Oscar: Hollywood’s Biggest Night

Some firsts and other rarities are possible at Sunday night's Academy Awards. But if the Oscars could be just a little less predictable, the show might really be one for the record books.

Ben Affleck's "Argo" looks like it will uniquely claim best picture without a directing nomination, while "Lincoln" filmmaker Steven Spielberg and star Daniel Day-Lewis are favored to join exclusive lists of three-time Oscar winners.

If some longshots came in, the night could produce two more three-time acting winners — Sally Field from "Lincoln" and Robert De Niro for "Silver Linings Playbook."

And we could also have the oldest or youngest acting winner ever — 86-year-old "Amour" star Emmanuelle Riva and 9-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis of "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

Unconventional Host

The evening at the newly named Dolby Theater will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane, best known as the creator of Fox's Family Guy and last year's box office hit Ted. Will history remember him after tonight in the same sentence as Billy Crystal & Steve Martin or James Franco and David Letterman?

"This was in every way a complete surprise," MacFarlane said last month after announcing the Oscar nominations. "I didn't know I was being discussed. I didn't know that my name had come up. It came out of the blue and it was -- it made it that much more of a joy."

Producer Neil Merlon his high hopes. "He embodies a post-Millennium host in that tradition of Johnny Carson, Bob Hope and Billy Crystal. He is the next step in terms of making the show current. And that was one of the goals that we had in mind, to make this show current."

Star Studded Performances

The show will also feature Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and the cast of Les Miserables singing selections from the movie. Adele will sing the theme to the James Bond movie Skyfall, her first live performance since throat problems put her on the sidelines. In rehearsal, observers say she has been "indescribably mind-blowing" according to the Daily Mail.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story