Paparazzi preparing to photograph the actors, producers, directors and many more celebrities that were either nominated for an Oscar or supporting their loved ones. photo by Michael Buckner
This year, the annual Oscars award ceremony had a lot to offer, especially because of the release of Barbie and Oppenheimer.
The 2024 Oscars was a riveting awards ceremony that captured the beauty of the cinematic universe throughout 2023. With the comedic relief provided by host Jimmy Kimmel, and the extravagant performance of “I’m Just Ken” by Ryan Gosling, the Oscars captured the attention of many around the world, especially when it came to presenting the nominees of specific categories.
This year, the Oscars had the past five winners from four different categories present the nominees and winner of that category. These past five winners gave a heartwarming speech about each nominee before presenting the Oscar award. For best supporting actress, Mary Steenburgen, Lupita Nyong’o, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rita Moreno, and Regina King returned. For best supporting actor Sam Rockwell, Tim Robbins, Ke Huy Quan, Christoph Waltz, and Mahershala Ali returned to the stage. For best lead actor Nicolas Cage, Matthew McConaughey, Brendan Fraser, Ben Kingsley and Forest Whitaker presented speeches. Finally, for best lead actress Sally Field, Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Yeoh, Charlize Teron, and Jessica Lange were welcomed to the stage.
Towards the middle of the Oscars, the audience was captivated when Ryan Gosling took to the stage to sing the iconic song “I’m Just Ken” from the movie Barbie. While the background actors were dressed in black suits, a pink sash, and black cowboy hat, Gosling was dressed in a sparkly pink suit with complementary sparkly pink gloves. To add to the wonderful surprises of the night, Barbie co-stars Simu Liu, Kingsley Ben Adir, Ncuti Gatwa, and Scott Evans joined Gosling on stage. Towards the end of the song, Gosling joined the audience and had Margot Robbie, Greta Gerwig, America Ferrera, and Emma Stone sing parts of the song.
Another major moment during the 2024 Oscars was when the winner of the best lead actress award was presented. After Sally Field, Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Yeoh, Charlize Teron, and Jessica Lange gave their heart warming speeches to each of the nominees, Michelle Yeoh presented the winner of the award: Emma Stone for her as Bella Baxter in Poor Things. After the announcement, a camera panned over to Stone who showed an expression of disbelief. While on her way to receive her award, she embraced both her friends and family. When giving her speech, Stone started off by mentioning, “My dress is broken. I think it happened during “I’m Just Ken”, sustaining a laugh from the audience. Throughout her speech, the audience could hear all the emotions that were going through Stone’s mind, but the most prominent ones were gratitude and joy.
Finally, at the very end of the award ceremony, Al Pacino presented the award for best picture. After winning six awards prior to this category, Oppenheimer had won again. As the crowd erupted into applause, the cast, producers, and director of the movie walked towards the stage to receive their award. Once on stage, producer Emma Thomas gave a speech thanking everyone she could think of and explaining how exciting that moment was for her. After Thomas’ speech, second producer Charles Roven gave a speech thanking his family and everyone who helped create and bring Oppenheimer to life through cinematography.
The 2024 Oscars was not only an exciting night for the actors but the audience as well. It was an amazing experience to be able witness the heartwarming interactions between actors and friends. Each new year brings astounding new movies which means more new surprises at the Oscars. Hopefully next year’s award ceremony will be just as outstanding as this one.
