Oscars 2016 Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need to Know!

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The grand finale of awards season is just days away, as the 88th Annual Academy Awards kick off live from the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles on Sunday.

In anticipation of the night celebrating the highest honors in filmmaking, ET has your official cheat sheet on everything you need to know ahead of this year's Oscars.


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ET's Red Carpet Coverage:
Don't miss ET's live Academy Awards pre-show on Pop this Sunday, Feb. 28, starting at 5 p.m. PT/2 p.m. ET. Go to PopTV.com to find out where to watch. You can also catch all of ET's live coverage right here on ETonline.com, on Twitter (@etnow), Instagram (@entertainmenttonight) and our official Facebook page.


What Time Do the Oscars Start?:
Sunday, Feb. 28 at 8:30 pm ET/5:30 p.m. PT on ABC. Viewers can also watch a live stream of the show on ABC.com or the WATCH ABC app.


What Does the Stage Look Like?:
The Academy has yet to reveal photos of the real Oscars stage, but they have released sneak peeks of designer Derek McLane's sketches, which show off a dazzling set inspired by 1970s Hollywood glam.


Who's Hosting?:
Chris Rock returns to the Oscars stage as master of ceremonies for the second time. The 50-year-old comic made his hosting debut at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005, and many are looking forward to what jokes he'll pull after calling this year's awards "The White BET Awards." As ET previously reported, all 20 of the acting nominations went to white actors for the second year in a row.


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Who Will Hit the Carpet Amid #OscarsSoWhite Boycott?:
A number of celebrities -- including Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Ava DuVernay, Spike Lee, Tyrese Gibson and Tracee Ellis Ross -- have already confirmed they won't be attending this year's ceremony in light of the lack of diversity, but we'll be keeping a close eye on other no-shows. We also predict to hear mentions of the controversy in red carpet interviews and acceptance speeches from the night's winners. Quincy Jones previously confirmed his plans to "speak for five minutes" on the issue before presenting with Common and Pharrell.


Fashion Predictions:
Despite the boycott, we're still anticipating some major head-turning to go down when fashion meets film on the red carpet. We can only imagine what Lady Gaga will show up in, seeing as the singer rocked a glitzy David Bowie-inspired ensemble designed by Marc Jacobs to the GRAMMYs earlier this month. The Danish Girl actress Alicia Vikander was a sparkling goddess in Louis Vuitton at the SAG Awards, and we think she'll shine even brighter while stepping out to the grand finale of award shows. Rachel McAdams has also been a red carpet standout this awards season, so we highly doubt the Spotlight actress will don anything less than impressive.


Who's Presenting?:
J.J. Abrams, Patricia Arquette, Abraham Attah, Cate Blanchett, Emily Blunt, Louis C.K., Steve Carell, Henry Cavill, Priyanka Chopra, Sacha Baron Cohen, Common, Russell Crowe, Benicio del Toro, Chris Evans, Tina Fey, Morgan Freeman, Ryan Gosling, Louis Gossett, Jr., Kevin Hart, Quincy Jones, Michael B. Jordan, Lady Gaga, Byung-hun Lee, John Legend, Jennifer Garner, Whoopi Goldberg, Jared Leto, Rachel McAdams, Julianne Moore, Olivia Munn, Dev Patel, Eddie Redmayne, Daisy Ridley, Margot Robbie, Jason Segel, Andy Serkis, Sarah Silverman, J.K. Simmons, Sam Smith, Charlize Theron, Jacob Tremblay, Sofia Vergara, Kerry Washington, The Weeknd, Pharrell Williams and Reese Witherspoon.


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Notable Nominations:
The Revenant leads the nominations pool with 12 nods, followed closely behind by Mad Max: Fury Road, which is up for 10.

Leonardo DiCaprio is nominated for Best Actor for his portrayal of frontiersman Hugh Glass in The Revenant. This marks the 41-year-old actor's sixth career Academy Awards nomination, but seeing as he's never actually won an Oscar, it's a highly anticipated moment for the front-runner. He's up against Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Matt Damon (The Martian), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and Eddie Redmayne (The Danish Girl) for the top honor. (Click HERE to read more on DiCaprio's misses.)

Like DiCaprio, Sylvester Stallone is also hoping to nab his first-ever Oscar on Sunday. The 69-year-old actor is up for his first nomination in 39 years for Best Supporting Actor for reprising his role as the beloved Rocky Balboa in Creed. "I am incredibly humbled by this honor," Stallone told ET in a statement upon hearing the news of his nomination. "I was not expecting it ... especially at this time in my life. I am certainly grateful to the artists and collaborators who helped make it possible."


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Bets are on for Best Actress, with Room star Brie Larson leading the race. But will she be able to beat out her close contenders, like Jennifer Lawrence, who is nominated for playing real-life inventor Joy Mangano in Joy? Cate Blanchett (Carol), Charlotte Rampling (45 Years) and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) are also battling it out for the gold-plated statuette in this category.


Performances:
Three of the five nominees up for Best Original Song will take the stage to perform their Oscar-nominated hits -- Sam Smith, "Writings on the Wall" from Spectre; The Weeknd, "Earned It" from 50 Shades of Grey; and Lady Gaga, "'Til It Happens to You" from The Hunting Ground. As ET previously reported, Gaga -- a rape victim herself -- has dedicated her first-ever Oscar nomination to survivors of sexual assault and will be introduced by Vice President Joe Biden.

The Academy also confirmed that Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl will serve up a "special performance."


The Internet's Reaction to Leonardo DiCaprio:
Whether or not the actor goes home with his first-ever Oscar for the film that he says was "the most difficult" one he's ever done, there's no doubt that users on social media will immediately react. Guess we'll have to wait until Sunday to see if the era of "Poor Leo" memes will finally come to an end!


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