Hello readers, and Happy Sunday!

Today sees the 88th Academy Awards Ceremony taking place in Los Angeles. It is considered the climax of the annual film awards season, as well as the highest honour bestowed upon anyone involved in the film industry.

And presenting at tonight’s ceremony will be none other than Korean actor Lee Byung-hun. It is not yet confirmed for which category Lee will be presenting an award, or with whom, but his agency BH Entertainment is sure that the G.I. Joe 2 and Red 2 actor will be on stage at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.

Unfortunately, we will be missing out on another Korean performer gracing the stage. Soprano Sumi Jo sang “Simple Song #3” in Youth, which has earned composer David Lang a Best Original Song nomination. This category is one that is continuously shafted by the Academy, as Toy Story 3 composer Randy Newman pointed out in 2011. 

The Best Original Song category doesn’t always have the full five nominations, but it happened this year. However, only three of the songs will be performed during the ceremony; mainly due to the high profile performers attached to them (Lady Gaga, Sam Smith and The Weeknd). “Simple Song #3” isn’t one of them; and neither is “Manta Ray,” from the documentary Racing Extinction. It was co-written and co-performed by transgendered musician Anhoni, who earlier this week wrote about how she was not invited to perform at the ceremony.

Though there is diversity among the invited performers for Best Original Song, the omission of an Asian performer and the first transgendered performer to ever be nominated for an Oscar has only added to the existing tension over the Academy Awards’ lack of diversity.

Will you be watching this year’s ceremony, readers? Do you have any Oscars picks, or personal favourites from film (Hollywood or otherwise) this past year? Share them in the comments below!

And in case you were wondering, South Korea submitted Yoo Ah-in-starrer The Throne as its representative for Best Foreign Film. The film didn’t make it to the final nomination stage.

(Antony and the Johnsons Official Site, Oscars Official Site, YouTube[1][2][3]. Images via: Elle Korea, Sumi Jo Official Site)