Sunday, March 2, the 97th annual Oscars were held in the Dolby Theater. All eligible Academy members participate in the voting of nominees and winners. At 7 pm EST, the 23 category award show began. As the lights dimmed, Ariana Grande stepped onto the stage. The theater erupted into fluorescent rainbows. Grande sang Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland, paying homage to The Wizard of Oz. Soon after, Cynthia Erivo took to the stage to perform Defying Gravity. 

A crowd favorite throughout the night was the cast and crew of Anora. Anora, starring Mikey Madison, swept the Oscars and brought home five awards; Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Original Screenplay. 

As the show continued, more awards were distributed and fellow nominees displayed their opinion through their facial expressions. Viewers at home believed some stars were robbed of their award and stirred up discourse online. In particular, the Best Actor award caused some controversy. Winner, Adrien Brody, starring in The Brutalist, struggled with the foreign accent his role required. Instead of sticking to a dialect coach, the production team relied on AI technology called Respeecher. Actors like Sebastian Stan in The Apprentice and Timothee Chalamet in A Complete Unknown were also nominated for this award but went through intense transformations for their roles, unlike Brody and his Ai-assisted Oscar win.

As the night wrapped up, many nominees left empty handed while others exited with an iconic golden statue in hand. This year’s Oscars stirred up emotions and gained strong media attention, but when have they not?