A disappointing night for Wicked fans created a great night for fans of Anora, an independent movie. Anora is one of ten notable movies that was nominated for Best Picture at the 97th annual Oscars ceremony. It aired March 2 and featured many lively performances, such as Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, Queen Latifah, Doja Cat, LISA from Blackpink, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and RAYE.
The Oscars were hosted by Conan O’Brien at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and featured 23 categories total, with Best Picture creating the most attention. Nominations for Best Picture included Wicked, The Substance, Conclave, Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Dune: Part Two, I’m Still Here, Emilia Pérez, and Nickel Boys.
Conan introduced himself with a slightly disturbing take on the 2024 movie The Substance that caused a roar of laughter and intrigue from the audience. The comedian had a skit with Adam Sandler that was creative and started the show off in a funny way. While Conan O’Brien has a following as great as Jimmy Kimmel, his lack of hosting the Oscars was evident as he felt out the vibe of the celebrities and audience around him.
The night started with a beautiful collaboration between Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande after their shared spotlight in Wicked. Ariana Grande started with a homage to The Wizard of Oz by singing ¨Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” followed by Cynthia Erivo singing ¨Home¨ from The Wiz in the 1975 Broadway musical. Both Cynthia and Ariana came back on to sing a shortened version of ¨Defying Gravity¨ from Wicked, creating a jaw-dropping performance for fans who awaited their surprise collaboration. It was a betrayal for movie and musical lovers to witness Emilia Perez win a musical award for one song after two Wicked actresses sang a song live that night.
Another song from The Wiz was sung by Queen Latifah as a cheerful tribute to composer and producer Quincy Jones, who passed away in 2024. She sang ¨Ease on Down the Road¨ for an upbeat, show-stopping performance. It felt very exciting for someone so well known such as Queen Latifah to sing a song with so much energy and hope.
LISA, Doja Cat, and RAYE all sang a lovely tribute to the James Bond franchise, including a dance number to the theme song featuring actress Margaret Qualley. This mysterious and dramatic performance included LISA singing “Live and Let Live” by Wings from the 1973 James Bond movie, Doja Cat singing “Diamonds Are Forever” from the 1971 James Bond, and Raye completed the tribute with ¨Skyfall¨ by Adele.
The final performance of the night was by the Los Angeles Master Chorale for the memorial segment of the night to honor all of the great film producers, actors, actresses, composers, and more who passed this past year. The Memoriam segment began with words of respect from Morgan Freeman for Gene Hackman who passed away recently at the age of 95. The chorale performed Mozart’s ¨Requiem¨ and created a solemn yet inspirational atmosphere for all to mourn and remember the legends lost in the last year. I felt moved and saddened but also appreciative for all for the many joys these people brought to the screen.
As an avid award show watcher, I found this year’s Oscars felt somewhat dissatisfying for some awards and rewarding for others.
Wicked, the award-winning Broadway musical that was brought to the big screen in November 2024, won two Oscars, for Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. Costume Designer Paul Tazewell made Oscar history as the first black male costume designer for Wicked. However, as a fan of Wicked, I was disappointed to witness neither Cynthia Erivo nor Ariana Grande go home with any awards, especially after such a stunning performance to start the night.
The award-nominated movie Conclave was developed based on the book by Robert Harris and won Best Adapted Screenplay out of eight possible nominations. Flow, an animated feature film about a cat navigating a post-apocalyptic world with other animal friends, won Best Animated Feature against big-name companies such as Disney’s Inside Out 2 and Dreamworks’ The Wild Robot. Flow broke records as the first Latvian film to earn an Oscar, and it was refreshing to see an independent winner against multi-million dollar movies.
Anora wiped the floor with five wins out of their six nominations. They won in big categories such as Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Actress, Best Director, and finally, Best Picture.
Emilia Pérez, a primarily Spanish-spoken movie featuring Selena Gomez, walked away with two awards out of 13 nominations, making it one win short of breaking a record for most nominations. After a few months of controversy surrounding the movie, I was not shocked to see Emilia Perez not do so well.
The 97th annual Oscars were full of tears, laughter, excitement, and surprise. The night was centered around 10 great movies that all had a successful year, with some doing better than others. The fans as well as I felt upset and happy with the results from the night, and were given an exciting evening of performances and ceremonies–celebrating the history and future of the film industry.
