The 97th Academy Awards was a three-and-a-half-hour reminder of why watching awards shows is basically a test of human endurance. There were the usual dead-air moments, speeches that went on forever, and presenter bits that landed with all the grace of a bowling ball dropped from a balcony. Yet somehow, the night didn’t completely fall apart. That’s almost entirely because Conan O’Brien showed up ready to work.
This was O’Brien’s second time hosting the Oscars, and he came swinging. His cold open, where he dressed as Amy Madigan’s unsettling Aunt Gladys character and got chased through various nominated films by a gang of kids, was genuinely clever stuff. The bit was ambitious, it moved, and it set a tone that said “we’re not taking this too seriously tonight.” That’s harder to pull off than it sounds, especially when the ceremony itself felt like it was fighting against you at every turn.
When Things Went Sideways
Look, the Oscars has never been flawless. But this year felt particularly rough around the edges. There were audio problems during the Robert Redford tribute that made Barbra Streisand’s touching performance feel more awkward than heartfelt. Her words got swallowed by the orchestra, and the whole segment stretched on in this uncomfortable way that made you wonder who approved this in rehearsal.
Then there was the Bridesmaids reunion, which should have been a slam dunk. These women are comedy legends. Instead, they just stood there reading joke notes from the audience. Five comedic talents, one stage, and somehow it added up to… nothing much. The fact that fans had to wait 15 years for this moment only made the letdown sting harder.
The scripted presenter bits were mostly painful. An extended sketch with Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman singing love songs? That’s the kind of bit that sounds funny in the writers’ room at 2 a.m. and plays flat in front of a live audience. These things are supposed to break up the monotony, but they usually just add to it.
The Wins That Actually Mattered
What saved the night from being a total wash was the historic stuff that happened anyway, regardless of production value. Entertainment moments that actually meant something.
Autumn Durald Arkapaw won Best Cinematography and became the first woman ever to win in that category since the Academy started handing out awards in 1929. Let that sink in. Ninety-seven years. She gave a speech that was genuinely moving, asking all the women in the audience to stand up and acknowledging the shoulders she was standing on. It’s the kind of moment that reminds you why the Oscars still matter, even when they’re kind of a mess.
Michael B. Jordan took home his first Oscar for his dual role in Sinners, and you could feel the genuine shock and gratitude pouring off him. He made sure to shout out Newark, his mother, and all the Black Hollywood legends who came before him. His acceptance speech had the kind of authenticity that’s been missing from most of the other moments of the night.
Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Weapons, which meant something too. She was last nominated 40 years ago. Forty years. She cracked up when she won, genuinely surprised despite being in this business her entire life. “What’s different is I have this little gold guy,” she said. That’s the kind of real human reaction that makes these things worth watching.
The Chaos and the Records
Sinners dominated the conversation with a record-breaking 16 nominations, and the celebration of the film’s music performance with Miles Caton, Raphael Saadiq, Misty Copeland, and Buddy Guy was one of the few moments that actually felt electric. Director Ryan Coogler had talked about wanting to celebrate Black joy and music as part of his vampire thriller, and for once, the Oscars let that moment breathe.
Of course, there was also the bizarre tie for Best Live-Action Short Film. Seven ties in 97 years of the Academy Awards, and this year got one. The acceptance speeches went so long that the microphone literally descended into the stage and the lights dimmed trying to cut them off. Kumail Nanjiani got the best line of the night: “Ironic that the short film Oscar is going to take twice as long.” O’Brien followed up with, “You just ruined 22 million Oscar pools.”
There’s also something worth noting about how the Academy handled the win for “Golden,” the K-pop song from KPop Demon Hunters that made history as the first K-pop song to ever win at the Oscars. Yu Han Lee barely got out a “thank you” before producers killed his mic. It was shockingly rude for a group of people who’d just made history. Later, when Adrien Brody presented and joked about his own five-minute-plus acceptance speech from last year, the audience didn’t laugh. The inconsistency was glaring.
Looking Forward
The real question now is what happens next. Big changes are coming to the Oscars in 2029 when the entire broadcast moves to YouTube. That’s a chance to completely reimagine what this thing looks like. New platform, new possibilities. But if the Academy has any sense, they’ll keep O’Brien hosting. If he can salvage a night like this, when everything feels like it’s working against you, he can do almost anything.
The 97th Academy Awards wasn’t good. It wasn’t even particularly entertaining for most of its runtime. But it had moments that actually meant something, and it had a host who understood that sometimes just keeping the energy up and not taking yourself too seriously is enough to keep people watching. In a show that long, maybe that’s all you can hope for.
