97th Oscars: The Academy Awards Winners (Live Updates)

Solzy at the Movies will be providing live updates as the 97th Oscars are broadcast live from the Dolby Theatre on ABC and Hulu.

Conan O’Brien is hosting the Oscars tonight for the first time in his career.

As for tonight’s broadcast, Rob Paine returns as co-executive producer, and Taryn Hurd and Sarah Levine Hall return as producers. Supervising choreographer Mandy Moore and lighting designers Bob Dickinson and Noah Mitz also rejoined the team. Producers Jeff Ross and Mike Sweeney are joining the team for the first time.

As previously announced, the show’s production team also includes director Hamish Hamilton, production designers Misty Buckley and Alana Billingsley, and music director Michael Bearden.

Writers for this year’s show include Amberia Allen, José Arroyo, Josh Comers, Dan Cronin, Jessie Gaskell, Skyler Higley, Berkley Johnson, Ian Karmel, Brian Kiley, Laurie Kilmartin, Carol Leifer, Jon Macks, Conan O’Brien, Matt O’Brien, Agathe Panaretos and Mike Sweeney.

Follow along for live updates and commentary.

Appropriately, a somber montage opens the show paying homage to films that were produced on location in Los Angeles and the surrounding era. A clip from La La Land sees Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling looking at Los Angeles into the distance with We Heart LA in fireworks. This montage is immediately followed by Wicked‘s Ariana Grande singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz. Co-star Cynthia Erivo follows with “The Wiz” from The Wiz before Ariana Grande comes back on stage for “Defying Gravity.”

Conan isn’t wrong. “It’s Hollywood’s biggest night…that starts at 4 in the afternoon. Everyone just had brunch!”

We’ve got our first Karla Sofía Gascón joke of the night at the expense of Anora’s language. If Karla is tweeting about the Oscars night, Conan’s name is Jimmy Kimmel.

Rather than playing people off with music, the camera will cut to Conclave‘s John Lithgow looking slightly disappointed during Oscars speeches.

Following a bit with Adam Sandler, Conan honors the not-famous craftspeople who help bring film and TV to the screen. Many of them were impacted by the Los Angeles wildfires and divisive politics.

As non-Jewish actor Kieran Culkin wins Best Supporting Actor for his role in A Real Pain, it’s once again an epic fail for not mentioning the Holocaust in his speech. If you star in a film about a group touring Holocaust sites in Poland, it should be an obligation to bring up the Holocaust during your awards speech. The film wouldn’t even exist if it weren’t for the Holocaust! EPIC FAIL!!

With his original screenwriting win, Anora filmmaker Sean Baker has his first Oscar win.

Halle Berry comes out to “Nobody Does It Better” from “The Spy Who Loved Me” rather than a tune from Tomorrow Never Dies. Longtime James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson were recently awarded with the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award at the 2024 Governors Awards. Berry proceeds to introduce the Oscars tribute to James Bond. The tribute includes the following songs:

  • “James Bond Theme” – Margaret Qualley
  • “Live and Let Die” – LISA of Blackpink
  • “Diamonds Are Forever” – Doja Cat
  • “Skyfall” – Raye

Two of the three songs were previously nominated for the Oscars. Good time to remind audiences about The Sound of 007 and its complimentary concert, The Sound of 007: Live from the Royal Albert Hall.

I love a good bit involving Ben Stiller.

Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales received their first Oscar win after their seventh and third nominations, respectively, for Wicked.

Best Song Presented by a Rock and Roll Legend turns out to be presented by Mick Jagger. The producers wanted Bob Dylan but he declined because the best original songs were in A Complete Unknown.

I’m gonna say this about the No Other Land win: there were multiple opportunities for a two-state solution and Palestinian leadership turned it down. It’s well-documented in A Path to Peace by George Mitchell and Al0n Sachar and plenty of other books.

The Oscars, like other shows this season, take a moment to pay tribute to the Los Angeles area firefighters.

I thought for sure that Gal Gadot would be wearing a yellow hostage ribbon while presenting–depending on your TV screen, she wore an orange or red dress. I know of a publicist who wore his pin on the red carpet this evening.

Morgan Freeman pays tribute to Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, who recently died. The tribute proceeds the In Memoriam. Hackman was added into the montage right after James Earl Jones.

Mark Hamill walks out to the Star Wars theme despite his suggestion that they play the theme from Jaws.

Queen Latifah sings a song from The Wiz to honor the late Quincy Jones. Jones was honored during the 2024 Governors Awards with an Academy Honorary Award.

Upon winning his second career Oscar, Adrien Brody immediately thanks G-d. Both Oscar wins are for playing Holocaust survivors, both real and fictional. His previous win came for 2002’s The Pianist.

If Quentin Tarantino didn’t previously cast Mikey Madison in Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood, there would be Anora. I love that Sean Baker immediately thanks him upon being presented with the Oscar. He also delivered what very well may be the speech of the night.

When Harry Met Sally… stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan reunite for the big prize. The film marks its 35th anniversary in July. I’ll have what she’s having.

Sean Baker is a perfect four-for-four this evening. Anora went five Oscars in six nominations.

Actor in a Supporting Role: Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain (Searchlight)

Animated Feature Film: Flow (Sideshow/Janus Films) Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens and Gregory Zalcman

Animated Short Film: In the Shadow of the Cypress Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi

Costume Design: Wicked (Universal) Paul Tazewell

Writing (Original Screenplay): Anora (Neon) Written by Sean Baker

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Conclave (Focus Features) Screenplay by Peter Straughan

Makeup and Hairstyling: The Substance (MUBI) Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli

Film Editing: Anora (Neon) Sean Baker

Actress in a Supporting Role: Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez (Netflix)

Production Design: Wicked (Universal) Production Design: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Music (Original Song): “El Mal,” Emilia Pérez (Netflix) Music by Clément Ducol and Camille, Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard

Documentary Short Film: The Only Girl in the Orchestra (Netflix) Molly O’Brien and Lisa Remington

Documentary Feature Film: No Other Land; An Antipode Films Production; Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham

Sound: Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.) Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill

Visual Effects: Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.) Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer

Live Action Short Film: I’m Not a Robot (The New Yorker) Victoria Warmerdam and Trent

Cinematography: The Brutalist (A24) Lol Crawley

International Feature Film: I’m Still Here (Brazil) A VideoFilmes Produções Artísticas Production

Music (Original Score): The Brutalist (A24) Daniel Blumberg

Actor in a Leading Role: Adrien Brody in The Brutalist (A24)

Directing: Anora (Neon) Sean Baker

Actress in a Leading Role: Mikey Madison in Anora (Neon)

Best Picture: Anora (Neon); A Cre Films Production; Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, Producers

The 97th Oscars are being held on Sunday, March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC, Hulu and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

Please subscribe to Solzy on Buttondown and visit Dugout Dirt.

Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.

You Missed

March Madness 2025: Men’s Final Four Programming

March Madness 2025: Men’s Final Four Programming

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Trailer Is Here

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 Trailer Is Here

Act of Violence: A Classic Film Noir

Act of Violence: A Classic Film Noir

The China Syndrome: A Newsroom Thriller

The China Syndrome: A Newsroom Thriller