These were the biggest moments at the 2019 Oscars
From must-watch speeches to unlikely upsets.
The 2019 Oscars were always going to be interesting to watch, if only to see how producers would run the first Academy Awards without a host in exactly 30 years. The show started with a bang, ended with a surprise, and featured plenty of memorable moments in between, from hilarious presenters to heartfelt speeches.
Here are the biggest moments of the ceremony.
A host-less Oscars opens with Queen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwbCfVEB5EM
The ceremony kicked off with a rousing performance from iconic rock band Queen.With founding members Brian May and Roger Taylor on guitar and drums, respectively, and singer Adam Lambert, who has performed with the band since 2011, providing vocals, the band played shortened versions of “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the Queen biopic told through the life of irrepressible frontman Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek), took home four Oscars, including Best Actor for Malek.
Amy Poehler, Tina Fey, and Maya Rudolph do their best Oscars host impressions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiFkVp-R088
Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph weren’t hosting the Oscars on Sunday night, but as the presenters of the first award of the night — for Best Supporting Actress — they gave audiences a peek of what that might have looked like.
“So just a quick update for everybody in case you’re confused,” Rudolph said. “There is no host tonight, there won’t be a Popular Movie category, and Mexico is not paying for the wall.”
Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry take the stage in outlandish outfits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsi_Rd2OVFU
One of the more memorable presentations of the night came when Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry announced the Best Costume Design Oscar in garish ensembles. In a nod to the bunny-loving Queen Anne in “The Favourite,”McCarthy’s dress had at least two dozen rabbit stuffed animals affixed to it.
“Costume designers construct the looks that ground a character to a particular time and place in the subtlest — subtlest — of ways,” McCarthy said, as a rabbit puppet she was wearing on her hand nodded along with her.
Springfield native Ruth E. Carter makes history with a Costume Design win
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SimexBVPpCM
For her work on “Black Panther,” Ruth E. Carter took home the Best Costume Design statuette, making her the first black costume designer to do so.
“This is for my 97-year-old mother watching in Massachusetts,” Carter said in her speech. “Mom, thank you for teaching me about people and their stories. You are the original superhero.”
The “Star Is Born” song “Shallow” goes deep
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgRpDYlYgtk
First, Oscar-nominated actors Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper delivered a standout performance of the “Star Is Born” hit song “Shallow.” Then, the song’s co-writers, Gaga, Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, and Connecticut native Anthony Rossomando, won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
Spike Lee speaks of the 2020 election in a passionate speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTo3XYm33WU
From an enthusiastic introduction by Samuel L. Jackson to a profane start that was edited by ABC censors, filmmaker Spike Lee’s speech for co-winning Best Adapted Screenplay — his first non-honorary Oscar win — was pretty memorable. Lee concluded his time on stage by calling for audience members to look ahead to the 2020 election, with a nod to his 1989 film “Do The Right Thing.”
“The 2020 presidential election is around the corner,” Lee said. “Let’s all mobilize. Let’s all be on the right side of history. Make the moral choice between love versus hate. Let’s do the right thing! You know I had to get that in there.”
Olivia Colman charms viewers with her hilarious and flustered Best Actress speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy8z_Tq_VHo
In one of the bigger upsets of the night, Olivia Colman took home the Best Actress award for “The Favourite,” beating out favorite Glenn Close. Colman seemed overwhelmed by the moment, but was delightfully funny nonetheless.
“My kids are at home and watching,” Colman said. “Well if you’re not, then, kind of, well done. But I sort of hope you are. This is not going to happen again.”
“Green Book” pulls off a Best Picture upset
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZC140dC8Ps
The subject of several controversies this awards season, “Green Book” managed to win three of the five awards it was nominated for, most notably taking home the award for Best Picture. In his acceptance speech for that award, Rhode Island native and onetime Massachusetts resident Peter Farrelly said that “Green Book” was a movie about love.
“The whole story is about love,” said Farrelly, who directed the film and co-produced and co-wrote it with Nick Vallelonga and Peabody native Brian Currie. “It’s about loving each other despite our differences, and finding out the truth about who we are — we’re the same people.”
One of the many people who did not show the film love was director Spike Lee, whose film “BlacKkKlansman” lost in the category. The Associated Press reported that Lee was visibly upset after the award was announced, leaving his seat and waving his hands in disgust, and that others in the audience declined to applaud.
