Oscars 2014: Academy Awards live coverage
A GOLDEN night for Australia at the Oscars has been topped off by leading lady Cate Blanchett winning the best actress award. LIVE COVERAGE.
A GOLDEN night for Australia at the Oscars has been topped off by leading lady Cate Blanchett winning the best actress award.
Melbourne-born Blanchett won for her stunning performance in Blue Jasmine, thanking her fellow nominees, her family and controversial director Woody Allen during her acceptance speech.
She is the first Australian actor to win more than one Oscar, setting herself apart from single winners Nicole Kidman, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, Peter Finch and Heath Ledger.
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Earlier, costume designer Catherine Martin picked up two gongs to become Australia's biggest Oscar winner.
It was a night of few surprises, with 12 Years A Slave taking best picture and Alfonse Cuaron winning best director for Gravity.
Dallas Buyers Club favourites Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto won best actor and best supporting actor.
Hollywood sensation Lupita Nyong’o won best supporting actress for her role in 12 Years A Slave.
Host Ellen DeGeneres proved the other big winner of the night, putting on a fantastic show and even finding time to break Twitter by posting perhaps the most star-studded selfie in history.
Check out our ticker of all the Oscar 2014 winners below and scroll down to read our earlier live blog
During the live broadcast of the ceremony, DeGeneres posted a selfie with Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Kevin Spacey, Channing Tatum and Julia Roberts among others. It soon had more than a million retweets - becoming the most retweeted image in history - and crashed Twitter.
The signs had been ominous for Blanchett in the lead-up to her award, with sci-fi movie Gravity winning most of the major categories – including director, sound and cinematography.
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Some commentators had even suggested her chances of winning would be scuppered by Allen’s daughter Dylan writing an open letter outlining her allegations of sexual abuse against the director.
But Academy voters didn’t allow their distaste for the scandal to affect their judgement.
Rain had earlier threatened to dampen the mood at the Dolby Theatre where the 86th Academy Awards are being held but the sun eventually appeared, with Blanchett sparkling on the red carpet in a filmy Giorgio Armani gown. “It’s heavy, but I love it,” she said.
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Naomi Watts wore a stunning fitted beaded frock by Calvin Klein and Portia De Rossi somehow pulled off a doily-style dress by Naem Khan without being arrested by the fashion police.
As DeGeneres kicked off the ceremony inside the theatre she immediately took a dig at Liza Minnelli. Describing her as the “best Liza Minnelli impersonator I’ve ever seen”, she tailed off the gag with “Well done, sir”.
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Minnelli was visibly unimpressed.
She followed that dig with some gentle poking at Jennifer Lawrence, who fell on the podium steps at last year’s Oscars, and fell on the red carpet at this year’s event.
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“If you win tonight I think we should bring you the Oscar,” Degeneres said.
Jared Leto took the night’s first award for best supporting actor for his acclaimed performance as a transsexual in the Texas AIDS drama “Dallas Buyers Club”.
He dedicated his award to his mother, his date on the night.
“Thank you for teaching me to dream,” said Leto.
Twitter image from Oscars host @TheEllenShow becomes most RT'd image in @Twitter history with 1M+ RTs #Oscars2014: pic.twitter.com/WjPZx6DRUe
— Storyful (@Storyful) March 3, 2014Aussie costume designer Catherine Martin captured two Oscars for her extravagant creations for The Great Gatsby. She firstly won for Costume Design and then joined fellow Australian Beverley Dunn in taking home the gong for Production Design.
After making her way to the stage, Martin said: “I do have a few words tucked into my bra. It’s where you put your tissues. It’s a very Australian thing to do.’’
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Martin also thanked her husband and The Great Gatsby’s director Baz Luhrmann.
“He makes it all possible. He dreams the dream,” she said.
Her golden night puts her above costume designer Orry George Kelly as having the most Academy Award wins by an Australian.
Earlier, the big question on a soggy red carpet was how Williams was going to top his oversized Grammys hat? The answer was by being possibly the first person in Oscars history to show up in a pair of shorts.
Nominated for Happy from Despicable Me 2, the music star wore a formal black tux on top with formal black shorts, and no socks, on the bottom.
There was no sign of the big hat however.
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Williams later managed to get the big-name stars on their feet with a colorful performance of his Oscar-nominated song Happy’ — except for one lone holdout: Leonardo DiCaprio.
His unique appearance on the red carpet had been quickly overshadowed by Jennifer Lawrence, who is fast getting a reputation for public displays of, well, tripping over.
“I did trip over a cone. I’m... not safe,” she laughed after briefly hitting the deck as she walked the red carpet.
Earlier, Wolf of Wall Street star Margot Robbie caused a slight stir, ditching her blonde locks for much darker shades.
A glowing Portia de Rossi said her partner DeGeneres was primed to put on a fantastic show as host - something which the TV star pulled off with great panache.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS:
Best Picture - 12 Years A Slave
Best Actor - Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyer’s Club
Best Actress - Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Best Director - Alfonso Cuarón, Gravity
Best Original Screenplay - Spike Jonze, Her
Best Adapted Screenplay - John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Song — Let It Go, Frozen
Best Original Score — Steven Price, Gravity
Best Production Design — The Great Gatsby
Best Film Editing — Gravity
Best Cinematography — Gravity
Best Supporting Actress — Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
Best Sound Editing — Gravity
Best Sound Mixing — Gravity
Best Foreign Language Film — The Great Beauty
Best Documentary: 20 Feet From Stardom
Best Short Documentary: The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life
Best Live Action Short Film: Helium
Best Visual effects — Gravity
Best Animated Feature Film — Frozen
Best Animated Short Film — Mr. Hublot
Best Makeup and Hairstyling — Dallas Buyer’s Club
Best Costume Design — Catherine Martin for The Great Gatsby
Best Supporting Actor — Jared Leto for Dallas Buyer’s Club
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