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Biggest mistake in Oscars history after La La Land wrongly named Best Picture winner

La La Land was announced as the best film winner at the 2017 Oscars on Sunday night – but then had to hand the award over to Moonlight after a mistake was noticed in what was the most dramatic moment in the history of the Academy Awards.

In extraordinary scenes, the La La Land team were halfway through their victory speeches when it was noticed that the wrong film name had been read out by Warren Beatty and that Moonlight was actually the winner.

"There's a mistake. Moonlight, you won best picture," Jordan Horowitz, La La Land producer, announced to the gasps of a shocked crowd. He held up the card clearly showing the winner was Moonlight.

Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz, the partners at PricewaterhouseCoopers who count the votes, establish the winners and place them in sealed envelopes before giving them to the awards presenters, are looking like the ones responsible for the error.

The accountancy firm had previously boasted that their 83-year contract had never come up for tender because they "always" do a good job, it has emerged.

That relationship could be in doubt for the first time after PwC and Academy executives were seen in crisis meetings following the on-stage blunder.

PwC have since released an apology, saying: "The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred." 

Playbacks from the ceremony show Cullinan, Ruiz and other behind-the-scenes Oscars staff take to the stage to discuss the mix-up. Producer Fred Berger gamely continued with his speech before admitting defeat: "We lost, by the way", as stars and crew of La La Land shuffled off the stage and handed their gold statuettes to a jubilant Moonlight team.

Beatty said he had been given the wrong envelope to open. "I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, La La Land," he said, adding he had not done it "to try to be funny".

Emma Stone said backstage: "I was holding my best actress card the whole time so whatever story you heard, I don't know what happened, but I wanted to tell you that."

Casey Affleck won best actor for Manchester By The Sea while Stone won best actress and Damien Chazelle best director both for La La Land. 

Viola Davis and Mahershala Ali won supporting Oscars for Fences and Moonlight respectively. 

The most glamorous looks from the Oscars 2017 red carpet 1:37PM

That's the Oscars over for another year

The parties will still be raging in Hollywood – and, we hear, crisis talks are being hosted at PwC – after one of the most memorable and momentous Academy Awards in recent history. Moonlight's limelight may have been stolen in the kerfuffle over Best Picture winner, but one thing's for sure: nobody's going to forget this one. 

12:41PM

PwC in crisis talks with Academy over Oscars blunder

The PriceWaterhouseCoopers auditors responsible for the biggest fiasco in Oscars history had previously boasted that their 83-year-old contract had never come up for tender because they "always" do a good job, it has emerged.

Brian Cullinan, one of the only two people in the world supposed to know the Oscar winners before the ceremony, had said:  “It’s such a long-term relationship that we know intricately how everything works, the timing of it, the process that we use, and they have absolute trust in us and what we do.”

But that relationship could be in doubt for the first time today, after PwC and Academy executives were seen in crisis meetings following an on-stage catastrophe in which La La Land was mistakenly announced as best picture.

Read full story here

12:00PM

Is the Best Picture envelope the guest of honour at the after-parties?

Warren Beatty used to be the talk of the town because of the women he had on his arm, but tonight it's because of the envelope he's got tucked under it. A video doing the rounds on Twitter suggests that Beatty's taken the troublesome Best Picture envelope to the Oscar after-parties – and everyone wants a look at it:

10:44AM

Were Ryan Gosling's giggles all for show?

While La La Land's producers and cast tried to make sense of not actually winning the Best Picture Oscar, Ryan Gosling stood on the stage and tried to suppress his laughter, much to viewers' amusement

But BBC Radio 4 reports that Gosling had wiped the smirk off his face by the time he had to leave for the after-party. The Corporation's reporter, Martha Kearney, said she was stood behind Gosling while he was waiting for a limo and he had a "face like thunder". 

Kearney also reported that she had heard that PwC were having a "crisis meeting". 

 

10:33AM

James Corden on La La Land gaffe: Jimmy Kimmel handled it really well.

Nick's catching up with all the stars at the Vanity Fair Party, including James Corden. The British actor has become quite the darling of Hollywood since taking over The Late Late Show from Craig Ferguson in 2015, and praised fellow late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel's handling of the Best Picture fandango: 

"It was incredible, astonishing", he told The Telegraph. "I think Jimmy (Kimmel) handled it really well. He was one of the best Oscar hosts ever. You never think something like that is going to happen."

10:11AM

If you're just catching up with the Best Picture fiasco

Here's what went down - at a glance:

How it happened | Oscars Best Picture fiasco

 

10:05AM

Faye Dunaway speaks about the La La Land Best Picture mix-up

Nick Allen, our man in LA, caught up with Dunaway at the Vanity Fair party, where she stood at a white table near the bar sipping a cocktail from a tumbler and clutching a white purse, still wearing her Oscar dress.

The actress said: "It was very quick, I can't talk about it. The card read that way. It was a very odd thing."

Dunaway stressed that her Bonnie and Clyde cast-mate wasn't to blame: "It wasn't Warren's fault."

She then chatted with a male companion about house moving before leaving the party at 12.45am.

Read the full story here.

Best jewellery at the Oscars 2017 9:48AM

Another blunder: In Memoriam segment pays tribute to 'alive and well' producer

The people in charge of the annual In Memoriam reel had a long list of stars who had died in 2016 to include, with Carrie Fisher, her mother Debbie Reynolds and Prince all passing away last year. That made the inclusion of Jan Chapman, a producer who told Variety she is "alive and well”, particularly awkward. 

Read the story in full here.

9:41AM

Who was to blame between Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty?

They may have once played partners-in-crime as Bonnie and Clyde, but the jury's out on whether Dunaway and Beatty could have handled the misleading envelope better. Social media can't decide whether Beatty made Dunaway announce the wrong answer, or if she shouldn't have read the card at all. 

Read the full story and social reaction here.

8:47AM

Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel criticised for joking about non-white people's names

While the celebrities dance the night away, the controversies start to emerge.  Host Jimmy Kimmel has been attracting criticism for a 'tasteless' joke about what he called 'unpronouncable' non-western names while hosting the 2017 Oscars.

Read the story in full here.

8:32AM

The after-parties begin: Elton John, Lily Collins and Samuel L Jackson arrive

Still reeling from what's already being called the biggest mistake in Oscars history, the glitterati are off to their after-parties. Here's some photos from the arrivals so far:

 Telegraph Fashion have already made their calls on the best after-party looks:

The best looks from the 2017 Oscars after-parties

 

8:23AM

PriceWaterhouseCoopers: 'The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope'

The accountants have wasted no time in releasing a statement, explaining that yes, the wrong envelope got into Beatty's hands:

We sincerely apologise to Moonlight, La La Land, Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture. The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred. We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation.

6:19AM

Moonlight director Barry Jenkins has been talking backstage

Nick Allen, our reporter in LA, has this on the disaster from victorious Moonlight director Barry Jenkins back stage:

Barry Jenkins said he had been given "no explanation" so far by the Academy.

"Things just happen," he said. "I wanted to see the card. Warren refused to show the card to anybody before he showed it to me.

"He came and showed it to me. He said he had to show it to me and that made me feel better about what happened."

The card said Moonlight but Mr Jenkins added: "There were two cards."

He added: "The Lalaland folks were so gracious, I can't even imagine being in their postion and having to do that."

He said what happened "made something very special  even more special but not in the way I expected.

"The last 20 minutes of my life have been insane. I don't think my life could be changed in any more dramatic way.

"Hot damn, we won best picture."

 

6:16AM

Tim Robey tries to make sense of it all

Oscars? Meh. Booooring. La La Land, the hot favourite, won 7, just as everyone guessed. Any hope of a sneak upset was dashed when Faye Dunaway read out the…

Wait. There’s confusion. Hold up a second. The wrong envelope? What? What just happened? What is Warren Beatty trying to explain just happened? Can this possibly be true?

In a last-ditch twist so universally jaw-dropping that M. Night Shyamalan has already – quite genuinely – taken credit for it on Twitter, the actual winner of Best Picture was not La La Land at all. It was Moonlight.

It took an incredible several minutes for this monumental screw-up to be witnessed, addressed and rectified. In this time, the poor La La Land producers had time to thank their agents, their wives, and everyone else in the room while we sat and yawned. Then one of them stepped in with big, urgent news. “This is not a joke,” he was forced to explain. “Moonlight won.”

In came Beatty again. Suddenly it all made sense. He had stared inside the envelope in such bafflement, groping within in case it contained something he couldn’t initially find. It looked like he was horsing around, but he was clearly just confused. He was holding the one that said “Emma Stone, La La Land” inside it. And Faye Dunaway saw the last three words, and fatefully delivered them to the world.

But Moonlight – truly the year’s *best* picture – was the title inside the envelope they should have been given. Moonlight! For it to win in this fashion was an insane coup, a heaven-sent miracle for the movie’s fans. We will pore over this footage for years, scrutinising every detail. The Oscars have never dealt a surprise like this, in 90 years, not once. Narrative drama in any format may have just peaked. And every jaw in Hollywood is still being scraped off the floor.

6:02AM

Jimmy Kimmel: our verdict

"Kimmel's hazing of Matt Damon all night has been the gift that keeps on giving," says our film critic Tim Robey. "Even amid more dubious skits, like the very divisive busload-of-tourists-rocking-up, he's had this to return to time and again. One minute Javier Bardem is extolling the gifts of peak Streep; the next Kimmel is getting misty-eyed over Damon in WE BOUGHT A ZOO??! No one could have seen that coming. Inspired."

Here are the Mean Tweets.

 

5:54AM

Nick Allen has this from Emma Stone backstage

Emma Stone tells our man in LA: "I was holding my best actress card the whole time so whatever story you heard, I don't know what happened, but I wanted to tell you that.  I f------ love Moonlight. I think it's one of the best movies of all time. When it happened I was just on such a buzzy stage, I was already on another planet. I think it's a good outcome but a very strange happening for Oscar history."

Stone, who *did* win an Oscar for La La Land, also says she's going to dance the night away. "I'm going to go out with a bunch of my friends and dance and drink champagne, that's my only plan. Its been surreal to play this woman. I've lived in LA for 13 years, I came here when I was 15 to audition. I knew what it felt like to go on audition after audition."

Clutching her Oscar she adds: "I've been looking down at it like it was a newborn child, then I thought this is a naked man. Its creepy. How did that turn into a naked man story?"

5:46AM

Viola Davis has been talking back stage

She told our reporter in LA: "I grew up in apartments that were condemned and rat infested and I just wanted to be good at something. This is just like the miracle of God and dreaming big and hoping it sticks and lands, and it did. Who knew?"

5:40AM

Twitter reacts

Unsurprisingly, Twitter has been quick to react to the embarrassing reversal, with a number of celebrities choosing to make topical jokes about the mess-up.  

 

5:15AM

Moonlight wins Best Picture -  but La La Land is announced by mistake 

In a jaw-dropping turn of events, the wrong winner for Best Picture was read out...and the error was only realised after Damien Chazelle and the La La Land team had taken to the stage.

Halfway through his acceptance speech, La La Land's producer Justin Hurwitz suddenly clocked that his film hadn't won: "Guys, I’m sorry, no, there’s a mistake" he said. "Moonlight, you guys won best picture. I’m going to be really proud to hand this to my friends from Moonlight."

Warren Beatty explained how the mistake happened: it looks like the actor was given the wrong envelope by mistake.

"I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, La La Land - that’s why I took such a long look at you and Faye [Dunaway]," he told the audience. "I wasn’t trying to be funny."

 

4:57AM

Emma Stone wins Best Actress

As many predicted, the La La Land star has claimed the Aacdemy Award for Best Actress.

"To the women in this category – you were all so extraordinary and I look up to you and admire you," said Stone as she accepted her award.

" It has been the greatest honour to stand alongside you. I realise a moment like this is a huge confluence of luck and opportunity so I want to thank Damien Chazelle to be given the opportunity. Ryan Gosling, thank you for making me laugh and always raising the bar and being the best partner on this crazy adventure. To all the people that worked on this movie, I’m going to find you all individually and I’m going to thank you. I’m going to hug the hell out of you when the feeling re-enters my body. I still have a lot of growing and learning to do, and this guy (the Oscar statue) is a really beautiful symbol of continuing to do that."

4:55AM

Best Actress: our predictions

Will win: Emma Stone (La La Land)Stone is a delight in general, and delightful in La La Land, and here’s an opportunity to appreciate everything she does so delightfully. It won’t feel like the most technically challenging work ever to win this prize, but making the hoofing look easy, in particular, is anything but.

Should win: Isabelle Huppert (Elle) It’s glorious that Huppert is finally an Oscar nominee, and gasp-inducing that Elle was the vehicle to do it. She gives us a rape victim unlike any other the screen, or real life, has ever seen, and makes a brilliant case for responding exactly how she damn well chooses.

4:54AM

 Casey Affleck wins Best Actor

In an emotional speech, the Manchester By The Sea star thanked the film's director Kenneth Lonergan and producer Matt Damon.

Affleck also paid tribute to fellow Best Actor nominee Denzel Washington.

"It means so much to me thank you. One of the first people who taught me how to act was Denzel Washington and I just met him for the first time tonight. I’m only here because of all the talent and goodwill of so many people impossible to name. Man, I wish I had something and more meaningful to say, but I’m really honoured to be part of this movie," he added.

 

4:47AM

Best Actor is up next - here are our predictions

Will win: Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea). Denzel Washington, who won the SAG award for Fences, is neck-and-neck, but Affleck’s unforgettably soul-sick performance should just about edge it, emboldening voters to look past the sex-assault charges that have mired his campaign in controversy.

Should win: Casey Affleck. Going just by the work on screen, this really ought to be Affleck’s moment. He masters not only the emotional payload of Manchester but its whole mood, one of six-feet-under self-recrimination and grief suppressed, never conquered.

4:45AM

Damien Chazelle wins Best Director

"This was a movie about love, and I was lucky enough to fall in love while making it," Chazelle said at the end of his speech as he thanked his partner, Olivia Hamilton.

Chazelle may have won, but our critic Tim Robey is adamant the award should have gone to Barry Jenkins for Moonlight: "Wildly acclaimed for his second feature, Jenkins feels like the more mature talent," he says, "and the most heartening success story of the season. There’s not an ounce of bloat to Moonlight, which balances its searing performances and woozily intoxicating visual style like a dream."

4:41AM

Best Director is up next...

Should Damien Chazelle win best director for La La Land - and let's face it, he probably will - he'll become the youngest ever winner in that category (he's 32).

Here's a picture of him (with La La Land stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling) being sickeningly young.

 

4:36AM

Moonlight wins Best Adapted Screenplay

Barry Jenkins completely rewrote Tarell Alvin McCraney's play  In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue to create Moonlight. With its masterful economy and tender character-building, it's  a deserving winner.

"To all the black and brown boys and girls and non-gender conforming,...this is for you," said Jenkins in his speech.

4:33AM

Manchester By The Sea wins Best Original screenplay

In his acceptance speech, Kenneth Lonergan, who is both the writer and director of Manchester By The Sea, spoke movingly about his own family and paid tribute to his mother, his late father, and his stepfather.

He also thanked Manchester By The Sea producer Matt Damon.

"I love movies, I love being part of movies. Thank you Matt Damon, the whole thing started with you," the director said.

4:28AM

Best Original Screenplay is up next - and here are our predictions

Will win: Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

It’s a photo-finish here with La La Land, as in most of the races, but if there’s one award Damien Chazelle might personally be prepared to lose, it should probably be this one. It feels like a natural opportunity to reward Lonergan for his beautifully structured writing on Manchester, which would otherwise only be taking home a sole acting award, if that. 

Should win: Mike Mills (20th Century Women)

No slight to the thoroughly deserving Lonergan, but there’s an even better script in contention here – and it’s the only nomination in sight for Mills’s gloriously witty, capacious character study, which missed out on Best Actress consideration for Annette Bening. It doesn’t have a chance of winning in a million years, but let’s not forget all about it.

4:24AM

The In Memoriam was quietly devasating

The Oscars’ annual In Memoriam reel is always an emotional interlude, but this year’s was a 15-hankie wipe-out, soundtracked by Sara Bareilles. Carrie Fisher, Prince, Debbie Reynolds, John Hurt, Gene Wilder, Mary Tyler Moore and Anton Yelchin were among the many stars and filmmakers whose talents were commemorated.

Sadly, Bill Paxton, whose death at the age of 61 was announced on Sunday, wasn't included. 

Alan Rickman and David Bowie, both of whom died in January last year, were remembered at the 2016 ceremony.

4:19AM

La La Land's City of Stars wins Best Original Song

And rightly so, we reckon: it's a stirringly beautiful piece of music.

4:16AM

Samuel L Jackson presents the Academy Award for Best Original Score to La La Land's Justin Hurtwitz

In his speech, Hurtwitz thanked "all the LA musicians" who brought his music to life.

"Thanks to the LA musicians who worked on the film. I just put notes on the page - they’re the ones who made it sound beautiful," he said.

"This film was made with so much love, passion and struggles and it was all thanks to you, Damien," he added, addressing the film's director Damien Chazelle.

 "You’re a poetic genius and I’m so happy I met you and I really love you man. Emma, Ryan, I think you’re incredible, thanks for all the collaboration."

4:14AM

Best Original Score is coming up next..here are our predictions

Will win: Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)

If everyone’s favourite Oscar-friendly musical doesn’t win for its music, it’ll come as something of a shock. Hurwitz, a contemporary and old Harvard buddy of his director’s, certainly composed a couple of earworms here which even non-La La Land fans might find themselves idly whistling in the bathroom, before catching themselves and cursing.

Should win: Mica Levi (Jackie)

Still, 29-year-old Levi ought to be romping home with this. After giving Scarlett Johansson’s alien predator an unforgettable siren call in Under the Skin, she delves with disorienting verve into Jackie Kennedy’s fractured psyche – her downward-sliding string motifs, dropping an octave, are a stunning effective foundation for what the whole film is doing.

4:09AM

Stars reading mean tweets goes down a storm

Jimmy Kimmel just did an Oscars edition of his popular Mean Tweets feature from his talk show...and people are absolutely loving it. 

Patrick • Now

Poor Tilda Swinton was even confrinted with this (uncanny) lookalike:

 

3:59AM

La La Land wins Best Cinematography

Told you it would.  Linus Sandgren takes to the stage to accept the award. This means Suicide Squad will always have more Oscars than Scorsese's apparent masterpiece* Silence.

* snore-fest

3:57AM

The Best Cinematography award is up next...

Will win: Linus Sandgren (La La Land)

La La Land is spick and span, all right – those primary colours pop against the blue night sky, and Sandgren had to orchestrate some splashy long takes like that highway number at the start. The Swedish d.p., who shot David O. Russell’s American Hustle and Joy, looks poised to ride a La La Land semi-sweep and win here from his first nomination.

Should win: James Laxton (Moonlight)

Any other year, Arrival’s Bradford Young, or indeed Rodrigo Prieto, achieving Silence’s sole nomination, would seem like the geniuses in the room. But Laxton’s astonishing work makes those palm trees and lapping waves a textural backdrop that only Miami could provide. His hypnotic close-ups, meanwhile, frame every face like a religious portrait.

3:55AM

Jimmy Kimmel tweets Donald Trump

In an unpresidented turn of events, the US president is staying very quiet. 

 

3:50AM

Hungarian film Sing wins best live action short

Released last year, Sing tells the story of a girl who joins her school's choir in Budapest in 1991...and faces a tough choice, after she is told not to sing out loud.

3:48AM

The White Helmets wins best documentary short

Salma Hayek and David Oyelowo have given the award to another film affected by the travel ban: Syrian cinematographer Khaled Khateeb was denied entry to the US so couldn’t attend.

The US Department of Homeland Security stated last week that they had discovered "derogatory information" about the filmmaker.

The documentary The White Helmets tells the story of the Syrian rescue group, who  regularly risk their live saving civilians caught up in the country's bloody war.

3:44AM

Michael J Fox and Seth Rogan, plus a DeLorean, win  viewers' hearts

Seth Rogen, wearing future shoes, and Michael J Fox exit an actual DeLorean to present the award for film editing. They have much better chemistry than Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson, who just presented an award, too.

Rogen's surprise musical number also went down well:

 

3:39AM

Hacksaw Ridge claims second Oscar of the night, for Film Editing

La La Land, in contrast, is losing, badly in the technical categories. It's now missed out in at least three of the categories everyone was widely predicting it would win, and has only claimed one award so far... 

 

 

3:33AM

The Jungle Book wins the Academy Award for Achievement in Visual Effects

Jon Favreau's dark update of the beloved 1967 Disney classic swapped hand-drawn animation for fearsome CGI animals. The Telegraph's Robbie Collin was particularly impressed by the menacing tiger Shere Khan. He wrote: "Khan, who’s voiced by Idris Elba, is a wholly computer-animated creation. But he’s realised in such extraordinarily hair-perfect detail, and moves with such persuasive physicality and weight, he might as well be the real, red-in-tooth-and-claw deal."

 

3:26AM

Jimmy Kimmel brings a Hollywood sightseeing tour into the Oscars

One lucky - if  a little bemused - couple found themselves "married" by Denzel Washington...and Chicago tourist Gary has become a Twitter sensation.

 

3:16AM

La La Land wins its first Academy Award -  for best production design

Husband and wife team David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco claimed the award.

3:12AM

Zootopia wins best animated feature 

We loved Zootopia - it's hilarious, smart, allegorical - but Laika's stunning, meticulously crafted stop-motion epic Kubo and the Two Strings is simply life-affirming. Would have loved to see that triumph. 

 

3:10AM

Disney-Pixar's Piper wins best animated short film

We've not seen Piper...but, based on this trailer, it looks pretty great: 

 

3:07AM

Sorry: we just drifted off for a minute

Sting just sang a song from the unflinching documentary Jim: The James Foley Story. It's OK, I guess. Bit booorrrrrrrringgggggggggggggg. Oops, fell asleep. Back with you now.

3:06AM

Has a new Oscars record been set?

 

2:59AM

Best Foreign Language Film goes to The Salesman

It's arguably the night's most politically charged moment yet: the film's director, Asghar Farhadi, is boycotting the Oscars due to Donald Trump's "inhuman"  Muslim travel ban.

The Salesman was screened earlier tonight in London, to a crowd of 100,000 protesters.

"It's a great honour to be receiving this valuable award for the second time," said Farhadi in a prepared statement, read out on his behalf.

"I'm sorry I'm not with you tonight, my absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of the other six countries who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans immigrants from seven countries to the US."

The Salesman probably wouldn't have won this Oscar without the travel ban – the original favourite was Toni Erdmann – but Farhadi's words as a write-in winner resonated hugely: especially on a night where most winners are being coyer than expected in their speeches. Still, trust Gael Garcia Bernal, introducing an award, to pull off a comment about migrants and seem like a cheeky scamp straight afterwards.

"As a Mexican and a human being, I'm against any kind of wall that wants to separate us," he said.

 

2:44AM

Mark Rylance presents the Best Supporting Actress Award to Viola Davis

Mark Rylance, introducing the Best Supporting Actress award, praised women saying they were were better than men at "opposing without hatred".

In an emotional speech, Davis said: "There’s one place where all the people with the greatest potential are gathered and that’s the graveyard. I say exhume those bodies - exhume the stories of the people who dreamed big and never saw those come to fruition. People who fell in love and lost. We’re the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life. She also thanked her parents: "Thank you for teaching me how to fail, how to love, how to hold an award, how to lose – I’m so thankful that God chose you to bring me into this world."

Moving as her words were, Telegraph film critic Tim Robey was less than impressed,

"Viola's speech was *so* over-rehearsed," he says. "God love her, but it shouldn't require so much acting! "

2:37AM

Best Supporting Actress is up soon...here are our predictions

Will win: Viola Davis (Fences)

The only slam-dunk win in the four acting fields is Davis, who has the narrowest odds of anyone since Colin Firth in The King’s Speech. It’s a make-up Oscar, in part – she lost in a nail-biter to Meryl Streep six years ago – and in part just straightforward recognition for the serious depths she plumbs in every dramatic role.

Should win: Viola Davis

We’ll certainly go with Davis, because her slow-burn indignation as Rose Maxson throughout Fences is tremendous, even if she really earned a shot at Best Actress honours – and would surely have won there, too. Everyone else in her field, despite great scenes here and there, is an also-ran, on this occasion.

2:31AM

Hacksaw Ridge wins Best Sound Mixing - meaning that La La Land won't be setting any new records

Damien Chazelle's  musical won't now beat the previous record (of 11 wins) set by Titanic, Ben-Hur and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The win is good news for its recipient Kevin O'Connell, however: he's been nominated 20 times before, essentially making him the Leonardo DiCaprio of the sound mixing world. 

2:28AM

Arrival wins its first Oscar: Best Sound Editing

This means that La La Land, if it doesn't win in the next category it's nominated in, won't be breaking any new records.

2:24AM

The Rock introduces Lin Manuel-Miranda and Auli’i Cravalho

Dwayne Johnson, aka The Rock, just introduced Lin Manuel-Miranda and Auli’i Cravalho to perform How Far I’ll Go from Moana. It’s the second nominated song to be performed tonight (following Justin Timberlake's rendition of Can’t Stop the Feeling during the opening).

"Our next presenter is an ex-wrestler who is the highest paid actor in the world, which really puts all this into perspective doesn't it?" said Kimmel ahead of Johnson's appearance.

Twitter, meanwhile, just can't get enough of The Rock's velvet suit:

 

2:14AM

Nasa's Katherine Johnson, one of the three female African-American scientists portrayed in Hidden Figures, presents the best Documentary Award to O.J.: Made in America 

The other nominees were Fire at Sea, I Am Not Your Negro, Life, Animated, and 13th .

 

2:03AM

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them wins Best Costume Design

We thought there was a chance La La Land would nab it's first Oscar in this category, but Fantastic Beasts is a worthy winner.

 

1:58AM

Suicide Squad is now an Oscar-winning movie

True, it's for best hair and make-up.  But let's not quibble over the details.

 

1:56AM

Kimmel's opening monologue: Telegraph film critic Tim Robey's verdict

After the unambiguous joy explosion of Justin Timberlake's opening musical number, Jimmy Kimmel's monologue started out feeling like a bumpier ride: it made an early grab for political relevance, including an unironic plea to make America great again, which didn't really play. But a bag of big laughs awaited as it went on. "This year, black people saved NASA and white people saved jazz."

And how about Donald Trump's Twitter response? "All caps during his 5am bowel movement". 

The joke about Streep being “overrated” led to a massive round of applause (a reference to Trump's claim).

“Meryl Streep has phoned it in for over 50 films” joked the comedian.

Kimmel absolutely killed it.

1:49AM

The Best Supporting Actor Award goes to Mahershala Ali

It's the Moonlight star's first Oscar nomination.

"I wanna thank my teachers and professors," he said.  "I had so many wonderful teachers, and one thing they consistently told me was that it's not about you, it's about these characters. You're a servant, you're in service to these stories and these characters.

"I'm so blessed to have had an opportunity. It was such a wonderful experience, thank you [director] Barry Jenkins, thank you Tarell Alvin McCraney [writer of the play Moonlight was based on]. I also want to thank my wife, we just had our daughter four days ago, so I just want to thank her for being such a soldier through this process and really carrying me through it all. Thank you, peace and blessings."

 

1:41AM

'When I first met Matt, I was the fat one': Jimmy Kimmel begins his roast

In his opening speech, Kimmel joked about Damon's latest movie, the very expensive flop The Great Wall.

 He also thanked US President Donald Trump - This time last year, the Oscars looked racist..." - and joked about Trump's controversial travel ban.

"We don't discriminate against people based on where they come from,2 he said. "We discriminate against them based on their age and weight."

1:31AM

Best Supporting Actor should be up soon...

Here are our predictions:

Will win: Mahershala Ali (Moonlight) This entire category could have been filled with the Moonlight cast, but it’s Ali’s modestly-scaled turn as a compassionate drug dealer – plus a terrific year for him all round – that has gotten the push. It’s rare that such nuanced, unflashy work has resulted in a front-runner nomination, but everyone looks fully happy to embrace it.

Should win: Mahershala Ali

Hedges, Bridges, Shannon and Patel make this the strongest Best Supporting Actor field in years, even if three of them have roughly triple Ali’s screen time. You can see strong arguments for all five. But to make the deep impression Ali does with his handful of scenes, inviting us into his film’s whole milieu with such confident restraint, puts him a head in front.

 

1:27AM

We're about to get underway...

The suspense mounts in an Oscar race that isn't as locked down as it once looked. Best Actor is neck and neck. A shock in Best Actress isn't impossible. And could La La Land potentially lose Best Picture to Moonlight? These questions should certainly keep the night lively, even if predictability will reign for long stretches: there's no way Viola Davis isn't taking an Oscar home, and absolutely no doubt that she deserves one.

Perhaps the greatest moment-to-moment tension will be in the speeches; even without Meryl Streep adding to her trophy tally, you can guarantee the Trump gibes will proliferate like confetti.

1:26AM

Arrival star Jeremy Renner brings some much-needed glamour to the red carpet

It wouldn't be a red carpet without Jeremy Renner. 

 

1:19AM

Matt Damon is ready for a roasting

Damon has been speaking about Casey Affleck, who's nominated for Best Actor for Manchester By the Sea.

"I'm so proud of him," he says, giving Affleck some much-needed positive PR. "I've known him since he was five years old, and he's one of the best people I know."

Asked about his friend Jimmy Kimmel's plans to roast him tonight, Damon said: "He's talentless himself, but he's got an incredible group of writers around him. I'm in for it tonight."

 

1:12AM

Ryan Gosling says La La Land reaction has been a 'nice surprise'

"We had no idea that it would have this type of reception. It's been a nice surprise," the actor said on the red carpet.

Here's  a picture of Gosling at the Oscars tonight, thinking about nice surprises:

 

1:05AM

Andrew Garfield: 'Mel Gibson is a great man'

Nick Allen has had a quick word with the only British hope for Best Actor Andrew Garfield:

"It's lovely I can't believe this is happening it's so special," Garfield said.

He then showered praise on his Hacksaw Ridge director Mel Gibson.

"I think he's one of our great filmmakers and just a great man."

12:55AM

Best Actress nominee Emma Stone dazzles in Givenchy

Here's an Emma Stone-themed fashion update:

Emma Stone is nailing the Twenties flapper girl look in a gorgeous fringed design by Givenchy which is hitting just the right balance between best-dressed-guaranteed and interesting- a surprisingly tricky ploy. Her hair and make-up nail the vibe though; she's channeling old Hollywood glamour with her waves and rich red lip. We can just see the Marlene Dietrich and Veronica Lake photos on that moodboard. 

12:50AM

Best Supporting Actor nominee Dev Patel has brought his mother along, and she looks ridiculously, heart-warmingly proud of him

To be fair, I'd be ridiculously, heart-warmingly proud if Best Supporting Actor Dev Patel was my son.

Dev Patel is great.

Dear future children: none of you will ever be as good as Dev Patel. Sorry.

Here are some slightly more sensible words about Dev Patel:

Dev Patel, arriving with his mum, is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his work in Lion - even though he is DEFINITELY the lead in that film. At the Baftas, Mahershala Ali was the firm favourite for playing drug dealer Juan in Moonlight, but Patel’s complex emotional journey in the film, coupled with serious newly minted leading-man magnetism obviously struck a chord with the Bafta membership, and he took home the award. Will a similar upset happen tonight?

"It is very overwhelming moment for both of us," said Patel, when asked about brining his mother. "The reason I became an actor is through her vision. This film is about mothers and sons. She is more deserving to be here than me."

 

12:40AM

Shrinking of the Tartan-ic: why this man didn't wear his kilt to the Oscars 

12:25AM

Someone has said 'Hidden Fences' - again

*Collective sigh.*

 

12:18AM

Fuel for the night

Here's what Rebecca and I have to power us through till 6am. The bottle of red, incidentally, is from the Francis Ford Coppola winery, and is the official wine of this year's Oscars. We're so fancy. We're so Telegraph.

 

12:05AM

"Hold still, Lucas. You've got a smudge on your cheek."

Manchester By The Sea star and Best Supporting Actor nominee Lucas Hedges, 20, discovers the perils of bringing your mother as your red carpet date...

 

11:55PM

Viggo Mortensen: 'I wouldn't be here if I wasn't nominated'

Viggo Mortensen, who's nominated for Best Actor for Captain Fantastic, has arrived on the red carpet and he's being insouciance itself. Asked if the Academy Awards is "his thing", the 58-year-old said: "I wouldn't go to the Oscars if I wasn't nominated... That would be weird." 

To celebrate his inspirational insouciance, we've made a very retro Lord of the Rings-themed Sean Bean meme:

 

11:42PM

The Academy pays tribute to Bill Paxton in Instagram post

 But will the actor, whose death was announced today, make it into tonight's In Memorium reel?

Here's our tribute to the late, great star.

Thank you, Bill Paxton, for all you have given us.

A post shared by The Academy (@theacademy) on Feb 26, 2017 at 12:49pm PST

 

11:32PM

Sixty-two-year-old Jackie Chan brings not one but TWO dates to the Oscars

And they're both pandas.

They're not just any old pandas either: they're special Unicef pandas, promoting the United Nation's children's charity.

Chan is being honoured tonight with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

"It's unbelievable that an action star can win Oscar," he said on the red carpet. "I've broken so many bones. I still think I'm too young to get this award."

 

11:23PM

Isabelle Huppert: a masterclass in ageless style

 Here's our fashion team's verdict on  Isabelle Huppert, who is nominated for Best Actress for her role in Paul Verhoeven's Elle (in which she's "sensational", according to Telegraph film critic Tim Robey):

Here's French actress Isabelle Huppert offering a masterclass in ageless red carpet style. She's wearing a pale pink design by Armani Privé which was made exclusively for her by the Italian designer's team with added edge courtesy of jewellery by Repossi.

"She's our fairytale Princess tonight," Huppert's stylist Jonathan Huguet just told The Telegraph's fashion desk. 

 

11:14PM

Why is Ruth Negga wearing a blue ribbon on her dress?

 The ribbon, in case you're wondering, is a symbol for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Asked during  a red carpet interview whether Loving felt particularly timely at the moment given Trump's election, Negga said: "I think any time in history would have thirsted for this film. We're always needing a light at the end of the tunnel. It's inspiring a lot of people."

Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is attending the Academy Awards  with his mother,  Dr. Luz Towns-Miranda, has also opted to show his support for the union by sporting the pale blue emblem.

We expect (and hope) it'll be the first of many!

 

10:59PM

Loving star Ruth Negga wows in red 

Luckily, she's opted for a different shade of red to the one they've used for the carpet. Could have been awkward otherwise.

Here are some slightly more insightful observations from our fashion team:

The red carpet arrivals for the Oscars have begun with best actress nominee Ruth Negga among the first to arrived.  Negga is wearing a dramatic high-neck red lace gown by Valentino, with red lips and nails to match. 

You can also check out the best dresses of the night in our gallery, below:

The most glamorous looks from the Oscars 2017 red carpet

 

10:53PM

Lucas Hedges has hit the red carpet

He's very early. Did no one tell him it's not cool to be this early?

That said, the 20-year-old Manchester By The Sea star has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor, so he probably doesn't need to worry about being cool/fashionably late.

 

10:41PM

Watch as the final preparations for the Oscars take place

Roads were closed and media gathered as the final preparations for the 89th Academy Awards got under way earlier today.

 

10:05PM

The Oscars cleaners work is never done

As the ceremony is fast approaching, out pops a man to give the red carpet one last vacuum

 

9:06PM

And the winner of the Best Picture is... How many do you remember

This year's nominees are:

Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester By the Sea and Moonlight.

But how many of the past winners in this category can you name?

Refresh your memory:

The Oscars, from Wings to Spotlight: the 88 films to win Best Picture

 

8:43PM

Nominee Natalie Portman will not attend the Oscars

I know what you are thinking... and before you say it, no she is not boycotting the ceremony.

The 35-year-old star, who has been nominated for Best Actress for the biopic Jackie, has pulled outbecause of her pregnancy.

She said: "Due to my pregnancy, I am unable to attend the Academy Awards. I feel so lucky to be honoured among my fellow nominees and wish them the most beautiful of weekends."

Natalie also skipped the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica over the weekend.

7:52PM

Jimmy Kimmel v Matt Damon - the feud continues

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel hosts the Academy Awards for the first time tonight, but it appears that there will be no love lost between him and his old friend Matt Damon.

A couple of days ago, Kimmel posted a picture of himself defacing the picture on Damon's assigned seat.

Best Picture Vominee Matt Damon #Oscars

A post shared by Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) on Feb 23, 2017 at 6:58pm PST

 To find more about the Oscars host and why he hates Matt Damon, read Jonathan Bernstein's profile: Who is 2017 Oscars host Jimmy Kimmel

7:19PM

It's not the winning... it's the goodie bag that counts

Yes, of course, nominee wants to take home a coveted Oscar statuette... 

But even if they lose, they still get to walk away with free stuff worth six figures.

The unofficial Academy Awards gift bag, called "Everyone Wins" by a company called Distinctive Assets, is thought to be worth $100,000 and includes a range of weird and wonderful things.

The wonderful: 

  • A stay at the Koloa resort in Hawaii

  • A private three-day mansion stay at the Lost Coast Ranch in Northern California on the Pacific Ocean

  • A stay at the Golden Door destination spa in Southern California

  • A trip to the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria in Sorrento, Italy;

  • A trip to the Grand Hotel Tremezzo in Lake Como, Italy.

The weird (or should we say intriguing):

  • ChapSticks

  • A personal CPR kit

  • A customized box of Crayola crayons

  • Foot cream - it is fancy foot cream, mind you

  • Underarm patches that protect from sweat stains

  • Cases of apples

  • Energy bars

And

  • SweetCheeks pads - to "reduce the appearance of cellulite

  • The Elvie - an "exercise tracker for your pelvic floor"

6:47PM

And the nominees are...

In case, you were hidden under a rock for the past few months, a little musical called La La Land created a big song and dance, which resulted in 14 nominations for tonight's awards.

You can find out who and what it is up against in our nominee list: full list of the 2017 nominees

But how does film critic Tim Robey think it will fare against the heavyweight films of the past year. 

Read his predictions: who will win at the 2017 Oscars?

6:10PM

And we're off!

The statuettes have been shined, the dresses have been pressed and the limos are waiting: it’s Oscars time!

Well, sort of. Right now it’s 10am in Los Angeles, with a full six hours to go before we get our first bit of red-carpet action.

The ceremony itself kicks off at 5.30pm West Coast time (1.30am GMT), with the first arrivals expected on the red carpet 90 minutes earlier (4pm local time/midnight UK time).

Who are the guest presenters?

The list of celebrities slated to be performing or presenting at this year's awards show are too many to mention, but include (in alphabetical order):

  • Amy Adams

  • Riz Ahmed

  • Jennifer Aniston

  • Javier Bardem

  • Warren Beatty

  • Gael Garcia Bernal

  • Halle Berry

  • Sofia Boutella

  • John Cho

  • Jamie Dornan

  • Faye Dunaway

  • Michael J Fox

  • Salma Hayek

  • Taraji P Henson

  • Samuel L Jackson

  • Dwayne Johnson

  • Felicity Jones

  • Shirley MacLaine

  • David Oyelowo

  • Dev Patel

  • Seth Rogen

  • Hailee Steinfeld

  • Charlize Theron

  • Vince Vaughn

  • Alicia Vikander

As is tradition, DiCaprio and Larson, who won Best Actor and Best Actress in 2016, will now announce the new winners in those categories.

The same happens in the Supporting Actor and Actress categories.

If they are lucky, some of the presenters could be winners too.

These include Matt Damon, Ryan Gosling, Dev Patel, Octavia Spencer, Meryl Streep and Emma Stone.