The Oscars: A Night of Awards

Emma Garcia, Staff Writer
Feb 10, 2020

On Sunday, Feb.9, the 92nd Oscar Awards were held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The night consisted of nominated movies and actors winning a variety of awards from 20 categories, including Best Supporting Actress, Sound Editing and Original Screenplay. Taking advantage of the large audience, a few celebrities used their platform to speak about ongoing issues. Overall, this night was filled with outstanding performances and laughter all across the board.

Janelle Monae opened up by singing a popular song off the movie “A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood” starring Tom Hanks. After Monae’s performance, the awards were given out. Many presenters included humorous commentary and jokes pertaining to the specific category they were presenting awards for. For example, actresses Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig included a funny bit where they acted out different emotions because they were jokingly saying that they are actresses as well and acting is easy prompting them for an award. The audience was delighted with their skit and very entertained.

“Their skit was actually really funny and I think it was a very light-hearted moment for this event,” senior Sophia Campos said.

Another example was Josh Gad introducing Idina Menzel. A couple of years ago, John Travolta mispronounced Menzel’s name, causing Josh Gad to look right at the camera and pronounce Menzel’s name correctly with some sass (of course as a joke). After mentioning Travolta, the audience erupt in laughter. Overall, the contrast in the humorous parts added to the night, with remarks ranging from dark humor to simple, light-hearted jokes.

With her introduction being top-notch, Menzel stole the show by singing “Into The Unknown” from the movie “Frozen 2”, adding an element that made the song even more mesmerizing. While introducing her, Josh Gad mentioned that the movie was translated into 45 different languages. This performance included the original English version along with singers singing in Japanese, Spanish, Castilian and Norweigan, just to name a few. Other performances were made by Elton John, Chrissy Metz, Eminem and Billie Eilish. Billie Eilish sang “Yesterday” by The Beatles with her brother Finneas to commemorate actors and actresses that have passed.

“Billie Eilish’s performance caught me off-guard. I did not expect her to sing that night, but it was such an amazing performance with her brother by her side. I was truly left speechless,” senior Yael Saltiel said.

Lastly, one memorable moment from that night was the speech made by Joaquin Phoenix. After receiving his award for best actor in a leading role for his performance in “Joker”, Phoenix spoke about how he does not feel as if he is better than his fellow nominees and how many people feel entitled to “inseminate a cow and then take the calf away”. He mainly spoke about ongoing issues in today’s society, such as racism and environmental problems. Joaquin Phoenix also made a quick tribute to his brother, River, who passed away in 1993. Phoenix quoted a lyric written by River that said, “Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow.”

At the end of The Oscars, many winners left pleased with their awards and many were extremely humbled just from being nominated. Below is a list with the winners for each category.

Best Picture: Parasite

Actress In A Supporting Role: Laura Dern in “Marriage Story”

Actor In A Supporting Role: Brad Pitt in “Once Upon a time…in Hollywood”

International Feature Film: South Korea, “Parasite”

Documentary (Short): “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)”

Documentary Feature: “American Factory”

Original Song: “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again,” “Rocketman”

Animated Feature Film: “Toy Story 4”

Adapted Screenplay: “Jojo Rabbit”

Original Screenplay: “Parasite”

Actor In A Leading Role: Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker”

Actress In A Leading Role: Renee Zellweger in “Judy”