It was the 86th Oscars tonight, and Ellen DeGeneres smashed the night as an awesome hostess with laughs, surprises and heartaches around the stage.
The night opened up with Ellen Degeneres throwing jokes to actresses Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence, whom DeGeneres was teasing about tripping her way to receiving an Oscar. Throughout the show, DeGeneres made quirky humor by tweeting selfies of herself and celebrities, even breaking a world record of 1.5 million retweets in a single night for her selfie with celebs such as Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and Lupita Nyong’o.
To start the night, DeGeneres gave her tribute to celebrities present. “We all know that the most important thing in the world is youth,” she said, evoking a laugh from the audience. “No, the most important thing is love…and I love you all,” she said, addressing the cast and crew present at the Oscar ceremony.
DeGeneres evoked many laughs from the audience, but the most heartfelt moments were those times when the actors and actresses gave their acceptance speeches.
Lupita Nyong’o, best supporting actress for 12 Years a Slave, nearly cried when she received her trophy, and in her speech she addressed all children worldwide: “When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind every child [around the world] that no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.”
Matthew McConaughey, upon receiving an Oscar for best actor in a leading role for Dallas Buyers Club, gave tribute to God, his family and his role model. McConaughey said he looks up to God, looks forward to his family and looks ahead at his role model, which is himself 10 years in advance. “It’s a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates,” he said with a smile.
For the award count, Gravity won the most for a single feature film, including visual effects, sound editing, cinematography, film editing, original score and director.
Other films that received awards included Dallas Buyers Club for costume and design, Mr. Hublot for animated short film, Frozen for animated feature film, Helium for live short film, The Lady in No. 6 for documentary short subject, 20 Feet from Stardom for documentary feature, The Great Beauty for foreign language film, The Great Gatsby for production design, 12 Years a Slave for best adapted screenplay, Her for original screenplay and Frozen for incredible performance of “Let It Go.” The last film to receive an award—that perhaps got the most enthusiasm from its cast and crew—was 12 Years a Slave for best picture. Director Steve McQueen jumped for joy and bear-hugged the nearest person on stage.
Notable actors and actresses that received awards included Jared Leto for best actor in supporting role in Dallas Buyers Club, Lupita Nyong’o for best actress in supporting role in 12 Years a Slave, Cate Blanchett for actress in leading role in Blue Jasmine and Matthew McConaughey for actor in leading role for Dallas Buyers Club.
Throughout the night, the Oscars presenters took a brief moment to commemorate notable categories of film or celebrities that had passed away. Some of these categories included animated films, humanitarian awards, scientific and technical awards, and movies with heroes. There were also two brief commemorations to the anniversary of The Wizard of Oz and an “In Memorium” to deceased actors, actresses, directors, producers and screenwriters.
Overall, the Oscars was a satisfying night, filled with glimmer, shine and triumph as celebrities took home the trophy and celebrated the night for the team efforts that made these films possible.