Ellen DeGeneres shined as the host for the 86th Academy Awards. (Photo property of ABC & Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences)
By: Jacob Elyachar, jakes-take.com
There is always something magical about Oscar night!
Seeing the best and brightest in Hollywood come together at the Dolby Theatre always puts a smile on my face.
So who took home Oscar glory? Read on to find out…
Host Ellen DeGeneres entered the Dolby Theatre stage and hit ground running with jokes about first time nominees Barkhad Abdi, Lupita Nyong’o and June Squibb to veteran actress Meryl Streep. After that, she handed the show off to Anne Hathaway who presented the Best Supporting Actor award. In a too close to call race, Jared Leto took home the award for his performance as Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club. In his speech, the 30 Seconds to Mars singer paid tribute to his mom and brother and delivered a message of hope to people in Venezuela and Ukraine.
Comedian Jim Carrey paid tribute to his hero, Bruce Dern, and hammed it up as he presented a short tribute to the animated heroes of cinema including Mickey Mouse, Roger Rabbit, Shrek and the Incredibles. Ellen stated that there was too little Finding Nemo in the package. However, on a much brighter note, Pharrell Williams got everyone on their feet as he performed his Oscar-nominated song: “Happy.”
After Samuel L. Jackson and Naomi Watts handed the Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscars, Harrison Ford walked out to the Indiana Jones themes and introduced three of the night’s Best Picture candidates: American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club & The Wolf of Wall Street.
As the night continued, Matthew McConaughey presented Frozen with the 13th Best Animated Feature Award while Sally Field paid homage to the extraordinary heroes in cinema. The packaged ranged from Ben-Hur and To Kill A Mockingbird’s Atticus Finch to Erin Brockovich and 42’s Jackie Robinson. Before the break, Karen O debuted “The Moon Song” from Her.
Kate Hudson and Kansas City’s own Jason Sudeikis presented both Helium and The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life for the Best Live Action Short Film and Best Documentary-Short Subject respectively. Bradley Cooper also presented the Best Documentary-Feature to 20 Feet from Stardom’s Morgan Neville and Darlene Love, who brilliantly sang an a cappella cover of “His Eyes is On the Sparrow.”
Actor-director Tyler Perry introduced the next three nominated films: Gravity, Nebraska and Her. Brad Pitt introduced U2, who performed an acoustic version of “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Bono’s vocals gave viewers the chills and Larry Mullen, Jr. was excellent on the drums. They received the third standing ovation of the night.
Ellen and an all-star group of actors smile for Twitter. (Photo property of ABC and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences)
Ellen began a quest for selfies! First, she took a photo with Liza Minnelli. Then, it snowballed into an all-star group of actors: Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey, Jared Leto, Julia Roberts, Lupita Nyong’o, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and American Hustle’s Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence! Speaking of Lupita Nyong’o, she won her first Oscar. As she received hugs from Liza, Brad and her co-star, Chiwetel Ejiofor, the entire Dolby Theatre audience stood on their feet. In her acceptance speech, Lupita saluted director Steve McQueen, her castmates and her family.
Four-time Oscar host Whoopi Goldberg paid homage to the Wizard of Oz and personally saluted her personal hero: Judy Garland’s three children: Minnelli, Joey and Lorna Luft. P!nk made her Oscar debut with her brilliant cover of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” She showed off her superb vocals as clips of the iconic film flashed across the screen. Ellen wanted to participate in the tribute as Glinda, but she was too late.
Legendary actress Glenn Close introduced the “In Memoriam” segment and ended with: “We love you, we honor you and we miss you!” The segment honored late film visionaries including Sid Caesar, Shirley Temple Black, Roger Ebert, James Gandolfini, Eileen Brennan and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. To end the segment, Bette Midler gave a hauntingly beautiful rendition of her hit: “Wind Beneath My Wings.”
After Ellen announced that they broke Twitter, Goldie Hawn introduced the final three Best Picture nominees: Philomena, Captain Philips and 12 Years A Slave. While John Travolta butchered her name, Idina Menzel delivered a fiery performance of her hit song: “Let It Go” from Frozen.
The night began to wind down with Steven Price, who won Best Original Score for Gravity, and Karen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for Frozen’s “Let It Go.” In addition, 12 Years a Slave’s John Ridley won Best Writing-Adapted Screenplay and with a surprise win in Best Writing-Original Screenplay: Her’s Spike Jonze.
Two iconic actors, Angelina Jolie and Sidney Poitier, shared a special moment before announcing the winner of Best Director. Alfonso Cuaron surprised everyone by pulling out the win for Gravity. Daniel Day-Lewis awarded Cate Blanchett her first Best Actress Oscar for her tour-de-force performance in Blue Jasmine and Jennifer Lawrence awarded Matthew McConaughey his first Oscar. Finally, Will Smith presented 12 Years a Slave with Best Picture!
