--- title: Oscars 2016: A Complete Guide to the Academy Awards description: Everything you need to know about the 2016 Academy Awards, from who's hosting and who's presenting to who's expected to win. canonical: https://time.com/4235711/oscars-2016-guide/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-25T16:32:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:20:20.392Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Everything You Need to Know About the 2016 Oscars og:description: Everything you need to know about the 2016 Academy Awards, from who's hosting and who's presenting to who's expected to win. og:url: https://time.com/4235711/oscars-2016-guide/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82211542cb703a2a/69887f0e428a9e0e3ccd187b/oscar-walkup-lead.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: oscar-walkup-lead og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Everything You Need to Know About the 2016 Oscars twitter:description: Everything you need to know about the 2016 Academy Awards, from who's hosting and who's presenting to who's expected to win. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt82211542cb703a2a/69887f0e428a9e0e3ccd187b/oscar-walkup-lead.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Everything You Need to Know About the 2016 Oscars > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 25, 2016 4:32 PM UTC  Chris Rock, Sam Smith and Daisy Ridley. Chris Rock, Sam Smith and Daisy Ridley.Kevin Mazur, Cliff Lipson, ChinaFotoPress—Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Feb 25, 2016 4:32 PM UTC Between a years-long reputation for producing a [boring ceremony](http://time.com/3716247/oscars-2015-how-to-fix-the-boring-show/) and the recent #OscarsSoWhite [controversy](http://time.com/4180433/oscar-nominations-white-diversity-oscarssowhite/), the Academy has a lot to prove. Here’s a complete guide to the 88th Academy Awards that air on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, Feb. 28., from the shoo-ins to the underdogs to the newfound promise for more gif-able speeches. **Who’s hosting?** Comedian Chris Rock will host the awards for a second time, and his opening monologue is among the most highly anticipated in recent years. Rock came under [pressure](http://time.com/4188395/50-cent-tyrese-chris-rock-oscars-host/) to pull out of the gig in response to the staggering [lack of diversity](http://time.com/4180433/oscar-nominations-white-diversity-oscarssowhite/) among this year’s crop of acting nominees, and rumors followed that he was changing his monologue to address the controversy (which he later [denied](http://time.com/4192268/chris-rock-oscars-so-white/)). Either way, it’s safe to assume that Rock—who [tweeted](https://twitter.com/chrisrock/status/688134422604849152) the day after the nominations were announced that the Oscars were like “The White BET Awards”—won’t stay mum on the issue. **Who’s presenting?** This year’s diverse group of presenters stands out in stark contrast to the lack of diversity among nominees, with many critics [suggesting](https://twitter.com/badnecklace/status/698288775840055296) that the Academy can’t make up for one wrong with another right. Quincy Jones has [said](http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/feb/02/oscars-announce-quincy-jones-kerry-washington-awards-presenters-diversity-row) he plans to use his time onstage to address the issue. Many past winners, including Morgan Freeman, Common, Whoopi Goldberg and Louis Gossett, Jr., will present, as well as Priyanka Chopra, Kevin Hart, Daisy Ridley, Jacob Tremblay and Margot Robbie. See a complete list [here](http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/18/oscars-2016-presenters-morgan-freeman). **Who’s performing?** Three of the five nominees will perform their Oscar-nominated original songs. Lady Gaga, who may well get one step closer to an [EGOT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%5Fof%5Fpeople%5Fwho%5Fhave%5Fwon%5FAcademy,%5FEmmy,%5FGrammy,%5Fand%5FTony%5FAwards), will perform “[Til It Happens to You](http://time.com/4146663/lady-gaga-rape-timestalks/)” from _The Hunting Ground_; Sam Smith will croon _Spectre_’s “[Writing’s on the Wall](http://time.com/4061103/sam-smith-james-bond-theme-video/)”; and the Weeknd will carry the torch for _Fifty Shades of Grey_ with “[Earned It](http://time.com/3645558/the-weeknd-50-shades-of-grey-soundtrack-song/).” Performances of the other two nominated songs, from _Youth_ and _Racing Extinction_, were chopped to save time. The Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl will also be there to serve the evening with a slice of rock and roll with a mysterious “special performance.” **Who** **_won’t_** **be there—and where will they be instead?** Several people who might otherwise have attended the ceremony have announced plans not to go, as a statement against the lack of inclusion among nominees. [Spike Lee](http://time.com/4186613/spike-lee-oscars-white/) will be at a Knicks game. [Jada Pinkett Smith](http://time.com/4184380/spike-lee-oscar-boycott-oscarssowhite/) and [Will Smith ](http://time.com/4188459/will-smith-oscars-boycott/)will neither attend nor watch, though they haven’t said what they’ll do instead. _Selma_ director Ava DuVernay and _Creed_ director Ryan Coogler will attend [#JusticeForFlint](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/justiceforflint-tickets-21891674588), a special event supporting Flint, Mich., a mostly black city in crisis because of a [contaminated water supply](http://time.com/4187382/water-crisis-flint-michigan-photography/). **Who’s expected to win?** The Best Picture field is wide open at this stage, with [predictions](http://time.com/4233141/oscars-2016-predictions/) having shifted from _Spotlight_ early on to _The Big Short_ and, more recently, _The Revenant_. In the lead acting categories, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brie Larson have dominated the conversation for their roles, respectively, in _The Revenant_ and _Room_. Sylvester Stallone is widely expected to nab Best Supporting Actor for _Creed_, though many feel a surprise upset by _Bridge of Spies’_ Mark Rylance would be well-deserved. If he wins Best Director, Alejandro Iñárritu would be the first director since 1950 to win the award two years in a row. Other frontrunners include _Inside Out_ for Best Animated Feature and _Son of Saul_ for Best Foreign Language Film. _Mad Max: Fury Road_ has 10 nominations, and could see some wins in the technical categories, if nothing else. **Anything different about this year?** Why, yes: This year’s producers, Reginald Hudlin and David Hill, have done viewers a solid with an attempt to make [acceptance speeches](http://time.com/4214427/oscars-thank-you-scroll-acceptance-speech/) a bit more engaging. Nominees will submit, in advance, a list of the people they’d like to thank, and those names will run across the bottom of the screen while the winners fill their 45 seconds (ideally) with something more entertaining (they are entertainers, after all). Could this be the year someone bests the [aw-shucks charm ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ7d4Rx7ftI)of Julie Andrews, the [brevity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Q%5FnyjuEak) of Joe Pesci or the [earnest humor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6Egi5V%5FjNU) of Robin Williams, whose speech included both Yiddish and the compliment, “You’re a can of corn”? 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