9:08am: Birdman takes a total of four Oscars, equaling Grand Budapest Hotel to tie for the most Oscars this year.
Award: Best Picture
The Best Picture Oscar goes to Birdman.
9am: Julianne Moore has finally won an Oscar after five nominations for playing a woman with early onset Alzheimer's in Still Alice.
"I read an article that said winning an Oscar could lead to living five years longer. If that's true I'd really like to thank the Academy because my husband is younger than me."
"I'm thrilled we were able to hopefully shine a light on Alzheimer's disease. People with Alzheimer's deserve to be seen and not be alone," she said.
Award: Best Actress
The Best Actress Oscar goes to Julianne Moore for Still Alice.
8:54am: An emotional Eddie Redmayne could not believe he won the Best Actor Oscar.
"I am fully aware that I am a lucky lucky man. Wow! This Oscar belongs to all of those people around the world battling ALS. It belongs to one exception family, Stephen, Jane and the Hawking children. I will be his custodian. I will polish him, I will wait on him hand and foot," he said.
He gave thanks to "my staggering partner in crime Felicity Jones. My ferocious and incredibly kind director James Marsh."
Award: Best Actor
The Best Actor Oscar goes to Eddie Redmayne for The Theory Of Everything.
Award: Best Director
The Oscar for best director goes to Birdman's Alejandro G Innaritu. It's his second Oscar of the night.
"The good luck charm worked because today I am wearing Michael Keaton tightey whiteys. For someone to win someone has to lose. But the paradox is true art, true individual expression, the work of these fellow filmmakers, can't be defeat[ed] because they exist. Our work will be judged by time. I am humbly honoured by the Academy. I am here because of the work of the actors and producers," he said.
Award: Best Adapted Screenplay
The award, presented by Oprah Winfrey, has gone to The Imitation Game, by Graham Moore. It's the first award for the film, which came in to the awards with eight nominations.
Award: Best Original Screenplay
The award goes to Birdman. That's the second award for the film, which had nine nominations coming in. The writers of the film are director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, and Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr. and Armando Bo.
8:32am: We're at the three-hour mark that Neil Patrick Harris had hoped to bring the show to a close at -- and we still have six awards to hand out. The longest Oscar ceremony was 2002's four-hour, 20-minute opus (or snooze-fest).
8:25am: Oh oh! Julie Andrews is hugging Lady Gaga. Finally, a bit of an Oscar moment. The audience is on its feet. "Dear Lady Gaga, thank you for that wonderful tribute," says Andrews, the original star of The Sound Of Music. "It really warmed my heart, it really did. It's hard to believe 50 years has gone by since that film was released. How lucky can a girl get?"
Award: Best Original Score
Julie Andrews is presenting best original score. The Oscar goes to Alexandre Desplat for The Grand Budapest Hotel. He was also nominated for The Imitation Game! That's now four Oscars for GBH.
8:21am: Yep. Lady Gaga's showing everyone how it's done with a medley of songs from The Sound Of Music: The Hills Are Alive, My Favourite Things, Edelweiss and ending with a rousing Climb Every Mountain. She is wearing a huge shimmering balldress by Alaia.
8:10am: Nina Simone said it's an artist's responsibility to reflect the times we're in. "Selma is now because the struggle for justice is now. Voting rights are being restricted now," said John Legend. He performs in Dubai on Thursday.
Award: Best Original Song
Idina Menzel and John Travolta have a laugh introducing each other as they present best original song. The award goes to Glory from Selma. It's the first Oscar for John Stevens - aka John Legend - and Lonny Lynn -aka Common.
8:02am: John Legend and Common are singing their song Glory from Selma. This is the final best original song nominee performance. They won a Golden Globe for it.
7:55am: Neil Patrick Harris: "The subject of Citizenfour, Edward Snowden, couldn't be here tonight for some treason."
Award: Best Documentary Feature
The award goes to the Edward Snowden film, Citizenfour, by Laura Poitras.
Award: Film Editing
The Oscar for film editing has gone to Tom Cross for Whiplash. it's the film's third win tonight. Bit of a shock for Boyhood fans.
7:37am: Meryl Streep introduced the "In memoriam" segment with a quote by Joan Didion about grief. Jennifer Hudson is singing.
7:35am: How we stand so far: The Grand Budapest Hotel leads with three wins out of nine. Whiplash has two out of five; Birdman, Boyhood, Interstellar and American Sniper have one apiece.
Award: Best Cinematography
The Oscar for cinematography goes to Emmanuel Lubezki for Birdman.
Award: Best Production Design
Best production design: The Grand Budapest Hotel. It's the film's third win so far.
7:21am: In her speech, Academy president Cheryl Boone Issacs talks about the responsibility to protect freedom of speech, although she doesn't specifically mention Charlie Hebdo or the Sony Pictures hack.
Award: Best Animated Short Film
Feast, by Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed, is adjudged Best Animated Short Film.
Award: Best Animated Feature
Disney's Big Hero 6 bags the Best Animated Feature trophy.
Award: Best Visual Effects
The award for Best Visual Effects goes to Interstellar, the film's first win. The film has five nominations.
7:02am: Rita Ora is performing the Diane Warren-penned Grateful from Beyond The Lights. She's wearing gloves. What's with the gloves?
Award: Best Supporting Actress
The Oscar for best supporting actress goes to Patricia Arquette for Boyhood. It's her first Oscar win. The film has six nominations.
"To every woman who gave birth to the country's taxpayers... it's our time to have wage equality for all and equal rights," Arquette said, at which point Meryl Streep stood up and pumped her fist in the air.
Award: Sound Editing
The award for sound editing goes to American Sniper, Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman. It's the first win for the film, which has six nominations.
Award: Sound Mixing
The award for sound mixing has gone to Whiplash, the second win for the film. The winners are Criag Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley.
6:45am: So Neil Patrick Harris is onstage in his underpants. His jokes weren't going down too well but this is a bit extreme.
6:40am: Tissues at the ready: Tim McGraw is singing Glenn Campbell's nominated song I'm Not Gonna Miss You. Campbell, suffering with Alzheimer's, could not attend. He wrote the song for his wife and kids.
Award: Documentary Short Subject
The Oscar for documentary short subject goes to Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1.
Award: Best Live Action short
The Oscar for best live action short goes to The Phone Call, by Matt Kirby and James Lucas.
6:19am: The second performance of the night: Teigen and Sara and The Lonely Island do Everything Is Awesome from The Lego Movie.
6:15am: Ida director Pawel Pawlikowski's acceptance speech was so long he talked through the "wrap it up" music swell! They played it again and he finally took the hint.
Award: Best Foreign Language Film
The Oscar for best foreign language film goes to Ida from Poland. It's the first Oscar and tenth nomination for Poland. The director is Pawel Pawlikowski. "Life is full of surprises," he said.
Award: Achievement in Make-up and Hairstyle
The Oscar for achievement in make-up and hairstyle goes to Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier for The Grand Budapest Hotel. That's two wins out of nine nominations for the film.
Award: Best Costume Design
The Oscar for best costume design has gone to Milena Canonero for The Grand Budapest Hotel. It's her fourth Oscar. The film is the top-nominated at the awards with a total of 9.
5:51am First performance of the show is Adam Levine performing the nominated original song Lost Stars from Begin Again.
Award: Best supporting actor
The winner is J.K. Simmons for Whiplash. This is the first win for the film, which has five nominations total. He paid tribute to his wife and children and appealed for people to stay in touch with their family.
"If I may, call your mum, your dad, listen to them for as long as they want to talk to you."
5:36am: About 10 seconds in, and host Neil Patrick Harris goes directly to the Oscars' biggest issue. "We're here to honour Hollywood's best and whitest - uh, brightest."
And there's already been a joke involving Benedict Cumberbatch swigging from a hipflask.
5:31am: The show for the 87th Academy Awards has started!
And earlier on the red carpet...
5:30am: Champagne pink is always a flattering red carpet choice and Zoe Saldana's Versace is no different.
5:23am We can't wait to see what else Lady Gaga wears at the Oscars. She's in a custom-made Azzeddine Alaia.
"I'm so grateful to him for making my dresses tonight," said the singer, performing at the awards. "I really put my heart into preparing for tonight," said the recently engaged star, who hasn't had time to plan her wedding to actor Taylor Kinney. "I've been rehearsing for this and he's been incredibly supportive," she said.
Kerry Washinton is in Miu Miu. "I wanted to wear something I can dance in later."
5:17am: "We just tried to tell a truthful story," says best actor nominee Bradley Cooper, who is back for his third consecutive nomination with American Sniper. "The fact I am here with Clint Eastwood is crazy," he says.
5:09am:
Our theory: Felicity Jones' Alexander McQueen dress will not be one of the night's best looks, although it might be one of the biggest.
5:06am: Emma Stone's full length long sleeved gold dress is one of the night's biggest stunners.
4:49am: Will Reese Witherspoon win the best actress Oscar? The win looks like it's going to Julianne Moore, but for the red carpet battle, Reese is a shoe-in. Her off-the-shoulder black and white Tom Ford gown accessorised with tons and tons of diamonds. This is an Oscar look for the ages.
4:56:
Hot couple alert! Model Behati and her hubby, Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine are both in Armani.
4:46am: Benedict Cumberbatch - in a white tux - calls the Oscars "THE party". His new wife Sophie is in a rich red satin dress, like many in the red carpet favouring red tonight.
4:38am:
"I've done this before," laughed five-time nominee Julianne Moore on the red carpet. The actress, known for her idosyncratic red carpet choices, wore a drop-waisted white column Chanel gown.
4:33am: A couple of hours into the red carpet, and early arrival Anna Kendrick appears to be one of Twitter's best dressed - and we have to agree! Her peach Thakoon halter hugs her frame perfectly and that diamond collar - wow!
4:13am: Last year's best actress Lupita Nyong'o is doing a Josephine Baker thing in a slim fitting, pearl-heavy Calvin Klein dress.
4:05am: Best dressed alert! We have a feeling Naomi Watts' super sleek black and metallic dress from Armani Prive is a candidate for look of the night.
3:52am: Here's the first best actress nominee to arrive: Marion Cottilard, in white Dior Couture, as would be expected from the face of the brand, and we're sure the internet is going to have something to say about this one. Reminiscent of Jennifer Lawrence's much-ridiculed black-banded Dior, the dress is fitted at the front and has a black band of fabric attaching a cape at the back, around her bottom. Yep, it's as odd as it sounds.
3:45am: 50 Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson's Oscar-night date is her mum, Oscar-nominee (for 1989's Working Girl) Melanie Griffith. Presenter Dakota is in a one-shouldered red Yves Saint Laurent gown with a diamante knot over the shoulder, and her usual ponytail.
3:34am: The Wolf of Wall Street actress Margot Robbie (pictured below, wearing black) and country music star Faith Hill are two early stars to choose a deep v-neck for their Oscars look, accessoried with gigantic jewels running down the sternum - and those ain't no costume pieces, people.
3:37am: Fans in bleachers above the Oscars red carpet cheered on even the most fleeting of starry moments, such as early arrival Anna Kendrick sweeping past. Kendrick, wearing a peach colored gown, flashed a devil's sign at fans in a saucy move not entirely unexpected of the Pitch Perfect actress.
3:25am: Pharrell Williams has apparently started another hat trend: The bellhop hat. Will.i.am, a performer at the Oscars, showed up wearing the small pillbox hat, similar to that worn by Pharrell at his Grammys performance. Or is he a fan of nine-times nominated concierge film The Grand Budapest Hotel? Will.i.am's outfit inspiration went beyond current trends: his striped pyjamas appeared to be sourced from old-fashioned prison uniforms.
3:17am: First-time Oscar host Neil Patrick Harris will likely have a few looks during the awards, but he kicked off the red carpet in a silver suit, alongside his husband David Burtka in a white-tie tux.
2:47am: How To Train Your Dragon 2 star America Ferrera was one of the first to hit this morning's Oscars red carpet in a green gown, followed by best supporting actress nominee Patricia Arquette in a curve-hugging black-and-white bustier dress and simple updo.
With input from agencies