Oscars 2026 live: Latest updates from the Academy Awards

Hello and welcome to the 98th annual Academy Awards, which is coming in hot from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

This is the big one, folks – the big kahuna of awards season. Directors, producers and stars from all over the globe have been tirelessly campaigning for months, and today they’ll find out if it was all worth it. Who will bring home a coveted golden Oscar?

We’ll be guiding you through all the glitz and glamour, so make sure to keep your eye on our rolling coverage – even if you’re sitting at your desk at work. If you’re also keen to see the actual ceremony, you can watch from 10am (AEDT) on Channel Seven or 7Plus.

Our fashion editor Damien Woolnough and lifestyle reporter Lauren Ironmonger will be guiding you through the best celebrity looks on the red carpet. At 10am, the official award ceremony begins, which I’ll be covering, alongside our culture editor-at-large Michael Idato and culture reporters Karl Quinn and Kayla Olaya.

There’s some major competition this year, from the Sinners v One Battle After Another best picture race to the Michael B. Jordan v Timothee Chalamet ultimate actor showdown. It’s bound to get intense, so settle in and get ready for sparks to fly.

Rose Byrne wasn’t interested in keeping us waiting to see her outfit choice for her Oscars moment. The Australian actress nominated for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You was an early bird arrival in a strapless black Dior gown with floral embellishment executed in crystals.

The gown is by new Dior creative director Jonathan Andersonm with the look finished by a yellow diamond and chocolate enamel choker from Taffin by James De Givenchy.

Byrne has been a style stand out throughout awards season telling Vogue: “The outfits are beginning to blur into one. But what I will say is: a red-carpet dress has to be flattering because you have to feel comfortable in the public eye, but it should also be fun—you can’t take clothes too seriously.”

Euphoria actress Barbie Ferreira could be auditioning for The Gilded Age in a corseted gown on the Oscars red carpet.

Even more surprising is that the elegant evening wear, executed in cerulean blue, comes from the Gap Studio, home of denim day wear in the US.

The elevated approach makes more sense when you remember that designer Zac Posen is the creative director at The Gap.

Could this start a trend? Will we see Just Jeans on the red carpet at the Logies?

Rising star Chase Infiniti has marked her Oscars debut with a lilac Louis Vuitton gown with a cascading ruffle skirt and an opulent De Beers diamond necklace.

The 26-year-old, who some argue was snubbed for her remarkable performance as Leonardo DiCaprio’s daughter in One Battle After Another, may not be nominated tonight. Still, she’s a winner in our hearts with this look that’s very “prom dress on steroids” in all the right ways.

All eyes will be on the top two contenders for best picture: Sinners and One Battle After Another. Ryan Coogler’s vampire horror broke the record for most Oscar nominations ever (16) – a massive achievement for a horror film – and Paul Thomas Anderson’s blistering political dark comedy has been winning awards left, right and centre up until now. It’s really anyone’s game. The same can be said of the best director race, which presumably is also between Coogler and PTA.

Speaking of Sinners, its star Michael B. Jordan (who somehow initially convinced me Smoke and Stack were not played by the same person) is in the running for best actor. He has a fighting chance after winning at the Actor Awards, and following the over-the-top, ballet-hating campaign run by fellow nominee Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme). Chalamet was originally the favourite, but the tides began to shift later in the awards season. Both stars face stiff competition in Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle) and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent).

As for the actresses, Jessie Buckley is practically a shoo-in for best actress thanks to her heartbreaking performance as Agnes Shakespeare in Hamnet. She has won at nearly every other award show this year, so it would be the surprise of the century if she lost to the other nominees (Rose Byrne, Kate Hudson, Emma Stone and Renate Reinsve).

After a rip-roaring debut monologue at last year’s Oscars, good ol’ Conan O’Brien is back at the helm again. The comedian, who is best known as the former host of Late Night with Conan O’Brien, has said he will “get his body in motion” this time around, promising dancing and singing during the ceremony, so equip yourself for that.

Last year, O’Brien roasted everything from Netflix’s price hikes to the mess that was the Emilia Perez Oscar campaign. It was the kind of high-energy, sharp performance one desires from an award show host. Here’s hoping he can deliver once again – goodness knows the industry has offered plenty of material for him over the past year (hello AI actresses and the Warner Bros-Paramount deal)…

As for who will be presenting the awards, we have a sparkling star-studded list, including Nicole Kidman, Sigourney Weaver, Pedro Pascal, Channing Tatum, Robert Downey Jr., Anne Hathaway, Gwyneth Paltrow, Adrien Brody and Mikey Madison. There are plenty more beyond that, so keep an eye out.

And for the entertainment portion of the evening, we’ll see performances of two of the year’s best original song nominees (KPop Demon Hunters’ Golden and Sinners’ I Lied to You), as well as appearances by Josh Groban and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.