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Connections

Who will win — and who should win — at this year's Oscars?

Five people wearing headphones sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man front left has short grey hair, a grey beard and is wearing glasses, a white button-down shirt, grey pants and black shoes; a woman front right has long brown hair and is wearing a brown turtleneck sweater and blue jeans; a woman back left has dark hair and is wearing glasses and a multi-colored sweater; a man back right has short brown hair, a brown beard and is wearing glasses, a grey cardigan sweater and a white t-shirt with red lettering; a man at center has very short dark hair and is wearing a puffy navy vest over a white hooded sweater, blue jeans and sneakers.
George Yeadon
/
WXXI News
(foreground) Jared Case and Johanna Lester, (background) Cielo Ornelas MacFarlane and Scott Pukos with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Wednesday, March 4, 2026

It's our annual Oscars preview.

How many of the best picture nominees did you see this year? Whether it was all of them or none of them, our panel brings you up to speed about what to expect from this year's ceremony.

Our guests share their Oscar picks, and we invite you to share yours as well.

In studio:

For information about The Little Theatre's Oscar trivia and watch party, click here.

For information about The Dryden Theatre's Oscar preview panel, click here.

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.