There were some expected results, some surprises and a historical mistake at last nights star-spangled Oscars ceremony in Hollywood…
It was an interesting ceremony with the night producing a broad range of winners, no one film scooping everything. Films with an action-bent – the very different Hacksaw Ridge and Suicide Squad getting nods – did okay, but there seemed to be a shift towards quieter, more empathetic and triumphant films for the main categories
And some of the winners are – no, we really, really checked, these are correct… (sorry, Deadpool still didn’t win!).
Best Picture: MOONLIGHT
Actor: CASEY AFFLECK for Manchester by the Sea
Actress: EMMA STONE for La La Land
Supporting Actor: MAHERSHALA ALI for Moonlight
Supporting Actress: VIOLA DAVIS for Fences
Animated Feature: ZOOTOPIA
Cinematography: LA LA LAND
Costume Design: FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
Direction: Damien Chazelle, DAMIEN CHAZELLE for La La Land
Film Editing: HACKSAW RIDGE
Makeup and Hairstyling: SUICIDE SQUAD
The main news of the night was, of course, the fact there there was an unprecedented snafu at the end of the show where La La Land was announced as Best Picture. The announcers were Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty and it was clear that Beatty seemed confused by what was on the card but they announced what they had in front of them. The eventual explanation – coming several minutes later – was that he’d been handed the wrong card to announce and that he had in fact been given the announcement of Emma Stone winning as Best Actress for La La Land, when in fact the winner was Moonlight.
PricewaterhouseCoopers who act as official accountants of the awards issued a statement:
We sincerely apologize to Moonlight, La La Land, Warren beatty, Faye Dunaway and Oscar viewers for the error that was made during the award announcement for Best Picture. The presenters had mistakenly been given the wrong category envelope and when discovered, was immediately corrected. We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred. We appreciate the grace with which the nominees, the Academy, ABC, and Jimmy Kimmel handled the situation.
The truth of what happened seemed less certain and even more confusing this morning as Emma Stone talked to the press and confirmed she’d been holding her winning card since her triumph and still had it so that it couldn’t have been given to Beatty – though it could have been a duplicate used for emergencies. Questions were also asked how there could be two minutes of acceptance-speeches before the mistake was rectified by one of La la Land‘s producers who stepped forward to tell the Moonlight cast and audience of the show’s mistake. .
The show also had to admit they’d used the wrong photo during their memoriam section, the very much alive Australian producer Jane Chapman’s picture being sued to represent costume-designer Janet Patterson.
Otherwise, it was a reasonably successful evening for everyone…
This is actually very interesting to me! When do they make up their minds, about who’s the winner?
The results are collected and tallied in the several months before the ceremony and then kept secret so only PricewaterhouseCoopers, the Academy’s accountants, know the results until the envelopes are opened.
In this case, it appears that warren Beatty was accidentally given the back-up copy of Emma Stone’s winning Best Actress card rather than the correct Best Picture card he should have had – hence the look of confusion on his face when he opened the envelope…