American comedian Jimmy Kimmel will host the evening for the third time.

His debut on the Oscars stage in 2017 was marked by the imbroglio that led to the Best Picture Oscar being mistakenly awarded to "La La Land" instead of "Moonlight".

In addition to the correct distribution of envelopes, here are five things to watch out for during this Hollywood high mass:

Rihanna returns to the stage

Each year, the nominees for the Oscar for best song provide the show.

Pop diva Rihanna will therefore reappear on stage, just weeks after her Super Bowl performance, where she revealed that she was pregnant.

The artist, who hadn't performed live in years, will perform the song "Lift Me Up" from the superhero film "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever".

Singer Rihanna during her Super Bowl concert on February 12, 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona © TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP/Archives

But she could be upstaged by "Naatu Naatu", the heady anthem of the Indian phenomenon "RRR".

Like this action film, the title is supercharged and made the public dance in some Hollywood cinemas.

Guaranteed show.

Viewers will however be deprived of Lady Gaga.

Nominated for the song "Hold My Hand", which punctuates the second part of "Top Gun", she declined the invitation because she is "in the process of shooting a film", according to the production of the Oscars.

Historical first?

The best actress category will probably be one of the most scrutinized, with a tight duel between Michelle Yeoh, an exhausted mother catapulted into a superheroine in "Everything Everywhere All At Once", and Cate Blanchett, a conductor as brilliant as ruthless in "Tar".

Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh and Australian Cate Blanchett, both nominated for the Best Actress Oscar, pose during the Spirit Awards in Santa Monica on March 4, 2023 © Valerie MACON / AFP/Archives

The Malaysian ex-James Bond girl could become the first actress of Asian origin to win the Oscar.

For her part, the Briton would enter a very closed club if she received the supreme award for the third time: only seven men and women have succeeded so far.

On the men's side, the presentation of the major Oscar will have to innovate.

Banned from ceremony for 10 years after attacking comedian Chris Rock last year, Will Smith will not be able to award the prize to his successor.

The shadow of the slap

The Oscars would also like to forget this famous slap that tarnished their history.

The episode should generate some inevitable banter, but Oscars executive producer Molly McNearney clearly wants closure.

Will Smith hits Chris Rock on the Oscars stage, Sunday March 27 in Hollywood © Robyn Beck / AFP/Archives

"We will recognize the event (...) and move on," she said this week.

Chris Rock did not ask permission to drop his shots.

In his show, which aired a week before the ceremony, he explained that he sided with the slave master who beats Will Smith's character in his latest film, "Emancipation."

Oscar for Marvel?

Her portrayal of the legendary Tina Turner in a biopic 30 years ago earned her a nomination, but no statuette.

Is it finally a comic book character that will allow Angela Bassett to enter the pantheon of the Oscars?

American actress Angela Bassett at the American Actors Union (SAG) awards on February 26, 2023 in Los Angeles © VALERIE MACON / AFP/Archives

If Queen Ramonda of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" leads her to the Best Supporting Actress award, the 64-year-old actress will become the first Hollywood star to win an Oscar for a role in the Marvel Universe.

Tough, the competition includes in particular Jamie Lee Curtis, hilarious as a bitter tax controller in "Everything Everywhere", and Kerry Condon, moving passionate about literature on a lost island in "The Banshees of Inisherin".

In the West, don't you see anything coming?

Are movies always better in their original version?

If so, then the German adaptation of "In the West, nothing new" is destined for glory.

In 1930, the American version of the pacifist novel by the German Erich Maria Remarque, on the horror of the First World War, won the Oscar for best film.

Edward Berger, the director of "In the West, nothing new", during the BAFTAs, the British film awards, on February 19, 2023 in London © John MACDOUGALL / AFP/Archives

Almost a century later, this new adaptation in the language of Goethe could allow Netflix to win the most prestigious of statuettes for the first time.

Acclaimed at the BAFTAs (the British film awards), the film seems to be the only one able to stem the wave "Everything Everywhere All At Once".

© 2023 AFP