Oscars 2023 recap: All the best speeches, songs, and surprises

The 2023 Oscars proceeded with the usual opening pomp and grand celebrity fashion show, as expected from Hollywood’s biggest night. The red carpet was full of wild questions, Jimmy Kimmel opened the night with expected slap jokes, then Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis won the audience’s heart with their moving, emotional acceptance speeches for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. David Byrne wore a pair hot-dog finger gloves as he performed an original song. Everything, Everywhere at the Same Time, alongside Mitski. And Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava tore up the stage with their performance of “Naatu Naatu” from S. S. Rajamouli’s Oscar-nominated Indian action epic RRR.

If you didn’t catch the three-hour-plus broadcast — or just want to relive some of the night’s brightest and weirdest moments — we’ve rounded up the best, the funniest, the most touching, and most exhilarating moments from tonight’s Academy Awards ceremony.

Let’s get down to it!

Questlove showing off his diamond-encrusted Crocs

Image source: ABC

This year at the Oscars, plenty of attendees showed up in white or cream-accented outfits to complement the ceremony’s extravagant pale entranceway, nicknamed the “Champagne Carpet.” Not Questlove, though. The Oscar-winning director and iconic joint frontman of The Roots showed up in nothing short of diamond-encrusted Crocs, stating that he’s “just been choosing comfort for years now,” and he’s showing up to “shine his light.”

However, there is one thing I’m curious about:

Hugh Grant is present, and it is obvious that he has a lot of fun with this.

Did you know that Hugh Grant was in Rian Johnson’s Glas Onion? It’s true, he makes a Short (and I mean briefPhillip is the partner of detective Benoit blanc (Daniel Craig), and he makes his first appearance. He’s there for like, all of five seconds.

Grant was then asked about filming the movie and whether it was fun. He replied: Oh, no.

They are very normal and the Snyder brothers are back

Take a look at these important points Zack Snyder’s Justice League (not to be confused with 2017’s Justice League) won the coveted #OscarsCheersMoment prize at last year’s Academy Awards ceremony? No? Well, the Snyder bros of the world sure do, and they’re clutching that “W” hard, like the prickly armored vice-grip of Steppenwolf. Someone even flew a plane with a banner on it over the Oscars red-carpet, to remind people that it actually happened.

Jimmy Kimmel ridicules Nicole Kidman’s AMC commercial

AMC

The 95th Academy Awards ceremony is for magic. We all come together to share our joy, and to also cry. That indescribable feeling we get when Jimmy Kimmel parachutes from the ceiling onto the stage and proceeds to riff on Nicole Kidman’s viral AMC ad, expressing gratitude that she’s free from that “abandoned theater she’s been trapped in for two years,” and snickering about how the ad urges people Those who have already been to the theatreGo to the theater. Because we need that — all of us.

Naatu Naatu dancers pulled Kimmel off stage

Being played by the JawsWhat is your theme song? It’s been there and done that. This year, Kimmel claimed, any Oscar winner who went overboard on their acceptance speech would get Naatu Naatu’d off the stage, which he promptly demonstrated.

Ke Huy Quan is awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor

Ke Huy Quan accepted the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Waymond Wang in the Daniels’ Everything at OnceQuan, who was addressing Echo and her mother Echo with a heartfelt acceptance speech, recalled the stories of his experiences in Hong Kong refugee camps as a young child and how he came to America.

Jamie Lee Curtis dedicating her win to her parents — because Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh never won an Oscar

Jamie Lee Curtis accepted the Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Deirdre Beaubeirdre in the Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All at Once — Her first nomination, and her first win in 46 years. She dedicated her award to her father Tony Curtis and her mother Janet Leigh, who never won Oscars, but were nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, for their performances in 1958’s The Defiant Ones and 1960’s Psycho.

The live-action-short winner sings “Happy birthday”

Tom Berkley and Ross White’s Irish GoodbyeThe award for Best Live Action Short was won at the 95th Academy Awards. Berkley took the opportunity to celebrate the birthday of the film’s co-star James Martin, by dedicating half his winner’s speech slot to a sing-along rendition of “Happy Birthday to You.”

David Byrne in hot-dog fingers

Mitski and David Byrne took to the stage for a performance of “This Is A Life” from the Everything, Everywhere at the Same TimeTo celebrate, the soundtrack featured Raccacoonie in a pair hot-dog-finger glove. That’s not all: Raccacoonie even made a surreal, glow-eyed appearance! All the stars are really amazing! These areTonight, come to this place!

Banshees of Inisherin’s donkey hits the stage

Following a commercial break, Jimmy Kimmel brought out Jenny, the donkey that starred alongside Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees from Inisherin, describing Jenny as a “certified emotional support donkey” while encouraging her to thank Gleeson for letting her eat his finger. Awww!

[Ed. note: The donkey seen on stage is confirmed to not be Jenny the Donkey, but in fact an imposter! Booooo!]

Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava perform “Naatu Naatu,” confirmed as a “total banger”

Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava — the playback singers who performed “Naatu Naatu” in S.S. Rajamouli’s Indian action drama RRR in place of the film’s stars, N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan — took to the stage for a performance of the song, complete with all the exhausting-looking dance choreography from the movie itself. This one won the Best Song Oscar.

Lady Gaga’s emotional performance of her Maverick is the Top Gun Song

Lady Gaga changed out of her champagne-carpet duds and into a plain black T-shirt and torn jeans for a passionate, intimate performance of her original song “Hold My Hand” from the Maverick is the Top Gun soundtrack. Gaga’s performance was particularly striking for its otherwise sparse presentation and dynamic cinematography. Gaga’s performance was concluded with a moving dedication. Top GunTony Scott, director and actor who passed away in 2012

Hugh Grant calls his face “basically a scrotum”

Hugh Grant was able to relax as the night progressed. While presenting the Award for Best Production design, Andie McDowell and Grant joked about the importance applying moisturizer. Grant went so far as to compare Macdowell as “still stunning” thanks to her regular skin routine, meanwhile comparing himself to “a scrotum.” Hey, if you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at?

Malala refuses to comment on Spitgate 2021

Midway through the show, Kimmel took to the aisles to ask “viewer-submitted questions” of some of the audience’s most distinguished guests, starting with Malala Yousafzai. The Pakistani education activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate was asked for her take on whether Harry Styles spat on Chris Pine while promoting Olivia Wilde’s 2022 psychological thriller Don’t Worry Darling. Obviously taken aback by the brazen silliness of the question, Yousafzai curtly yet politely replied, “I only talk about peace.” Now ThatThis is what you should expect of a Nobel Peace Prize winner.

Daniels give a fast top-speed double talk

Daniel Kwan, aka the Daniels, and Daniel Scheinert accepted the award as Best Original Screenplay. Everything, Everywhere at the Same Time Trading turns at the microphone and trying as hard as possible to get as much speech in, Scheinert. Scheinert pretended to be about to complain about the teachers who detained him, and thanked them for changing his life. Kwan shared his love for storytelling with a touching confession of imposter syndrome. The speech read as if they were afraid — like so many nominees before them — that they might be overlooked in the other categories, and wouldn’t get a chance back onstage, so they had to make the most of their moment. It was all they knew.

Sarah Polley is victorious, Frances McDormand is in the lead

A spectre is haunting Sarah Polley — the spectre of Francis McDormand. Director Sarah Polley took to the podium to accept the Best Adapted Screenplay award on behalf of her film 2022. The Women’s Voice.

Polley delivered a moving speech about the film’s message about people’s power to disagree while still coming together to build a better future. But she wasn’t the only center of attention. A gigantic screenshot of Frances McDormand, who starred in the film, loomed over Polley’s shoulder with an expression that bore a striking resemblance to Death from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal by way of the Engineer from Ridley Scott’s Prometheus. Wow, that was an amazing speech.

RRR composer gives his winner’s speech in song

RRR composer M. M. Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose took to the stage to accept the award for Best Original Song for “Naatu Naatu.” Keeravaani, who professed his love for The Carpenters, sung his acceptance speech to the tune of their 1972 song “Top of the World.”

Best Director: The Daniels win their return

For Best Director, The Daniels took the Oscars stage. Scheinert thanked his parents for their support and Kwan gave a passionate speech about the intrinsic greatness of each person.

Brendan Fraser uses metaphors of the whale in his Best Actor speech

Brendan Fraser accepted the award for Best Actor for his starring role in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale. Through tears, Fraser thanked Aronofsky for “throwing him a creative lifeline” and praised the cast and crew of The WhaleTogether with other nominees. All via a series extended whale metaphors. Fraser’s victory was the brightest spot in a controversial film, marking the end of a very long and difficult comeback for the actor.

Michelle Yeoh wins Best Actress

You Can Have Everything at OnceIt continued with Michelle Yeoh taking home the Best Actress award. (Which puts Everything, Everywhere at the Same Time at three out of four of the acting awards — something that’s only happened two other times in Oscar history.)

Yeoh won the Best Actress Oscar for the first Asian actor. She began her speech saying, “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. It is proof of the fact that dreams can come true. And ladies… never let anybody tell you that you are past your prime.”

Best Picture: Everywhere, Everytime

After sweeping the major categories all night, it wasn’t so much a surprise that the A24 multiverse dramedy picked up the top prize of the night. These sweet victories are rare.

“This is for my dad,” said producer Jonathan Wang, “who like so many immigrant parents, died young. He is so proud of me… not because of this, but because we made this movie with what he taught me to do: That no person is no important than profits, and no one is more important than anyone else.”

Harrison Ford offers Ke Huy Quan the Temple of Doom hug

The producers of the 2023 Oscars knew what they were doing when they asked Ford to present the Best Picture Oscar — Everything at OnceThe clear favourite for the win was Michael Jackson, who also had the opportunity to reunite with his ex-wife. Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom co-star Ke Huy Quan. And that’s exactly what happened, minutes after the EEAAO Cast took to the stage in support of the Best Picture award. I mean, c’mon, this echo of their long-ago movie is a great moment in award-show history.

Image: Paramount Pictures

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