Oscar Tip Sheet for Tonight

I was hoping by this hour that some sneak from somewhere would have leaked the Oscar broadcast itinerary — with an rundown of the evening’s main events and estimated time when they will occur. That’s happened before. But so far this afternoon, nothing yet. In previous years, at the 11th hour, we begin to feel our instincts kicking us in the gut, forcing us to face the looming inevitable realities — but again, speaking for myself, nothing yet.

What sort of tips then, to include on a tip sheet?

Here’s all we really know for certain:
The host? Neil Patrick Harris
Going home with Oscars? Julianne Moore, Patricia Arquette, JK Simmons

Beyond that, I’d like to at least think: “Fasten your seatbelts, its going to be a bumpy night!” might be good advice.

But what if our friend Zach Heltzel is right? Couple of days ago I tweeted: “Oscars teeter on the brink. So many categories a toss-up. Razor thin margins. Could all come down to how many voters misplaced their ballots.” har-har.

Zach replied: “Or Sunday comes, everything happens as the precursors dictated and it was all a no-brainer.”

Cue sad trombone. Wah waaaah. Gotta say, in any awards season as potentially grim as this, I really do pray for a bit of chaos, hoping for anything to shake up the evening. Or else it’s going to feel like a slow New Orleans funeral march — snazzy but tragic (for me).

So I’m going to open this thread and let you guys give me tips. Tell me some good signs to look for, and some bad signs to cringe about. (Like, for example, what if Birdman doesn’twin for cinematography? Would that be a meaningful sign of vulnerability?)

If any of you have some good advice to help guide us through Oscar Night, I’ll take your suggestion out of the comments and feature it here in the post.