Why the Oscars Are Bringing Back the ‘Fab 5’ Presenters Format from the 2009 Telecast

Paul Grein
·6 min read

The creative team behind the 2024 Oscars is lifting an idea from the 2009 Oscars, when they had five past winners in each of the four acting categories pay tribute to the current nominees before announcing this year’s winner.

In a press conference Wednesday (March 6) on Zoom, four days before the Oscars telecast on March 10, Raj Kapoor, executive producer and showrunner of the Oscars, said “I think one of the things we’re most excited about is what we call Fab Five. We did a deep dive into so many of the past Oscar shows, and even though we’ve been a part of previous shows, even though I think all of us have watched the show since we were kids, we always feel like we learn.

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“So, we went back, we did a deep dive into Oscars history, and one of the best moments that we loved, and has not been repeated till this year, was the year that Bill Condon [screenwriter of Gods and Monsters and Chicago] did it, and it was this lovely storytelling. And, again, it came down to connection. It was past winners speaking to present nominees, and just that lovely connection and that human interaction.

“And so we thought we’d love to try it again. So, we tasked Erin [Irwin], who is one of our other producers, and she’s done an amazing job. … And so during the show in our acting categories, five former winners will present to the five nominees, and we think it’s just going to be a great piece of storytelling and connection at home that you will maybe get to hear these personal stories and these personal interactions, and you get to root for your favorite actor or actress in this really personal way. So, we’re really excited to have that come to life.”

If you missed the 2009 show, Whoopi Goldberg, Goldie Hawn, Anjelica Huston, Eva Marie Saint and Tilda Swinton presented the nominees for best supporting actress.

Alan Arkin, Cuba Gooding Jr., Joel Grey, Kevin Kline and Christopher Walken presented the nominees for best supporting actor.

Halle Berry, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren and Shirley MacLaine presented the nominees for best actress.

Adrien Brody, Michael Douglas, Robert De Niro, Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley presented the nominees for best actor.

While the Academy has not yet announced who will be presenting which awards this year, these announced presenters have won in these categories. (Jessica Lange and Al Pacino have won in both lead and support. We put them where they seemed likeliest to land on Sunday).

Best actress: Sally Field, Charlize Theron, Jessica Lange, Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Yeoh

Best actor: Ben Kingsley, Forest Whitaker, Nicolas Cage, Brendan Fraser, Matthew McConaughey

Best supporting actress: Mary Steenburgen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Regina King, Rita Moreno, Lupita Nyong’o, Octavia Spencer

Best supporting actor: Christoph Waltz, Mahershala Ali, Ke Huy Quan, Sam Rockwell, Al Pacino

In addition, the show has booked Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, stars of the upcoming film Wicked, as presenters. It’s a good bet they’ll do something together.

Rickey Minor, who is serving as music director of the Oscars for the fourth time in the past six years, was also on the panel. He was asked how he picks the music to play on the show, and explained some of the obvious factors – looking for a range of emotions and a diversity of source material. “But it’s about the energy of the room,” he said. “So, we have a plan, but I’ll call an audible just like that. You know, if I feel the audience needs something that needs to pump them up, I’ve got it right in the pocket. And so the band’s always ready. And I think they love it, too, because they never know what’s coming.”

Kapoor added, “This year, the orchestra is live on our stage. So, we are celebrating 42 incredible musicians that will be seen throughout the evening. … And we are treating the music performances very different. Sometimes, it’s full orchestration. Sometimes, they may be a little bit more intimate. And that will lend itself when we get to the In Memoriam performance.”

In response to a question from the session’s moderator, Rotten Tomatoes’ awards editor Jacqueline Coley, Kapoor spoke highly of Jimmy Kimmel, who is hosting the Oscars for the fourth time.

“I could not speak more highly of anybody than Jimmy,” he said. “He’s been an amazing partner, and he has just been so involved from the very beginning in the summer. He’s involved in all our creative decisions, from the presenters to pairings to the pace of the show to musical performances. Like, Jimmy’s touch, he is a producer on this show. He is one of our partners, and he has a really strong creative vision. And I think what makes him so great is just his investment. We don’t just get him for rehearsals this week. We get him for months before.”

The panelists were asked which was their favorite Oscar show they had worked on. Molly McNearney, executive producer of the Oscar telecast and an executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, had a surprising answer – the show seven years ago that was capped by the biggest debacle in Oscar history, when La La Land was named best picture before the award was presented to the rightful winner, Moonlight.

“This might be an unpopular answer, but when there was the mix-up with the envelope, I actually enjoyed the spontaneity of a moment because when Jimmy is in an uncomfortable situation, that’s where he’s most comfortable,” McNearney said. “And I think that when there’s moments you don’t expect in a live television broadcast, I think we’re in really great hands with this team.”

McNearney also spoke to the process of writing the monologue. “You know, the monologue is scripted,” she said. “It gets reworked up until the very last minute. He will obsess now over every joke. He has pages and pages and pages. He has a rough outline of the monologue that I read this morning that I think is brilliant. I know it will change six more times before Sunday. But then there are those moments in the show that are completely unscripted. There have been several in every show he’s ever hosted. And those are the moments I love the most because we get to be surprised.”

Katy Mullan, executive producer, spoke to an interactive portion on this year’s show involving a QR code. “One of the really successful parts of last year’s show was profiles of a lot of the nominees, and they got huge, huge views from global audiences. So, at the end of each act, there will be a QR code, and people can scan that and go to the Academy website where they can watch profiles of a ton of the people that are nominated. They’re beautifully made by The Academy team and really insightful.”

“And there’s also an ability to go and watch the speeches from the Governors Awards, which happened earlier this year. … It was a really, really memorable night. So, if you want to go and do a deep dive during the commercial breaks or after the Oscars, all of that content will be there.”

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