing I’ll Fight from Oscar-nominated documentary RBG, Nominees Gillian Welch and David Rawlings will also perform and Bette Midler will represent Mary Poppins Returns for a rendition of The Place Where Lost Things Go. There’s a lot more in the store from the biggest Hollywood awards night of the year. Oscars 2019 where to watch awards night: In India, fans can watch the awards night on Star Movies, Star Movies HD, and Star Movies Select HD. If you want to watch live coverage, Hotstar is the place. Oscars 2019 nominees: The Academy acknowledged Bradley Cooper's A Star Is Born with a nomination in the Best Picture category, Bradley was shrugged off for Best Director. Meanwhile, Marvel Studios' Black Panther made history by becoming the first superhero film ever to receive seven Oscar nominations. Around 52 films are nominated, here is the full list of the nominations for the 91st Academy Awards: Oscars 2019 Full Nominations List: Black Panther, Roma, A Star Is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody score big Credits :NDTV Read More