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Comedian Conan O'Brien hosts first Oscars

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Demi Moore favored for best actress Oscar

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Musical performances and tributes planned

By Lisa Richwine

LOS ANGELES, March 2 (Reuters) - The Academy Awards, the

highest honors in the film business, take place on Sunday with

no clear frontrunner among "Anora," "The Brutalist," "Conclave"

and other movies contending for the prestigious best picture

prize.

Timothee Chalamet and Demi Moore are vying for their first

Oscars at the red-carpet ceremony in Hollywood. The show will

air live on Walt Disney's ( DIS ) ABC network starting at 4 p.m.

Pacific time (0000 GMT on Monday).

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 U.S. politics but not dwell on it, he

said.

"Good jokes are really important, but there's also more than

that," O'Brien 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 Sunday's

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 ( NFLX ) 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 Sunday's ceremony.

Her co-star, Zoe Saldana, is the favorite to win the

supporting actress trophy for playing a fixer who helps a

Mexican drug lord (Gascon) transition to a woman and start a new

life.

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 center 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 favorite 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

favor 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.

Producers scrapped the annual tradition of having musicians

perform each of the nominated original songs, saying they wanted

to focus instead on the songwriters.

They do promise many musical moments, including a

performance by "Wicked" stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo

and a tribute to music producer Quincy Jones, who died in

November.

Also, expect some previously unannounced guests.

"We absolutely love the element of surprise," executive

producer Raj Kapoor said.