The Oscars are always a memorable occasion. We spend every year waiting to see which movies will get nominated, which actors will win, and what will the ceremony look like. We root for our favorite movies and actors, and spend ages ranting about the “undeserving” ones (in our not so humble opinion) on Twitter. In the past couple of years we’ve seen hilarious hosts, huge opening and closing numbers teary speeches and even some massive blunders when it came to who actually won. But this year was different in many respects. Let’s talk about the most memorable Oscars moments of 2019.
1. No Host
First of all it was super weird to not have a host at the Oscars. That was probably the first most memorable thing we’ve noticed. For as long as we can remember (or at least in the last 30 years) there was always a host. But considering the scandal surrounding Kevin Hart, we’re actually happy he wasn’t there. It made the ceremony way shorter than usual, but other than that we thought it was just as interesting and thrilling as always.
2. Rami Malek Wins Best Actor
Listen, we know everyone’s been praising him for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury, and that he won other awards leading up to this. But it was still incredibly rewarding to see Malek get an Oscar the first time he was nominated. He really did an amazing job portraying a bigger than life person that we thought couldn’t be emulated in a believable way. Yet here we are, his performance was outstanding.
3. Olivia Colman’s Unexpected Win
This was probably the biggest surprise for everyone, Olivia Colman included. Everyone’s been joking that Glenn Close would win, she even dressed like an Oscar in a sparkly gold dress. So when we heard “and the Oscar goes to Olivia Colman” no one was more floored than her. She fully deserved it in our opinion. And what a truly overwhelmed speech she did. It was just the perfect mix of hilarious, unexpected and clearly heartfelt. She couldn’t believe it, “this is hilarious…I got an Oscar” she started, and then went on to apologize to Glenn Close, thank her costars, her family, tell a story about her past job as a cleaner and blow a raspberry, fangirl over Lady Gaga – all in one speech.
4. Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry Presenting The Costume Award
We loved the crazy getups that Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry wore on stage to present the award. I mean, have you seen all the plush bunnies on Melissa’s dress as a nod to The Favourite? It was brilliant. And the speech was so deadpan. We need more stuff like this at the Oscars, please.
5. The Winner Of Best Costume Award
Ruth E. Carter became the first black woman to win as Oscar for Best Costume Design for her work on Black Panther. As she said in her speech “this was a long time coming” and we couldn’t agree more.
6. Maya Rudolph, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Host Stunt
These three brilliant ladies showed us in just three minutes what the Oscars could’ve been like if they hosted. And it would’ve been hilarious. But they weren’t the hosts, they just stood there a bit too long so that the readers of USA Today would think that they hosted. Someone hire them for this gig next year, ok?
7. Lady Gaga Performance And Win
Everyone was blown away by Lady Gaga’s and Bradley Cooper’s performance at the Oscars. And then when she actually won an Oscar for it – that was just the cherry on top. She writes, she sings, she performs, she acts… is there anything Lady Gaga can’t do?
8. Spike Lee Speech
We knew it’s a big deal when Samuel L. Jackson announced that the winners of Best Adapted Screenplay are Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee, Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz. He couldn’t contain his excitement, and then Spike Lee literally jumped on him in celebration. The speech he did though – that was something. And you know he had to put in the bit about election. You KNOW it.
9. Best Documentary Short Subject Winner
“I’m not crying because I’m on my period or anything. I’m can’t believe a film about menstruation just won an Oscar!” – Rayka Zehtabchi really said it all when she was accepting her Oscar. End of Sentence. The acceptance speech ended with a very important message “A period should end a sentence. Not a girl’s education.”
10. Barbra Streisand Appearing At The Oscars
It’s not easy to see Barbra Streisand these days so when she appeared on stage to present the clip for BlacKKKlansmen the crowd went wild. It was just a bit surreal seeing her, and then hearing Barbra talk about tweeting back and forth with Spike Lee. But no one was more excited to see Barbra than her biggest fan Richard E. Grant. Did you see his reaction?
