Trendy Report: Recap of Oscars 2014

March 3, 2014 Ezinne Ukoha

Boxes of pizzas star clustered selfies, and emotionally charged speeches, all helped to heighten the hysterics and dramatic elements on display at the 86^th Academy Awards ceremony last night.

The self-appointed selfie of the night!

Ellen DeGeneres was back again after a seven-year hiatus, and she managed to perform her duties without a glitch. She worked the audience with her particular brand of comedic fare and irresistibly entertaining interludes. It was a non-stop fest of the unexpected which included a pizza delivery guy being guided from the stage to a galaxy of stars that were secretly thanking God they were seated in the designated front rows. The randomly initiated selfies featuring the profiles of Bradley Cooper, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence and Julia Roberts to name a few fulfilled DeGeneres’ mission of temporarily halting traffic on twitter.

The musical numbers added the right amount of punch thanks to Pharrell Williams’ spirited performance of recent hit “Happy”, which helped kick things off to a melodious start. John Travolta provided one of the awkward moments of the night as he introduced the “wickedly talented” performer Adele Dazeem. Idina Menzel, anyone? Despite the weird acknowledgment, Menzel brought the house down as she belted out the Oscar-Winning song “Let it Go” from Frozen. There was also a chill in the air when John Ridley picked up his best-adapted screenplay statue for 12 Years a Slave. Ridley purposely avoided any contact with director Steve McQueen as he made his way to the stage, and also noticeably left him out of his acceptance speech. McQueen clearly wasn’t impressed with Ridley’s win and showed it with his less than enthused applause. Hope these two heavyweights can reach a truce soon enough for another collaboration. They are clearly a winning team!

For the most part, the telecast moved along nicely, as the presumed winners swiftly grabbed their trophies and raced through their speeches with gusto. The standout of course was 12 Years’ a Slave’s Lupita Nyong’o, who breezed onto the stage to collect her best supporting actress award, and gave a speech that left all of us bursting with pride and adulation. Dallas Buyer’s Club was the good luck charm for best supporting actor winner Jared Leto who paid a touching tribute to his mother, and the champ of the night, Matthew McConaughey, who didn’t just wow us with his much deserved best actor win, but also eloquently expressed his gratitude in a way that was disarmingly sincere.

For a complete listing of all the winners – click here.

The red carpet was predictably ablaze with streams of gowns in vibrant hues, dazzling accessories and loads of bling. The color scheme seemed to hinge on bolder fare and aquatic tones. The hair and makeup was enchantingly minimal to offset the streamlined silhouettes.

Hard to believe that award season is over but before you start displaying symptoms of withdrawal – Check out our top picks of the night!

Lupita Nyong’o in Prada