At the film industry’s biggest night, “Anora,” the independent comedy-drama directed by Sean Baker was the big winner. The film about a stripper swept into a whirlwind romance with a wealthy Russian, took home a Best Directing accolade for Baker and a Best Actress Oscar for its lead actress Mikey Madison. Cynthia Erivo was the firm favorite to win the Best Actress Oscar for “Wicked,” but lost to Madison.
At 3 hours and 55 minutes long, Ariana Grande opened the show with a performance of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and was joined by Cynthia Erivo for the track “Defying Gravity.” A skit from Demi Moore’s nominated film “The Substance,” about a middle-aged woman determined to defer aging introduced host Conan O’Brien who kicked off a semi humorous diatribe.
“It’s Hollywood’s biggest night and it starts at 4 in the afternoon,” the comedian joked. There were jokes targeted at the streaming giant Netflix, and nominated movies “Conclave,” and “Anora” which he said uses the F-word 479 times and the film “Wicked” which won two Oscars. Conan’s jokes about Artificial Intelligence, child labor, lengthy acceptance speeches and actor Timothée Chalamet’s yellow suit garnered little laughs. “You will not get hit tonight,” he told Chalamet who lost the Best Actor nomination for his movie “A Complete Unknown.”
Actor Kieran Culkin received the first Oscar of the evening for the film “A Real Pain” about two cousins who travel to Poland to learn about their roots. “Flow” beat out the highly popular “The Wild Robot” to receive the Oscar for Best Animated Film.
“This is everything,” Paul Tazewell shared onstage as he became the first Black man to receive an Oscar for Costume Design for the movie “Wicked.” A costume designer with over three decades of experience in film, television, and theater, Tazewell is well known for his work across Broadway. Ruth E. Carter was the first Black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Costume Design in 2019 for the movie “Black Panther.” Backstage, Tazewell credited Carter for paving the way. “This is the pinnacle of my career and the whole way through, there was never a Black male designer I saw that I could follow.”
Other notable Oscar winners included Zoe Saldaña who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in “Emilia Pérez.” She dedicated the Oscar to her grandmother Argentina Cisse. “The fact that I’m getting an award for a role where I got to sing and speak in Spanish, my grandmother, if she were here, she would be so delighted.”
Colman Domingo, a favorite to win the Best Actor Oscar for his engaging prison drama “Sing Sing,” lost the accolade which went to Adrien Brody for the lengthy immigrant drama “The Brutalist.” Brody, who won his second Oscar, made the most profound speech of the evening. “No matter where you are in your career, no matter what you’ve accomplished, it can all go away,” shared Brody who went on to talk about acceptance and discrimination. “If the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked.”
Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey led the tribute to the late composer Quincy Jones who died last year. A prominent figure with an illustrious musical career spanning seven decades, Jones, who died last year, was the first Black composer to be nominated in the Original Song category for an Oscar. Queen Latifah led the musical tribute with the track “Ease on Down the Road,” a song from the 1975 Broadway musical “The Wiz” which Jones produced.
Black, silver and red colors dominated the Oscars red carpet. Director, producer Ava DuVernay dazzled in a silver gown, Demi Moore donned a silver Armani Privé gown, Halle Berry radiated in a silver Christian Sirian dress and Louis Vuitton was clothing of choice for Cynthia Erivo.
The most-watched live entertainment event of the year, the 97th Oscars took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Photos by Kyusung Gong /Etienne Laurent/ The Academy
Samantha Ofole-Prince is a Los Angles based journalist who covers industry-specific news that includes television and film. She serves as the US Correspondent for Ovation Magazine.
