The Oscars? It's your night to shine!

Every televised contest comes with its big opinions and bigger questions. (What was the most shocking moment of the Super Bowl: the Patriots' last-minute interception or that weird dancing shark? What was wrong with Kanye West at the Grammys and why do they keep inviting him back?)

Certainly the same is true of the 87th annual Academy Awards, which air on ABC at 8 p.m. Sunday, preceded by an E! Network red-carpet watch at 6. Will Oscar voters go for Michael Keaton or Eddie Redmayne as best actor? Will the best picture Oscar go to the sentimental independent film Boyhood or the subtly technological, cynically emotional Birdman? What will best-actress noms Julianne Moore and Reese Witherspoon wear? So much to talk about.

Like those other network contests that benefit from herd watching, it's nice to find someplace where you can indulge in public. Yet, unlike the Grammys and the Super Bowl, public Oscar-viewing parties are usually glitzy, dressy affairs (and, no, wearing a football jersey out doesn't count, not even a really expensive one) with participants sipping sparkly stuff and walking red carpets and standing before sponsorship scrims, just like the stars.

If that's your thing, here are some of Philly's best dress-to-impress Oscar parties.

Philadelphia Film Society at the PFS Roxy Theater. If you haven't been to the rehabbed, intimate PFS Roxy Theater on Sansom Street, this party is your reason to finally make an appearance.

The Philadelphia Film Society is the team behind making certain Philly has a healthy dose of premier screenings with name-above-the-title directors and actors, to say nothing of its annual film festival (the 23d Philadelphia Film Festival last fall locally premiered several of the Oscar-nominated flicks, including Birdman). Plus, PFS boss J. Andrew Greenblatt has been thisclose to Bradley Cooper on more than one occasion.

Not only will you be able to ask Greenblatt what Cooper smells like (I'm betting on a mix of roses and Drakkar Noir cologne), you can walk a red carpet , sip cocktails, and watch a live stream of the awards ceremony throughout the party.

At 6 p.m., there will be complimentary cocktails and light-bite nibbles for all before guests move on to the drinks-for-pay, live-screening portion of the soiree.

Philadelphia Flower Show Oscar Party. It's not enough that the Philadelphia Horticultural Society will take over the city and its tourism next week with the 186th Philadelphia Flower Show at the Convention Center. The society will own the previous weekend as well by hosting an Oscar-viewing bash as part of its indoor pop-up garden at the Shops at Liberty Place. Good thing the Flower Show itself - "Celebrate the Movies" - is Hollywood-themed this year.

While strolling among the palm tree-lined garden created by the Hoffman Design Group and sipping the new PHS Horticultural Cider, a dry hard cider from Wyndridge Farm in York, Pa., look for special guest Gene London. The onetime Philly kiddie-show host and renowned costume curator will be on hand for the Flower Show's opening soiree next Friday and is an invited guest to the PHS Oscar party.

This corner is covered. Square 1682 - the dimly lit corner bar and restaurant that's part of Hotel Palomar's first floor - generally gives a good party, so imagine what it does when it has something towering to party about.

The joint's now-annual Academy Awards bash will have movie trivia contests with killer prizes (dinner for two at Square 1682, an overnight stay at Hotel Palomar, and couples spa treatments at Rittenhouse Spa & Club), and will serve cocktails named for best-picture nominees (I don't even want to imagine what a "Grand Budapest Hotel" is filled with, let alone a "Whiplash"). Plus, the bar serves the Square's signature truffle popcorn like it was giving away awards.