When are the Oscars 2019? Date, past winners, nominations, host and UK time

The biggest night in Hollywood's collective calendar is back for 2019, as this year's cohort of hopefuls prepare to walk the red carpet for the 91st Academy Awards.

The show's producers will be hoping to avoid a major gaffe like 2017's infamous "envelope-gate" moment, but this year's ceremony has already been mired in controversy.

It will be the first in three decades to proceed without a host, after Kevin Hart stepped down due to controversy over resurfaced tweets. More recently, the Academy was criticised for announcing that four categories - Cinematography, Film Editing, Live Action Short and Make-up and Hairstyling - would be aired during commercial breaks, a decision that the show's producers have since back-tracked upon.

Here's everything you need to know before the winners are announced.

When are the Oscars 2019 taking place?

After taking an unusual early March slot last year, the Academy have selected Sunday, February 24 as the date for 2019’s occasion, with red carpet arrivals set to kick off at around 4pm PST, or midnight UK time. As ever, the event will take place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

The ceremony is then expected to begin at around 1.30am UK time, so caffeinate accordingly if you’re set on staying up to watch things play out.

How can I watch the ceremony in the UK?

Over in the US, the Oscars traditionally air on ABC, but UK film fans can watch proceedings play out on Sky’s dedicated Oscars channel, available for existing customers and as part of NOW TV’s Sky Cinema Pass.

This costs £9.99 per month, but new NOW TV users can, however, pick up a free 14-day trial to coincide with the event.

The Oscars All Access: Red Carpet Live will be streamed on the official Oscars Twitter account (@TheAcademy) from 11:30pm UK time.

​Who is hosting this year's Oscars?

Though Hart was confirmed as 2019’s Oscar host back in December, the comedian and actor stepped down from the role just days after the announcement amid controversy over alleged homophobic tweets posted between 2009 and 2011.

The resurfaced tweets contained offensive language referring to the LGBT community. “Sincerely” apologising for his “insensitive” words, Hart confirmation that he had “made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscars” because he did not “want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists.”

The Academy has since confirmed that the show will go ahead without a master of ceremonies, making this year’s ceremony the first time that the Oscars have gone ahead host-free since the infamous 1989 ceremony.

Thanks to a series of overblown musical set-pieces, that year’s event has become a byword for awards show embarrassment. It even prompted a handful of influential Hollywood figures to sign an open letter to the Academy, denouncing the show as “an embarrassment to both the Academy and the entire motion picture industry.”

Who is presenting at the Oscars?​​

With no host to tie proceedings together, the Academy’s array of celebrity guest presenters will most likely take on an even more important role than usual.

Luckily, Oscar producers have managed to line-up big names to read out the iconic “And the Oscar goes to…” line. Awkwafina, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Tina Fey, Whoopi Goldberg, Brie Larson, Jennifer Lopez, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Amandla Stenberg, Charlize Theron, Tessa Thompson and Constance Wu were confirmed earlier this month as part of a "first wave" of stars.

Javier Bardem, Angela Bassett, Chadwick Boseman, Emilia Clarke, Laura Dern, Samuel L. Jackson, Stephan James, Keegan-Michael Key, Kiki Layne, James McAvoy, Melissa McCarthy, Jason Momoa and Sarah Paulson have also now been added to the mammoth list of presenters.

​Who won at last year's ceremony?

Last year’s winners Frances McDormand (Best Actress for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Gary Oldman (Best Actor for Darkest Hour), Allison Janney (Best Supporting Actress for I, Tonya) and Sam Rockwell (Best Supporting Actor for Three Billboards) will be returning as presenters to bestow Oscar honours on the class of 2019.

Last year's top prize, Best Picture, went to magical Cold War fable The Shape of Water; the film's director Guillermo del Toro also picked up the Best Director trophy.

Who are the nominees?

Roma and The Favourite lead this year’s Oscar race, having secured an impressive 10 nominations each including nods for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Director.

They are joined in the Best Picture race by Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman, Green Book, A Star Is Born, Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and Black Panther, which has made history as the first superhero movie to score a nomination in this prestigious category.

Over in the Best Actress category, The Favourite’s Olivia Colman and Roma’s Yalitza Aparicio will do battle with Gaga, Melissa McCarthy (nominated for Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and Glenn Close, who is hotly tipped as this year’s winner following her Golden Globe success.

The Best Actor field sees Cooper, Christian Bale, Rami Malek, Viggo Mortensen and Willem Dafoe competing for the famous gold statuette. Though Cooper was originally earmarked as a front-runner, it’s now difficult to call whether Bale or Malek will take home the trophy.

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Though The Favourite’s Rachel Weisz picked up a BAFTA earlier this month for Best Supporting Actress, it seems that Regina King still has the competitive edge for her turn in If Beale Street Could Talk. Joining them in this category are Amy Adams (Vice), Emma Stone (The Favourite) and Marina de Tavira (Roma).

2017’s Best Supporting Actor winner Mahershala Ali is expected to land another win for his performance in Green Book, though he’ll be up against top Oscar selfie-taker Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?), Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born), Rockwell (Vice) and Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman).

Who will be performing at the Oscars?

One of the biggest stories of the night will be Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s musical reunion, as they take to the Dolby Theatre stage to perform Shallow, the standout track (and this year’s Best Original Song frontrunner) from A Star Is Born.

Cooper has already confirmed that he and Gaga won’t be performing in character as Ally and Jackson Maine – which is probably for the best, given how the film’s memorable awards show scene panned out.

Viewers will also be treated to performances by 2007’s Best Supporting Actress winner Jennifer Hudson, who’ll sing I’ll Fight from RBG, the Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary, and by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, singing When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings from The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs.

The Place Where Lost Things Go from Mary Poppins will also be performed, but the Academy hasn’t yet confirmed exactly who will be on singing duties, hinting instead at a “surprise special guest” in a cryptic tweet last month.

The Academy is also yet to confirm whether Kendrick Lamar and SZA will be performing All The Stars from the Black Panther soundtrack.