The 97th Academy Awards presented on March 2 were filled with fun, fabulousness and powerful moments. 

Hosted by former “Tonight Show” host Conan O’Brien, this year’s Oscars opened with stunning performances by “Wicked” stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. Grande performed “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Erivo paid homage to Stephanie Mills and Diana Ross by performing “Home” from “The Wiz,” the iconic 1978 “Wizard of Oz” adaptation. The pair finally came together to recreate their iconic performance of “Defying Gravity” from “Wicked.” 

O’Brien headed to the stage, but not before paying respect to Best Picture nominee “The Substance” by crawling out of Demi Moore’s back. When he finally reached the stage, Moore noted how “awkward” the situation was. O’Brien’s opening monologue had the crowd roaring with laughter. Commenting on how much he loved Best Picture nominee “The Brutalist,” O’Brien stated how much he wished it wouldn’t end. “And luckily it didn’t,” he quipped. He then went on to comment on the controversy surrounding “Emilia Perez” star Karla Sofia Gascon. 

“‘Anora’ uses the F-word 479 times. That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofia Gascon’s publicist.” O’Brien then tells Gascon if she’s going to tweet about the Oscars to remember, “My name is Jimmy Kimmel.”

After telling the crowd he will be “running a tight ship”, he warned the crowd against their acceptance speeches running too long by cutting to a disappointed John Lithgow. Another notable moment is O’Brien chastising an underdressed Adam Sandler who donned his trademark look of a hoodie and gym shorts. O’Brien then performed a song about how he “won’t waste time”, with the sandworm from “Dune: Part Two” playing the piano” 

The night’s first award was given to Kieran Culkin for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in “A Real Pain”. During his acceptance speech, Culkin told the story of how his wife agreed to have a fourth child if he won the Oscar, not expecting him to win. “Let’s get cracking on those kids!”, Culkin enthusiastically stated. 

“Flow” then won the award for Best Animated Feature, making it Latvia’s first time winning an Academy Award. “Flow” is also the third ever animated film to be nominated for Best International Feature Film. 

John Lithgow, Lily-Rose Depp, Elle Fanning, Connie Nielsen and Bowen Yang came out to present the award for Best Costume Design. Yang stood out being the only presenter in costume. Paul Tazwell won the award for his work on “Wicked”. He is the first African-American man to receive this award. 

Amy Poehler took the stage to present the awards for Best Original and Adapted Screenplay.  Poehler quipped about the difficulty writing can pose before presenting Best Original Screenplay to “Anora” director, writer and editor Sean Baker. The award for Best Adapted Screenplay went to Peter Straughan for “Conclave.”

The Academy paid tribute to the James Bond film series as producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson handed over creative control of the timeless series to Amazon. “The Substance” star Margaret Qualley stepped on stage exuding elegance as she danced to the series’ theme. Blackpink member Lisa performed “Live and Let Die,” the title song for the 1973 film. Doja Cat performed “Diamonds Never Die” followed by Raye performing Adele’s “Skyfall”. Some viewers felt the tribute should have been replaced with performances of this year’s Best Original Song nominees.

“Anora” director Sean Baker took home the award for Best Editing, joking in his acceptance speech that he “saved this film in the edit, trust me. That director should never work again.”

Unfortunately, every Oscar is not without its upsets. Zoe Saldaña shocked viewers by taking home the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in the controversial “Emilia Pérez.” Saldaña celebrated being the first actress of Dominican heritage to accept an Academy Award.

The actress addressed the backlash to the film after the ceremony when a journalist pointed out how harmful the Mexican representation in the film was to Mexican audiences. 

She apologized to any Mexicans who felt offended by the portrayal. She then went on to say she doesn’t feel the portrayal of Mexican culture was offensive or harmful. “For me, the heart of this movie was not Mexico. We were making a film about friendship. We were making a film about four women.”

“Emilia Pérez” also took home the award for the Best Original Song with “El Mal.” While accepting the award, songwriters Clément Ducol and Camille awkwardly sang their rendition of one of the film’s songs. The audience fell silent during the moment. Many viewers complained about the awkwardness of the moment. 

An impactful moment was shared as the team behind “No Other Land,” a film that portrays the realities of Palestinians are experiencing as a result of the war with Israel. The film was made by a group of Palestinians and Israeli people. During their acceptance speech, filmmaker Yuval Abraham expressed the team’s desire for peace. “We made this together, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger.” They also expressed disappointment in America’s foreign policy towards the war.

Best Picture Nominee “I’m Still Here” took home the award for Best International Feature Film, giving Brazil its first ever Academy Award. “The Brutalist” took home its second award for Best Score, one of the stranger choices of the evening.

In another interesting choice, Adrien Brody won the Best Actor award. He then went on to break the record for longest acceptance speech, capping at five minutes and sixty seconds. Brody even asked for the music to be turned off. 

Sean Baker took home a third award for “Anora.” In his acceptance speech, Baker emphasized the importance of watching movies in theaters and the danger theaters are in.

Mikey Madison took home the award for Best Actress for “Anora” to an uproarious crowd, earning her first ever Academy Award.

Finally, Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan ended the night, reuniting to present the award for Best Picture. “Anora” won Best Picture, earning the film five out of its six nominations. It also meant that Sean Baker broke Walt Disney’s record for most Oscars won by a single person in one night. 

Overall, the 97th Oscars proved to be a celebration of not only independent films, but of the art of cinema in general. Despite its ups and downs, the Oscars proved to be an enjoyable night for all.

Image from Moviefone via Youtube