And the Award Goes To: Recap of the 2017 Oscars

If you’re like me and failed to receive an invitation to Hollywood’s Superbowl, you experienced the magic of the Academy Awards from the comfort of your couch in your Red Carpet-ready, not so designer pajamas. But that’s okay the view was just fine as I watched my favorite celebrities in their element.

The 2017 Oscars started with a bang- Justin Timberlake performed his Oscar-nominated song ‘Can’t Stop the Feeling’ from Dreamworks’ movie Trolls, mashing it up with Bill Withers’ Lovely Day. JT got the entire crowd on its feet before bringing out the host of the evening, Jimmy Kimmel.

Jimmy Kimmel’s off the cuff banter was continuously on point and had me dying of laughter. Notable moments including the back and forth with Matt Damon, re-enacting the opening scene of the Lion King with the young star of Lion Sunny Pawar and checking in with President Trump in the middle of the show to ask “u up?”.

Jimmy Kimmel’s tweet to President Trump during the 2017 Oscars.
Aside from the comedic commentary from the hosts and presenters, we all viewed in to see who would take home the coveted awards and I was honestly excited though not surprised by all the winners.

Mahershalalhashbaz “Mahershala” Ali received the first award of the night for best-supporting Actor in Moonlight. Ali is now the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar.

Viola Davis also broke a record this year and became the first African American actress to receive three Oscar nominations and won the title Best Supporting Actress. Much like her fantastic performance in Fences Davis gave a tear-jerking speech speaking on her passion for acting and the honor of portraying the lives of those whose stories otherwise would’ve been buried with them. As if I needed another reason to admire Mrs. Davis she just keeps on giving them to me. And her ensemble for the evening deserved an award all its own.

And there were awards for categories I’ve never thought about. This is around the time everyone sitting at home went to the bathroom or refreshed their snack bowls. It was also around the time the first of many parachutes containing snacks fell from the sky Hunger Games style.

Throughout the night, we saw many deserving producers and writer receive acknowledgment for their hard work and not to take away from them at all but I’m shocked the critically acclaimed Hidden Figures did not receive an award. Did the people select the winners not see the same movie I did?

Regardless of my disappointment for Hidden Figures, I was extremely excited to see that my top three picks LaLa Land, Moonlight, and Fences did so well. I was proud to see people of color so widely represented in comparison to years past. And I’m always rooting for anything featuring the loves of my life John Legend and Ryan Gossling.

The Oscars are typically known for its amazing fashion and performances but towards the end of the night, all the wonderful singing and dancing were overshadowed by the announcement of one movie title.

It was like the moment Steve Harvey called the wrong name at the Miss Universe Pageant only I care about this mistake. Warren Beatty’s blunder on stage resulted in the wrong cast for Best Picture celebrating a win that was not their own. It wasn’t until after the cast of LaLa Land was on stage midst acceptance speech that the error was cleared up and Moonlight was recognized as the true winner of the night. I was not amused.

The people behind LaLa Land handled the mix up with such grace and humility though bowing out and returning to their seats to let the cast of Moonlight bask in the spotlight.

The Oscars would’ve gone off without a hitch if not for this one error that was clumsily covered up with the excuse of an envelope mix-up. Only the card Beatty swears he was holding was actually in the procession of Emma Stone, which the actress admitted to during a post-show interview.

No sweat of LaLa Land‘s backs though the movie which received fourteen nominations went home with six awards. All the stars and big winners of the night will put the fiasco behind them at the Vanity Fair Oscar show.

Only in Hollywood does it play out like it did on Oscar night. And I cannot wait to experience it again next year.