Everything you need to know about the Oscars 2023

Last night (this morning for us) it was that time again: the annual Academy Awards were presented. An event I have stayed awake for before, but that is not recommended; it is quite lengthy. The better option is to look for the ultimate highlights the next morning. And yes, of course, I have lined them all up for you.

Starting with my personal favorite moment of the evening: Brendan Fraser who (completely deserved, if you ask me) received the award for Best Actor for his role in The Whale. I honestly shed a tear this morning, because he truly deserves it. In my teenage years, he was a well-known actor, but then it went quiet around Brendan for a long time. The reason for that he shared in 2018: he was sexually abused by Philip Berk, the former director of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. This happened in 2003, and he has suffered mentally from it for so long that he could not pick up his career again. Then he also faced health problems, a divorce, and his mother passed away.

But now he is back, and how. The Whale was supposed to be his comeback and that has more than succeeded. Below you can watch his speech again, but you have been warned: I would grab some tissues if I were you.

Just as I had dried my tears, I came across the speech of Ke Huy Quan. Meine gute, the floodgates opened further. He won the award for Best Supporting Actor in the film Everything Everywhere All At Once (which won several awards: for Best Picture for example and Jamie Lee Curtis for Best Supporting Actress). I rewatched the speech while writing and again couldn't hold back my tears. He talks about his past, about his journey to this stage (he spent a year in a refugee camp) and tells us that you should never give up on your dreams. Ah, I'm crying again.

However, there were also lesser moments. For example, the interview with Ashley Graham and Hugh Grant is currently going viral because Hugh was reportedly quite rude. At the same time, many people attribute it to a cultural difference: Brits can just be incredibly dry. The interview didn't go smoothly at all; it went wrong from the start. Hugh Grant referred to the book Vanity Fair, and Ashley Graham thought it was about the infamous Vanity Fair afterparty.

He was then asked which designer he was wearing (he didn't know) and how filming Glass Onion was, a film in which he had a cameo of just a few seconds. Okay, not the most handy questions. At the end of the interview, Hugh Grant rolled his eyes twice and that really rubbed people the wrong way.

On to a positive note: no one was slapped this year. Everyone still remembers how Will Smith stormed the stage to give Chris Rock a slap in the face, and it was to be expected that there would be several jokes about that this year. Indeed, that was the case: host Jimmy Kimmel (who I personally think is the best host of the Oscars) made a jab at the Academy, because they did not take any action after that slap and even ‘rewarded’ Will Smith with an Oscar.

Furthermore, there were also performances; Rihanna performed her song Lift Me Up, which is on the soundtrack of Wakanda Forever. The song was nominated but unfortunately did not win any awards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdIN3k4fhcc

And didn't she look incredibly beautiful again? Secretly, it remains a joy every year, those Oscars.