Oscars 2025: Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez arrive at unpredictable awards

LOS ANGELES - Ariana Grande, Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez graced the red carpet on Hollywood’s biggest night on March 2, with no clear frontrunner among Anora, The Brutalist, Conclave and other films contending for the prestigious best picture Oscar.

Timothee Chalamet and Demi Moore were vying for their first Academy Awards.

“I am just so filled with joy. I feel like I am bursting,” Moore said on the red carpet before the ceremony.

Supporting actress nominee Grande wore a light-pink sculptured gown with a wide, glittery skirt - a nod to her character Galinda in the movie musical Wicked.

Emilia Perez star Saldana, the favorite to win the supporting actress trophy, chose a tiered burgundy strapless gown. Chalamet appeared in a canary yellow tuxedo.

Cynthia Erivo, Grande’s co-star in Wicked and a best actress nominee, said she was thrilled to attend the highest honours in the film industry.

“You get to celebrate the work that you and others care about,” she said on the red carpet.

Comedian and host Conan O’Brien said he planned to mix jokes, celebrations of filmmakers and serious moments including tributes to Los Angeles as it recovers from January’s wildfires. He likely will address US politics but not dwell on it, he said.

“Good jokes are really important, but there’s also more than that,” he told reporters last week as he prepared for his first Oscars hosting gig. “We’re trying to go for different tones, different textures.”

This year’s Oscars race has featured twists and turns, and no movie has dominated the precursor film awards.

That will keep the drama going until the end of the show. Any of three films could score best picture, according to Oscars pundits. One is Anora, the story of a sex worker with a shot at a Cinderella story. The other two are The Brutalist, about a Jewish immigrant and architect chasing the American dream, and Conclave, which imagines the secret proceedings for choosing a pope.

Others in the best picture field include blockbuster musical Wicked, a prequel to The Wizard of Oz, and A Complete Unknown, the Bob Dylan biopic starring Chalamet.

Netflix musical Emilia Perez heads into the ceremony with the most nominations. But its chances of victory dwindled when offensive social media posts surfaced from star Karla Sofia Gascon. The actress, the first openly transgender person nominated for an acting Oscar, disappeared from the awards circuit but is expected to attend the ceremony.

Winners of the gold Oscar statuettes are chosen by the roughly 11,000 actors, producers, directors and film craftspeople who make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Behind the glitz, Hollywood is fighting a battle to keep its place at the centre of the global film business. None of the 10 best picture contenders were filmed in Los Angeles, home to most major film companies for more than a century.

Music and surprises

Supporting actor nominee Kieran Culkin is the favourite for his role as a man who travels with his cousin to Poland to study family history in A Real Pain.

Best actor could go to either Chalamet or The Brutalist star Adrien Brody, according to awards experts.

Brody became the youngest best actor winner when he landed the prize at age 29 for The Pianist in 2002. Chalamet is nine months younger than Brody was at the time.

Best actress is widely expected to go to Moore for The Substance, though one pundit said the category could produce an upset win for Brazil’s Fernanda Torres of I’m Still Here. The academy has increased its international membership, which could favour Torres, said Ian Sandwell, movies editor at Digital Spy.

“She could well be a surprise and the only one to take it away from Demi on the night,” Sandwell said. REUTERS