The red carpet was rolled out, and the sun made a brief appearance on Hollywood Drive for the 86th Annual Academy Awards. Actors and actresses alike looked flawless in carefully chosen ensembles, and Jennifer Lawrence took a signature spill before she even made it to the front door.
By Michelle Balogh
With Ellen DeGeneres hosting this year, the 2014 Oscars commenced with laughter. After all of the stars had dazzled on the red carpet, the audience was welcomed by DeGeneres, who tweeted her excitement about hosting the awards.
Oscars 2014 Red Carpet Gallery
‘Anything could happen tonight. Possibility number one, 12 Years a Slave wins best picture. Possibility number two, you’re all racists,’ said DeGeneres, as the awards kicked off. ‘You’re all winners,’ she continued. ‘Well, not all of you. Those of you who’ve won awards.’ Watch the entire opening monologue below.
Pharrell Williams got the crowd cheering with a performance of his Oscar nominated hit single Happy, from Despicable Me 2. Even his competitors were up on their feet applauding by the end of the upbeat number.
There were five Australians up for nomination this year and we couldn’t wait to see how they’d fare against the predominantly American talent. Catherine Martin won her third and fourth Academy Awards for Best Costume Design for her work on The Great Gatsby and Best Production Design in collaboration with Aussie Beverley Dunn for the same film. These accolades make Catherine Martin the most successful Australian in Oscars history.
Australian David Clayton was nominated for his visual effects work for Peter Jackson’s latest Hobbit film, but predictably lost out to the blockbuster Gravity. Gravity deservedly took out many of the technical awards, also winning Film Editing, Cinematography, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing, as well as winning big with Best Director.
Top Ten Beauty Looks Oscars 2014
The overarching theme for this year’s Oscars is ‘ordinary heroes’, and Ellen reinforced this idea by littering the ceremony with casual ‘ordinariness’. She ate pizza with some of the biggest nominees during the ceremony and even took what can only be described as the most incredible selfie of all time. The picture, shown below, instantly took the record of ‘most retweeted tweet of all time’, breaking a million retweets and counting.
Late in the ceremony, Lupita Nyong’o took out the Best Supporting Actress award for her moving performance in 12 Years a Slave. She beat out insudtry heavyweights including Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Roberts and June Squibb. ‘So much joy in my life is due to so much pain in someone else’s’ she said in her speech, referring to her character, the poor terrorised slave girl Patsey.
A tribute to the 75th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz added a little musical theatre pizazz to the Academy Awards. Pink took the lead for the tribute, performing Somewhere Over the Rainbow, whilst Judy Garland’s daughter Liza Minelli watched from the audience. Ellen announced this special tribute in a hilarious Glinda the Good Witch costume, rising above her usual disdain for dresses.
The Oscars’ traditional In Memorium segment brought tears to many an eye, tributing many talented professionals including Philip Seymour Hoffmann, Shirley Temple and Paul Walker.
At the end of the evening came the big awards, and we were thrilled to see one of them going to an Aussie. Cate Blanchett was the clear frontrunner for the Best Actress Award, and we were delighted to see her take it home. ‘Sit down, you’re too old to be standing,’ she said, commencing her thanks. Watch her full acceptance speech below.
Matthew McConaughey took out the Best Actor award for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club, and the coveted Best Picture Award went to 12 Years a Slave.
Other awards went to Jared Leto for Best Supporting Actor, Frozen for Best Animated Film, Her for Best Original Screenplay and 12 Years a Slave for Best Adapted Screenplay.
Honorary and humanitarian awards went to Angela Lansbury, Angelina Jolie and Steve Martin.
Image Credit: Getty Images, Zimbio
