By The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Latest on the Oscars (all times local):

4:20 p.m.

Performances of the Oscar nominees for best original song have begun from locations as varied as Los Angeles and Iceland, even if the ceremony hasn’t.

In one of many twists in this year’s ceremony, the five songs are being presented in a pre-show before the main event begins at Union Station in Los Angeles at 5 p.m. Sunday.

Laura Pausini performed a pre-taped “Io Si (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead” high above Los Angeles on the roof of the new Academy Museum of Motion Pictures that opens in September. She was joined by writer and 12-time nominee Diane Warren playing a red grand piano, and an orchestra decked out in red.

Swedish singer Molly Sandén performed “Húsavík” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” on a cold boat dock in Iceland, joined by a sweater-sporting children’s choir from the town the song is named for, which has adopted the song as a de facto anthem.

There are also will be performances of “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami” and “Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7.”

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A PANDEMIC ACADEMY AWARDS

— An Oscars unlike any other to get underway Sunday

— Oscar predictions: Can anything beat ‘Nomadland’?

— The Oscars bring back red carpet glam in whites and gold

For complete coverage of this year’s Oscars, visit: https://ift.tt/3xpdxWI

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

3:30 p.m.

Leslie Odom Jr. has arrived at the Academy Awards decked out in gold from head to toe. He has two chances Sunday night to get a matching Oscar.

Wearing the sparkling double-breasted suit with a matching gold shirt underneath, Odom walked the scaled-back red carpet outside Union Station in Los Angeles with his wife, actor Nicollette Robinson, who was in a simple black dress.

Odom told KABC-TV from the carpet that it feels great to be “walking in healthy, walking in at all.”

Odom, nominated for best supporting actor and best original song for “One Night in Miami,” can get one or two Oscar statuettes to go with the Tony and Grammy he won for playing Aaron Burr in the original Broadway cast of “Hamilton.”

He praised this year’s diverse nominees, including his own film, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Judas and the Black Messiah,” calling it a “special moment” for films about black lives.

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2:45 p.m.

The preparations are done and the arrivals have begun for a most unusual Oscars.

Paul Raci, up for best supporting actor Sunday, and Diane Warren, up for best original song, were among the early arriving nominees.

Raci, a 73-year-old first-time nominee for “Sound of Metal,” and Warren, a 12-time nominee who has never won, walked a red carpet that was heavily scaled back for the pandemic outside Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, where the ceremony is being held for the first time.

Actor Colman Domingo of multiple nominee “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” made the day’s first big fashion splash with a shockingly pink tuxedo.

“Mank” has the most nominations and “Nomadland” is the favorite in several top categories at the 93rd Academy Awards starting at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET.

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11 a.m.

Show producers are hoping to return some of the traditional glamour to the Oscars, even in a pandemic year.

The red carpet is back, though not the throngs; only a handful of media outlets will be allowed on site. Casual wear is a no-no.

Pulling the musical interludes (though not the in memoriam segment) from the three-hour broadcast — and drastically cutting down the time it will take winners to reach the podium — will free up a lot of time in the ceremony. And producers, led by filmmaker Steven Soderbergh, are promising a reinvented telecast.

The Oscars will look more like a movie, Soderbergh has said. The show will appear more widescreen and the presenters — including Brad Pitt, Halle Berry, Reese Witherspoon, Harrison Ford, Rita Moreno and Zendaya — are considered “cast members.” The telecast’s first 90 seconds, Soderbergh has claimed, will “announce our intention immediately.”