BY MEGAN ACQUAVELLA
Staff Reporter
The 92nd Annual Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, took place on Feb. 9 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. The film “Parasite,” directed by Bong Joon Ho, made Oscars history by becoming the first non-English language film to ever win Best Picture.
“Parasite” also took home awards for Best Director, International Feature Film, and Original Screenplay.
The awards show did not feature a host for the second year in a row. Sophomore Ryan McHallam said, “I feel like the show flowed much nicer without a host.”
Steve Martin and Chris Rock, two former hosts of the show, opened the Oscars with a five-minute opening monologue.
“Well, we’ve had a great time not hosting tonight,” said Martin jokingly.
According to Rolling Stone, the Academy Awards plummeted to an all-time rating low with the 2020 telecast, drawing 3 million fewer viewers than the previous bottom in 2018.
The night included 13 musical performances, featuring Billie Eilish and Eminem.
Eilish performed the song “Yesterday” by the Beatles during an In Memoriam segment honoring the late basketball star Kobe Bryant, actor Kirk Douglas, and others.
Bryant himself was an Oscar winner in 2018 for his animated short film, “Dear Basketball.” Douglas, a three-time Oscar nominee, died at the age of 103 four days before the Academy Awards ceremony.
Eilish was accompanied by her brother Finneas O’Connell, who played the piano during their performance.
Junior Katerina Ringes said, “My favorite performance was Billie Eilish singing the Beatles song for the In Memoriam portion of the night.”
Eminem performed his song “Lose Yourself” which had won Best Original Song and which was also featured in the movie “8 Mile.”
“I kinda figured maybe since I didn’t get a chance to do it at the time, maybe it would be cool,” Eminem said to Variety on Monday after the performance. “And also, back at that time, the younger me didn’t really feel like a show that would understand me.”
As for the major awards, Joaquin Phoenix walked home the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in “Joker.” This was Phoenix’s first Oscar award.
During his acceptance speech, Phoenix honored his late brother by sharing a quote, “Run to the rescue with love, and peace will follow.”
For Best Actress, Renee Zellweger won for her portrayal of Judy Garland in “Judy.” Zellweger recognized Garland during her acceptance speech.
“This past year of conversations celebrating Judy Garland across generations and across cultures has been a real cool reminder that our heroes unite us.”
Zellweger wore an Armani Privé gown. The white column dress was one shoulder with a cape train and paired the gown with minimal jewelry.
Other stand out guests from the night in fashion included celebrities Natalie Portman, Margot Robbie and Brie Larson.
Portman made a statement while wearing a custom Dior. She paired the gown with an embroidered cape listing all of the eight female directors who were not nominated for their work at this year’s Oscars.
“I think that it was a bold move made by Natalie Portman to wear the cape with the names of those directors embroidered on it, it was a subtle but meaningful way to pay tribute to all of the female directors that worked hard this past year,” said Ringes.
Robbie worn a sleek black vintage Chanel gown, while Larson went with a pink sparkly custom caped Celine gown.
On the men’s side, director Spike Lee had the most memorable get up with a custom-made purple and gold suit embroidered with “24,” in honor of Bryant.
