Academy Awards ceremony highlights: Winners, speeches and unexpected moments

Adrien Brody refused to leave the stage during his Best Actor speech, before a surprise Best Actress winner left viewers stunned.

The 97th Academy Awards were dominated by independent film Anora, with major wins for Best Actress, Best Director and Best Picture.

That made it five wins from six nominations for the film about a young sex worker’s relationship with a client, while Emilia Perez - which led the nominations with 13 - had to settle for two awards.

Conan O’Brien killed during the near four-hour ceremony, somehow even turning the “salute to firefighters” segment that’s been a part of all Hollywood award shows since January’s devastating LA wildfires into a laugh-out-loud bit.

We live blogged all the highlights from the ceremony (and lowlights - that In Memoriam segment took some strange turns, and Adrien Brody’s rambling five-minute speech was a test of anyone’s patience) below.

You can also check out all the most glamorous celeb outfits in our comprehensive red carpet coverage, and keep track of every single winner with our full list of nominees and wins.

Originally published as Academy Awards ceremony highlights: Winners, speeches and unexpected moments