The 97th Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, was held March 2 at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles (L.A.), Calif., bringing together a room full of celebrities to celebrate the year’s biggest hits in the film industry.
Opening the award show, host and comedian Conan O’Brian entertained the audience with a monologue of jokes and a short song. Many people enjoyed his hosting style, regarding him as a breath of fresh air among past Oscars hosts.
With a short compilation of films that were set in L.A. as a dedication to the city after the devastating fires that toppled over millions of homes in January, the Oscars officially began by the stars of “Wicked,” Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, with a “The Wizard of Oz” inspired musical performance.
Showing up in a ruby slipper inspired outfit, Grande performed a remarkable rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” from the classic film “The Wizard of Oz.” Erivo then took the stage to perform her own rendition of “Home” from “The Wiz,” leaving the audience mesmerized as Grande once again joined the stage to sing “Defying Gravity” alongside Erivo.
The highly anticipated awards included “Actor in a Leading Role,” “Actress in a Leading Role” and “Best Picture.” Two of these awards went to the hit film “Anora,” with Mikey Madison winning “Actress in a Leading Role” and the whole production winning “Best Picture.” “Actor in a Leading Role” went to Adrien Brody for his portrayal of László Tóth in “The Brutalist.”
Other popular films that won this year were “The Substance” and “Wicked,” with the latter winning the Oscar for “Production Design” and “Costume Design.” “The Substance,” the wildly successful 2024 film starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, won in “Makeup and Hairstyling.”
A few of the prominent films of the last year won no awards like “A Complete Unknown” starring Timothée Chalamet. This was an interesting turn of events considering he had won “Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role” about a week prior.
The award show gave a musical tribute to the famous “James Bond” franchise, with songs performed by Qualley; Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini, more known as Doja Cat; Lalisa Manobal, or Lisa and Rachel Keen, or Raye. Qualley gave the audience a Bond inspired dance routine alongside Manobal singing “Live and Let Die,” Dlamini performed “Diamonds are Forever” and finally the tribute ended with Keen covering Adele Adkins’ “Skyfall.”
The 97th Academy Awards brought the dazzling end to the 2025 award season, with surprising victories and wholesome moments.
