This year’s Acadamy Awards was hostless, had few upsets, and touching memorable moments.
TYLER HUGHES |STAFF REPORTER | tjhughes@butler.edu
This year’s Academy Awards Show was certainly unique without a host. Regardless, it was an eventful night. Here are some highlights.
“Green Book” wins best picture
Directed by Peter Farrelly, “Green Book” won best picture despite its controversial take on the oversimplification on race relations. The movie tells the story of a Brooklyn bouncer played by Viggo Mortensen, who drives around a black pianist, played by Mahershala Ali, in the deep south in 1962. It also won in original screenplay and best supporting actor.
Olivia Colman wins best actress
One of the only true surprises of the night was Olivia Colman winning for her role in “The Favourite.” Many people thought Glenn Close would win for her role in “The Wife” since she won a Golden Globe for best actress in a drama. Colman did take home a Golden Globe this year for best actress in a Comedy/Musical, however. During her acceptance speech, she said, “I don’t think this will ever happen again.”
The Rockstar Opening
The lack of a host did not stop the Oscars from starting with a band. Queen, who had a biopic made of their late frontman Freddie Mercury was nominated for Best Picture amongst other awards, dazzled the crowd by performing their hits “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” After the performance, comedic actresses Tina Fey, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph came onto the stage to tell topical jokes and introduce the presenter for best supporting actress.
Microphone Cut-Offs
For weeks prior to the broadcast, it was announced that some technical achievement categories such as film editing and costume design were not going to be on the air. This idea went out the window after some backlash and thus microphone cut-offs for acceptance speeches were alive and well. Speeches for best achievement in makeup for the film “Vice,” best animated feature for “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse” and best adapted screenplay for “Blackkklansman,” which saw Hollywood veteran Spike Lee win his first Oscar, were all cut short.
Awards Leaders
“Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Roma,” “Black Panther” and “Green Book” were the major winners of the night. “Roma,” “Green Book” and “Black Panther” each won three Oscars apiece while “Bohemian Rhapsody” won four.
Best Original Song Performances.
The moment of the night went to the performance between Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga performing the smash hit “Shallow,” which won in the best original song category that was featured in the movie “A Star Is Born.”
Their performance was the only one of the best original song performances that was not introduced. They sat front row and walked up on stage together as the band started to play the song. At the end of the song, Cooper joined Gaga on the piano bench where she was seated and the moment launched a social media frenzy. There were no epic flashy lights or backup dancers. The performance complimented the song’s stripped-down tone.
Jennifer Hudson’s performance of “I’ll Fight” from “RBG” was another noteworthy performance. Hudson stood center stage and used her magnificent vocal talent to kick off the night’s four original song performances.
