Eddie Murphy wants a 'Party' Oscar entrance

Eddie Murphy wants his Oscar entrance to feature his infamous 1985 song Party All the Time.

Murphy jokingly said as much during Oscar rehearsals on Saturday, when he took to the stage to run through presenting for Sunday's 87th Academy Awards.

Murphy had just finished his practice run-through when he sauntered back to the microphone to ask about his entrance music.

"Why are you all playing James Brown?" Murphy asked with a smile. "I want to play Party All the Time."

There were some laughs and a lot of work Saturday as a string of Hollywood's finest headed into final show rehearsals. Friday's rehearsals featured the first, unofficial look of Tim McGraw's tribute to Glen Campbell.

Jennifer Aniston sauntered in Saturday morning with sandals and slipped into her high-heels to practice the stage walk in game-mode. Aniston seemed genuinely touched speaking to student filmmakers backstage who congratulated her for her role in the drama Cake.

"Doing that movie was my nomination," Aniston said, when she was asked about her omission from the award nominations.

Benedict Cumberbatch came early enough in the late morning to still bundle up with a grey scarf wrapped around his neck — a rarity in Los Angeles. It did not distract from the gold-wedding ring Cumberbatch had on his hand from his recent wedding to Sophie Hunter.

Some stars used time on the practice stage to scout out their seats for the event on Sunday, highlighted by large placards with their pictures.

"Yah, I got a good seat," said Captain America star Chris Evans, who checked out the scene while flipping a water bottle onstage.

Chris Pratt was so pyched up about his seat placement that he gave a fist pump from the stage, before further scanning the cardboard placards with actors names in the audience.

"Will cardboard Meryl Streep be here tomorrow?" Pratt joked. Nope, it will be the real one.

Actors mostly got the presenting mistakes out of the system in the trials. Empire's Terrence Howard took four tries on his complicated stage introduction.

"It's the beauty of looking over the audience and seeing people watching me," said Howard. "I'm happy we're doing this right now."

After another mistake he announced smiling, "I've been on vacation for a while."

When he finally nailed it, Howard gave a big wave to the studio audience as he walked off.

Early morning actors like Kevin Hart wore blue jeans and a letterman jacket, while evening attendees such as Oprah wore a peach skirt and matching sweater.

Jared Leto showed off the wild-colored jacket he had worn to the Independent Spirit Awards earlier in the day. When Leto ran into Jason Bateman backstage, Bateman said solemnly, "You photographed beautifully out there."

Bateman walked about backstage with his daughter Francesca, 9.

"We're spending the day together," he told students backstage. "We're going to take it up a notch later and go for frozen yogurt."

Channing Tatum proved the class clown for the student trophy presenters whom he helped choose as part of the Team Oscar program.

Wearing a "Don't Tread on Me" baseball cap sideways, and a hoody jacket, Tatum joked around, danced a little backstage and gave Oscar night advice.

"Don't wear a long, long dress, I'm telling you," Tatum told one female student. "When you have Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep in the audience and you're staring at them you will lose your body. I still get nervous looking at them. My body goes numb."