The Academy Awards celebrated its 85th Anniversary on Feb. 24, hosted by Family Guy creator Seth Macfarlane. While the Oscars ceremony kept its typical cool mood throughout its three hours of showing, it did not fail to conceive its memorable highlights during the highly anticipated night.
Macfarlane, famously known for his adult humor cartoon, brought his own touch to the award show and like any other first time host, had some hits and misses. Mixed signals were thrown at the producer, some accusing his comedy of being a bit too racy and simply falling flat. Just as negative comments were given to Macfarlane, he also received much praise for his funny musical numbers and successful jokes.
The singing performances seemed to impress the audience full of movie stars, producers, and director nominees. Adele received a warm applause for her rendition of “Skyfall” and Jennifer Hudson’s “And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going” tribute to Dream Girls that showed off her strong vocals. Along with the others was the iconic Barbara Streisand who dedicated “The Way We Were” to the late Marvin Hamlisch.
Les Miserables took the show with its whopping eight nominations and picked up three Academy Awards throughout the night. Anne Hathaway snatched Best Supporting Actress and sang live with the other cast members of the musical, bringing the Les Miserables fans to their feet.
An unexpected presenter, Michelle Obama, announced the film that won Best Picture and was pictured in a giant screen above the stage. The anticipated moment was alas given to Argo starring Ben Affleck.
Another highly acclaimed movie, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, provided Daniel Day Louis an Oscar for his acting performance as Abraham Lincoln was giventhe award for bringing the 16th president back to life and giving the audience a pleasantly chilling performance. His competitors, which included Bradley Cooper and Denzel Washington were fierce, making t he Best Actor title truly a close race.
Nearing the end, the Best Actress Award was announced and created a nail biting moment between the nominees Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty, Jennifer Lawrence for the Silver Lining Playbook, Quvenzhane Wallis for Beast of the Southern Wild, and Naomi Watts for The Impossible. The presenter announced Lawrence as the winner, and as she went up to receive her award, she tripped on the hem of her dress and took a tumble. The Silver Lining’s star received a standing ovation from her fellow actors, gracefully took the stage, laughed at her small misstep, and thanked everyone for the award. Although Lawrence’s fall was the biggest talk of the entire production, her tremendous win was not overlooked, giving her the title of second youngest Oscar winner behind Tatum O’Neal who won Best Actress at the age of ten in 1973.
The Oscar’s 85th anniversary gave its typical long performance, complete with both dull and exciting moments, speeches cut off by taunting music, and expected as well as unexpected wins, leaving the 2013 Academy Awards to be memorable.
