Welcome to our live rolling coverage of the 84th Academy Awards in Hollywood as the movie industry prepares to honor the best films, actors and directors of the year. We'll be bringing you all the action as it happens from the Kodak Theatre as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences doles out its annual accolades. An army of Tinseltown's biggest and greatest in all their fabulous finery has walked the red carpet to witness the winners and losers for the movie industry's night of high stakes. A full list of nominees can be seen here as well as China Daily's latest predictions for who will take home the gold.

12:37 pm

WINNER: The Artist wins Best Picture

12:33 pm

Tom Cruise presents the award for the Best Picture

• The Artist Thomas Langmann, Producer

• The Descendants Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers

• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Scott Rudin, Producer

• The Help Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers

• Hugo Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers

• Midnight in Paris Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers

• Moneyball Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers

• The Tree of Life Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner and Grant Hill, Producers

• War Horse Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

12:26 pm

WINNER: Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady wins Actress in a Leading Role

12:25 pm

Colin Firth presents the award for Actress in a Leading Role.

The nominees are:

• Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs

• Viola Davis in The Help

• Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

• Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady

• Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn

12:19 pm

Natalie Portman presents the award for Actor in a Leading Role.

The nominees are:

• Demián Bichir in A Better Life

• George Clooney in The Descendants

• Jean Dujardin in The Artist

• Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

• Brad Pitt in Moneyball

WINNER: Jean Dujardin in The Artist wins Actor in a Leading Role

11:57 am

Michael Douglas presents the awards for Directing.

The nominees are:

• The Artist Michel Hazanavicius

• The Descendants Alexander Payne

• Hugo Martin Scorsese

• Midnight in Paris Woody Allen

• The Tree of Life Terrence Malick

WINNER: The Artist Michel Hazanavicius wins for Directing

11:51 am

Short Film (Animated) nominations

• Dimanche/Sunday Patrick Doyon

• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

• La Luna Enrico Casarosa

• A Morning Stroll Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe

• Wild Life Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

WINNER: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

11:47 am

The nominations for Documentary (Short Subject)

• The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin

• God Is the Bigger Elvis Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson

• Incident in New Baghdad James Spione

• Saving Face Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

• The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

WINNER: Saving Face Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

11:45 am

The cast of Bridesmaids present the award for Best Short (Live Action)

The nominations Short Film (Live Action)

• Pentecost Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane

• Raju Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren

• The Shore Terry George and Oorlagh George

• Time Freak Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey

• Tuba Atlantic Hallvar Witzø

WINNER: • The Shore Terry George and Oorlagh George

11:34 am

Angelina Jolie presents the award for Writing (Original Screenplay)

• The Artist Written by Michel Hazanavicius

• Bridesmaids Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig

• Margin Call Written by J.C. Chandor

• Midnight in Paris Written by Woody Allen

• A Separation Iran Written by Asghar Farhadi

WINNER: Midnight in Paris Written by Woody Allen wins for Writing (Original Screenplay)

Woody Allen did not show up to collect his Oscar once again.

11:31 am

Angelina Jolie presents the award for Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

The nominations are:

• The Descendants Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash

• Hugo Screenplay by John Logan

• The Ides of March Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon

• Moneyball Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin

• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

WINNER: The Descendants Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

11:22 am

Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis present the award for Music (Original Song).

The nominees are:

• Man or Muppet from The Muppets Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie

• Real in Rio from Rio Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; Lyric by Siedah Garrett

WINNER: Man or Muppet from The Muppets Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie for Music (Original Song)

11:13 am

Penelope Cruz and Owen Wilson present the awards for Music

The nominations for Best Original Score are Music (Original Score)

• The Adventures of Tintin John Williams

• The Artist Ludovic Bource

• Hugo Howard Shore

• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Alberto Iglesias

• War Horse John Williams

WINNER: The Artist Ludovic Bource for Best Original Score

11:05 am

WINNER: Christopher Plummer in Beginners for Actor in a Supporting Role

Christopher Plummer becomes the oldest actor to win an Oscar aged 82-years-old.

11:03 am

Melissa Leo presents the award for Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominations are

• Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn

• Jonah Hill in Moneyball

• Nick Nolte in Warrior

• Christopher Plummer in Beginners

• Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

11:00 am

Winner: Hugo Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning for Best Visual Effects

10:58 am

Ben Stiller and Emma Stone introducing Best Visual Effects

The nominees are

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson

• Hugo Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning

• Real Steel Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg

• Rise of the Planet of the Apes Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett

• Transformers: Dark of the Moon Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

10:52 am

Chris Rock presents the award for the best Animated Feature Film

The nominations are

• A Cat in Paris Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli

• Chico & Rita Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal

• Kung Fu Panda 2 Jennifer Yuh Nelson

• Puss in Boots Chris Miller

• Rango Gore Verbinski

WINNER: Rango Gore Verbinski wins best Animated Feature Film

10:48 am

Gwenyth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. are up to present the award for Best Documentary Feature

Nominees

• Hell and Back Again Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner

• If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman

• Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky

• Pina Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

• Undefeated TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas

WINNER: Undefeated TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas for Best Documentary (Feature)

10:41 am

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy introduce a performance by Cirque du Soleil

The act marks the second time Cirque du Soleil has performed during an Academy Awards telecast. The troupe’s first appearance, at the 74th Academy Awards.

10:40 am

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy have taken to the stage

10:33 am

Tina Fey and Bradley Cooper present the award Sound Mixing.

The nominees are:

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson

• Hugo Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

• Moneyball Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco and Ed Novick

• Transformers: Dark of the Moon Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin

• War Horse Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

WINNER: Hugo Tom Fleischman and John Midgley wins for sound mixing

10:32 am

WINNER: Hugo Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty wins for Sound Editing

10:31 am

Tina Fey and Bradley Cooper present the award Sound Editing

Sound Editing

• Drive Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Ren Klyce

• Hugo Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

• Transformers: Dark of the Moon Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl

• War Horse Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

10:30 am

WINNER: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Kirk Baxter and Angus Wallwins for Film Editing

10:28 am

Tina Fey and Bradley Cooper present the award for Film Editing. The nominees are:

Film Editing

• The Artist Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius

• The Descendants Kevin Tent

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

• Hugo Thelma Schoonmaker

• Moneyball Christopher Tellefsen

10:20 am

WINNER: Octavia Spencer in The Help wins for Actress in a Supporting Role

Octavia Spencer breaks down in tears during her acceptance speech as she thanks everyone and the world.

10:16 am

Christian Bale presents the award for Actress in a Supporting Role

The nominees:

• Bérénice Bejo in The Artist

• Jessica Chastain in The Help

• Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids

• Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs

• Octavia Spencer in The Help

10:13 am

WINNER: A Separation Iran wins Foreign Language Film

10:10 am

Sandra Bullock presents the award for Foreign Language Film. The nominees

• Bullhead Belgium

• Footnote Israel

• In Darkness Poland

• Monsieur Lazhar Canada

• A Separation Iran

10:04 am

WINNER: • The Iron Lady Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland for Make Up

10:03 am

Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez present the award for Make Up

The nominations for Makeup

• Albert Nobbs Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin

• The Iron Lady Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

10:02 am

WINNER: The Artist Mark Bridges for costume design

Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez present the award for Costume Design

9:59 am

Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Lopez present the award for Costume Design

The nominations are Costume Design

• Anonymous Lisy Christl

• The Artist Mark Bridges

• Hugo Sandy Powell

• Jane Eyre Michael O'Connor

• W.E. Arianne Phillips

9:51 am

WINNER: Hugo wins for Art Direction

Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

9:50 am

Tom Hanks presents the award for Art Direction

Art Direction

• The Artist Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

• Hugo Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

• Midnight in Paris Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil

• War Horse Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

9:49 am

WINNER: Hugo Robert Richardson wins for Cinematography

9:47 am

Tom Hanks presents the first award for Cinematography

• The Artist Guillaume Schiffman

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Jeff Cronenweth

• Hugo Robert Richardson

• The Tree of Life Emmanuel Lubezki

• War Horse Janusz Kaminski

9:45 am

Billy Crystal is now singing a mix of comedy show tunes. Stanby, the first award is just minutes away...

9:42 am

Comic Billy Crystal tells the audience just call me "war horse" joking about how many times he has hosted the show. He last presided over the awards show back in 2004. The only other host to hosted more times was Bob Hope, who notched up 19 Oscar ceremonies.

9:38 am

The 84th Academy Awards is underway. Morgan Freeman opened the show introducing Comic Billy Crystal returns to host for the ninth time. He is appearing in comedy spoofs of the Best Picture contenders.

9:15 am

It is 9:15 am in Beijing and 5:15 pm in Los Angeles. Thank you for joining us. We are just 15 minutes way from the start of the 84th Academy Awards. Time to meet the team. In the US We have Dai Yan and Chen Ziyan and from Beijing, Zhao Chunzhe and Zhao Chenyan, Todd Balazovic and Lee Hannon will be bringing you the latest news from the Oscars.