The 2013 Academy Awards opened with a musical number about boob reveals, and no you weren’t imagining that. We expected a racier ceremony with Seth MacFarlane (Ted, Family Guy) acting as host, and we definitely witnessed a mouthful of jabs at everyone from Ben Affleck and George Clooney to Abraham Lincoln. But for every button MacFarlane pushed (like making out with Sally Field while suspended in mid-air and dressed as the Flying Nun), the show gave us a lavish musical number.
We watched the casts of Chicago, Dreamgirls and Les Mis light up the stage, as well as a poignant rendition of “Memories” from Barbra Streisand at the end of the In Memoriam segment. Our favorite numbers, though, came in the form of dueling show-stoppers from Shirley Bassey and Adele, honoring James Bond’s 50th anniversary with soulful performances of “Goldfinger” and “Skyfall,” respectively.
The night’s major award winners in a nutshell included: Argo (Best Picture), Ang Lee (Best Director, Life of Pi), Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Actor, Lincoln), Jennifer Lawrence (Best Actress, Silver Linings Playbook), Anne Hathaway (Best Supporting Actress, Les Miserables), and Christoph Waltz (Best Supporting Actor, Django Unchained). Argo's big win was just the fourth time in history a movie won for Best Picture without also having a Best Director nomination, and the film took home a total of 3 awards. Life of Pi, however, took home the most awards with four.
Funnily enough, one of the evening’s most buzzed-about occurrences came when Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty tied for Best Sound Editing, which is actually the sixth time in Oscar history two nominees tied. The others: 1932 (Best Actor), 1949 (Doc Short Subject), 1968 (Best Actress), 1986 (Doc Feature), and 1994 (Short Film Live-Action).
Biggest surprise of the night? There weren’t many, but Twitter loved it when First Lady Michelle Obama presented the Oscar for Best Picture. The moment we wanted to be cooler came when the cast of The Avengers lined up and sort of botched their delivery, but bonus credits to the show’s producers for creating an entire 15-minute opening around William Shatner as Captain Kirk from the future. If anything, Trekkies worldwide loved every minute of it.
Check out a complete list of nominees and winners below (and check out more coverage in our Awards Watch Guide and Frontrunners video series). What did you think of this year’s ceremony? Give us your favorite and least favorite moments in the comments section below!
The 2013 Academy Award Winners
BEST PICTURE
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
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