What’s Up, Oscar?

That’s the question that will finally be answered when ABC broadcasts the 97th annual Academy Awards Sunday, March 2 at 7pm.

What’s surprising is, in an awards heat that unofficially began last September in Venice, how much of a race it remains among major nominees.  Only Zoe Saldana for “Emilia Perez” and Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”) are virtual locks to win in the Supporting categories.

For Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Picture, the most valuable and desired Oscar, it’s, amazingly, still a horse race.

It’s also a slightly altered broadcast this year. Instead of Jimmy Kimmel, a memorable host in the recent past with a keen appreciation for puncturing pretensions, there is Conan O’Brien who, while familiar, remains an unknown quantity in how politically barbed his opening monologue might be.

In order to acknowledge the horrors of LA’s monumentally destructive fires, the Academy decreed that none of the five Best Song nominees will be performed. Every awards show this season has taken a moment to thank the LA Fire Dept. who are invited attendees.

“They revised the telecast because of the fires and want a serious tone, so no songs,“ noted Village Voice columnist Michael Musto. If O’Brien dodges any pointed topical commentary, “They can say the focus of the show was reconfigured because of the fires to be a serious celebration of the movie industry.”

The Best Picture race fields three favorites among 10 nominees. Leading is the nearly four-hour drama “The Brutalist,” alongside “Conclave” with its brilliant ensemble depicting the election of a Catholic Pope, and “Anora,” a contemporary rom com about a sweet sex worker, a Russian oligarch’s dopey son and mobsters.

“Best Pictures usually do serious issues and ‘Brutalist’ seems like traditional Best Pictures,” Musto said. “But maybe sexual escapism is what people are craving now.  ‘Brutalist’ is long and hyper dramatic and divides people where ‘Anora’ takes you on a ride that’s relentless and inventive.”

The wild card in the Best Picture race? The feel-good Bob Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown.”

For Best Actress Demi Moore has been the irresistible front runner for the sci-fi “The Substance” ever since her riveting personal and political acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, followed by wins with the Critics Choice Awards and SAG.

Best Actor? That’s led by “Complete Unknown” ’s Bob Dylan, Timothée Chalamet, who at 29 would become Oscar’s youngest Best Actor winner ever. That honor, ironically, is currently held by Adrien Brody, long the leading contender for “Brutalist.”

“Musical biopics do well in acting categories (Rami Malek, Jamie Foxx),” Musto said. “Timothée Chalamet is universally beloved and just beat Brody for the SAG. At this moment, the favorite looks to be Chalamet.”