The 97th annual Academy Awards…. The most coveted event took place 4 pm at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood on Sunday March 22. Starting with a breathtaking performance of Ariana Grande singing the timeless “Somewhere over the Rainbow, as Cynthia Erivo continued the musical montage with yet another timeless Judy Garland Classic. Finally the two concluded with the jaw dropping Defying Gravity.
The host, for the first time ever, Conan O’Brien opening skit included a tribute to another Oscar nominee, The Substance as well as highlighted all the other nominees in a fitting comedic opening number.
- Robert Downey Jr presented the first award of the night to Kieran Culkin for Best supporting actor in “A Real Pain“. That makes his first Oscar of his career.
- Andrew Garfield and Goldie Hawn presented the next award for best animated feature film to Flow. It is the first ever film nominated from Latvia in Oscar history. Garfield and Hawn also presented best animated short film to “In the Shadow of the Cypress“.
- The next award presented Paul Tazewell for exquisite Costume Design for Wicked. Tazewell also pointed out in his acceptance speech as being the first African American to win an award in Costume design.
- Amy Poehler presented the next award for best original screenplay to Sean Baker for Anora. Poehler also award best adapted screenplay to Peter Straughan for Conclave.
- Scarlett Johansson and June Squibb presented the award for Best Make up to Pierre Oliver Persin, Stephanie Guillon, and Marilyne Scarselli for The Substance. And Halle Berry pays tribute to the 007 franchise by honoring with the Governor’s Award and a unique dance tribute.
- Daryl Hannah presented the award for editing to Sean Baker for his second Oscar win for Anora.
- Da’Vine Joy Randolph presented best actress in a supporting role to Zoe Saldana for “Emilia Perez” as her first Oscar Win.
- Ben Stiller, who presented the award for production design to Nathan Crowley and Le Sandales on Wicked. This marks Wicked’s second Oscar win.
- Rock and Roll Legend Mick Jagger presents the award for best original song to Emilia Perez’s El Mal by Jacques Audliard, Camile, and Clemente.
- Selena Gomez and Samuel L Jackson presents best documentary short film to The Only Girl in the Orchestra as Ema Ryan Yamazaki and Eric Nyari’s first Oscar win. Gomez and Jackson also presented best feature length documentary to No Other Land by Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra and Rachel Szor.
- Obrien also broke for a dedication as he brought out representives who battles the So Cal wild fires earlier this year.
- Miles Teller and Miley Cyrus presented best sound editing to Dune: Part 2.
- Rachel Ziegler and Gal Gadot presented best visual effects also to Dune Part 2.
The rest of the night was truly a night of surprises and firsts with some of the biggest awards of the night. Brazil took best international film for I’m Still Here. The Brutalist snagged two more awards including best original Score and Best Actor in a leading role, which makes the second Oscar win for Adrian Brody.
And finally rounding out the end of the night, Anora took number one as the film about the tragic sex worker industry won its last 3 awards, making 5 total awards for Sam Baker for Directing, Best Picture and Best lead actress for Mikey Madison in her first ever win.
Until next year, we will see you at the movies!