Hear ye, hear ye: The Oscars are upon us once again. Jimmy Kimmel will be hosting the 89th annual Academy Awards ceremony, which airs Sunday, February 26, at 8:30 pm EST on ABC. The event will officially conclude a long awards season marked by repeat winners (we see you, La La Land) and increasingly incendiary acceptance speeches wrapping politics into the usual glitz and glamour (hello, Meryl Streep!).
The 2017 Oscars have already seen their fair share of controversy, and we’re not even talking about La La Land’s likely Best Picture win over critical darling Moonlight. In January, President Trump’s controversial immigration ban threw the attendance of some nominees into question.
The Syrian rescue workers at the center of Best Documentary Feature nominee The White Helmets have secured visas to attend the ceremony, but according to the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security blocked its cinematographer Khaled Khateeb from entering the country. (Khateeb himself has since posted that Syria itself canceled his passport.) And Iranian director (and previous Oscar winner) Asghar Farhadi, who helmed Best Foreign Film nominee The Salesman, declared that he wouldn’t attend the ceremony even if he were granted an exception. The same is true for Salesman star Taraneh Alidoosti.
Since acceptance speeches that call out the president and his policies have become something of a mainstay this awards season, it’s a pretty safe bet that the Oscars will continue that trend.
Of course, you can also expect the ceremony to hit its traditional beats, with plenty of celebration and Hollywood back patting. There’s also a chance that La La Land, with its 14 nominations, could break the Oscars’ all-time record for the most wins by a single film if takes home more than the 11 awards won by Titanic, Ben Hur, and Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.
This year’s Best Original Song performances — sometimes the most entertaining part of the show — will include Moana’s Lin-Manuel Miranda singing “How Far I’ll Go” with star Auli'i Cravalho; John Legend taking on both of La La Land’s two nominated songs (“City of Stars” and “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)”); and Sting crooning “The Empty Chair” from the documentary Jim: The James Foley Story.
And yes, Justin Timberlake will finally get the moment he’s been waiting for throughout his hundreds of appearances on the worldwide Trolls tour with a rousing performance intended to prove that no matter how hard we try, we “Can’t Stop the Feeling.”
But rather than subject you to more Timberlake snark, here’s how you can watch this year’s Oscars from the comfort of your own home. Come back to Vox on Sunday night for our live coverage of the ceremony!
How to watch the 2017 Oscars
Where: Live on ABC. If you live in Chicago, Fresno, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Raleigh-Durham, or San Francisco and have a cable subscription login, you can also live-stream the ceremony on the ABC app or ABC.com.
When: February 26 at 8:30 pm EST/5:30 pm PST. Red carpet coverage begins on ABC at 7 pm EST/4pm PST.
Why: Why not!
Updated to reflect that Khaled Khateeb will not be attending the Oscars ceremony, and in which cities ABC streaming will be available.
