By Chiara Piacentini
Staff Writer
At this year’s Oscars, there was no shortage of noteworthy moments by actors and actresses alike. The ceremony was hosted by Conan O’Brien in the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 10.
“Wicked” co-stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo kicked off the awards show with a medley of songs including a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Home” and “Defying Gravity.”
“Wicked” itself earned 10 nominations, and out of those nominations snagged two Academy Award wins including Best Costume Design by Paul Tazewell and Best Production Design by Nathan Crowley and Set Decoration by Lee Sandales. Tazewell in particular made history by becoming the first Black man to win the costume category.
“This is absolutely astounding,” Tazewell said. “Thank you [to the] Academy for this very significant honor...I'm so proud of this...Thank you [to] everyone in the U.K. for all of your beautiful work. I could not have done this without you. My Ozian muses, Cynthia [Erivo] and Ariana [Grande], I love you so much. All the other cast. Thank you, thank you, thank you for trusting me with bringing your characters to life. This is everything.”
“Emilia Pérez” scored the most nominations for this year’s Oscars, including nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Writing and more than one acting nomination. Karla Sofia Gascón made history by being the first transgender woman to be nominated in an acting category when she received a Best Actress nomination for playing the film’s title role. However, this award went to Mikey Madison who played the title role in “Anora.”
Speaking of “Anora,” this film dominated this year with five awards to its name, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Sean Baker, the director for “Anora,” made a record for most Academy Awards won by one person in one year by winning four, tying him with Walt Disney. However, Baker won all four awards for the same movie while Disney won four awards for different projects.
“The Brutalist” actor Adrien Brody won another Best Actor award for his role as László Tóth in the film. Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldaña won the Best Supporting Actor and Best Actress in a Supporting Role, respectively. Brody won his first Oscar in 2002 for “The Pianist” at just 29 years old, making him the youngest actor to win the award.
For the In Memoriam segment, Morgan Freeman paid homage to Gene Hackman, who was found dead in his New Mexico home on Feb. 26. Queen Latifah, Oprah Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg paid tribute to Quincy Jones, who died this past November.
The show also honored the firefighters fighting the Los Angeles wildfires, which caused the nomination announcement to be postponed twice in January.
You can stream the Oscars on Hulu Live TV and YouTubeTV.
