Our 2025 Oscars Recap

Summary

Pop Culture Happy Hour: Our 2025 Oscars Recap

Released on March 3, 2025

In this episode of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, host Stephen Thompson alongside co-hosts Aisha Harris, Linda Holmes, and guest Bill Skarsgard delve into the intricacies of the 2025 Oscars. The discussion covers major award winners, unexpected upsets, memorable speeches, and critiques of the ceremony's production choices. Below is a detailed summary capturing all key points, notable quotes, and insightful analyses from the conversation.

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1. Overview of the 2025 Oscars

Stephen Thompson kicks off the episode by highlighting the significant achievements of the night:

Stephen Thompson (00:01:00): "This year's Oscars have all been handed out, and it was a big night for Honora. That film won five awards, including Best Picture. And star Mikey Madison scored one of the night's few upsets, winning Best Actress."

The team sets the stage for a comprehensive recap, indicating both triumphs and surprises during the ceremony.

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2. Triumph of "Honora" and Mikey Madison's Best Actress Win

"Honora" emerged as the night's standout film, securing five Oscars, including Best Picture. Sean Baker, the film's director, was applauded for his multifaceted role as director, editor, writer, and producer.

Aisha Harris (00:02:06): "Honora is a small independent film from a boutique distributor, Neon. It's about sex work, and Sean Baker has put in the work over his 25-year career, wearing multiple hats—director, editor, writer, producer."

Mikey Madison's win for Best Actress was a major surprise, overshadowing favorites like Demi Moore. The panel discusses the implications of her victory, considering her younger age and the strength of her performance.

Aisha Harris (00:02:59): "The Academy really loves 'Honora.' And that put him over the top."

Linda Holmes (00:02:39): "This movie was not for me, but I think he's really talented. I was surprisingly not very invested in who won what."

The consensus among the hosts acknowledges Madison's deserving performance while reflecting on the broader support "Honora" received from the Academy.

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3. Adrien Brody’s Lengthy Oscar Speech

Adrien Brody took home the Best Lead Actor award and delivered what became known as the "world's longest speech." The panel critiques the focus and length of his remarks.

Linda Holmes (00:04:17): "He was mostly talking about himself, how it feels to win an Oscar and two Oscars. It brought me down a little."

Bill Skarsgard (00:04:17): "He kept talking about himself instead of the themes of the movie like anti-Semitism and racism."

Stephen Thompson (00:10:37): "Sometimes it can feel like celebrities fluffing celebrities."

The hosts express disappointment that Brody did not utilize his platform to address substantive issues related to his film, opting instead for personal accolades.

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4. Zoe Saldana’s Best Supporting Actress Win

Zoe Saldana's tenure continues as she wins Best Supporting Actress for her role in "Emilio Perez." This marks a historic moment as she becomes the first Dominican American to achieve this accolade.

Stephen Thompson (00:07:02): "She is terrific in the movie, which is not a good film. But her performance was solid."

Aisha Harris (00:07:31): "The Academy was looking for something to award this film, and Zoe works."

The panel debates whether the win was a strategic move by the Academy to honor an established star amidst a film that didn’t garner widespread acclaim.

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5. Best Animated and International Features: "Flo" and "I'm Still Here"

"Flo," representing Latvia, won Best Animated Feature, making history as the first Latvian film to receive this honor. Meanwhile, "I'm Still Here" from Brazil triumphed in the Best International Feature category, overcoming the highly nominated "Emilia Pettis."

Bill Skarsgard (00:10:31): "True, true."

Linda Holmes (00:09:36): "Go Brazil. Good for them."

The hosts commend both films for their storytelling and cultural significance, highlighting the growing diversity in the Oscars' selections.

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6. Best Documentary Feature: "No Other Land"

The award for Best Documentary Feature went to "No Other Land," a collaborative effort by Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers. The documentary sheds light on the displacement of Palestinian communities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Aisha Harris (00:11:05): "It's a powerful film, but it's still playing independently due to political sensitivities."

Bill Skarsgard (00:11:38): "I hope that it winning means more people are able to see it."

The panel expresses hope that the film's recognition will increase its visibility despite distribution challenges.

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7. Musical Performances and Telecast Production

The Oscars featured a variety of musical performances, including tributes to the Wizard of Oz and James Bond themes. Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo opened with performances from the Wizard of Oz universe, while Queen Latifah honored Quincy Jones.

Stephen Thompson (00:19:13): "Ariana Grande performing 'Somewhere over the Rainbow' and Cynthia Erivo singing 'Home,' followed by 'Defying Gravity' was a highlight."

Aisha Harris (00:21:17): "I'm seeing a lot of folks online complaining about the dance numbers. I'm going to rush to the barricades to defend the old school dance numbers, not just because I'm a gay man, although that is a factor. But also, they're so much more preferable to those interminable Oscar montages."

Linda Holmes praises the inclusion and visibility of the orchestra, adding a classical touch to the ceremony.

Linda Holmes (00:23:40): "I enjoyed the orchestra being above the stage. It was a cool visual. I hadn't seen that before."

The musical arrangements were generally well-received, with some critiques on specific performances like the Adam Sandler bit which caused confusion among the hosts.

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8. Presentation Format: The Fab Five Approach

This year introduced the "Fab Five" presenting approach, where multiple presenters offered praise for nominees before announcing winners. The hosts evaluate the effectiveness and sincerity of this format.

Aisha Harris (00:17:20): "Actors praising their costume designers felt sincere, unlike other categories that seemed rote."

Stephen Thompson (00:18:45): "Sometimes it can feel like celebrities fluffing celebrities."

While the format was appreciated for genuine moments, there was also acknowledgment of its potential to feel contrived or patronizing.

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9. Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up

Concluding the episode, the hosts reflect on Conan O'Brien's role as the host of the Oscars. They commend his comedic timing and ability to navigate the pressures of the ceremony, despite some initial missteps.

Linda Holmes (00:15:42): "I actually didn't think it was boring. I actually thought it was sort of fun."

The panel also touches upon upcoming bonus episodes for Pop Culture Happy Hour Plus, encouraging listeners to subscribe for more in-depth discussions.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Stephen Thompson (00:01:20): "Favorite presenter joke of the night, Linda Holmes."

• Aisha Harris (00:02:28): "Sean Baker has been around. His first film came out 25 years ago. He wears four hats."

• Linda Holmes (00:02:39): "This movie was not for me, but I think he's really talented."

• Aisha Harris (00:07:02): "What about Zoe? Let's give it to Zoe."

• Bill Skarsgard (00:09:36): "Go Latvia. They were so happy."

• Stephen Thompson (00:21:17): "I'm seeing a lot of folks online complaining about the dance numbers."

• Linda Holmes (00:23:40): "I enjoyed the orchestra being above the stage."

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Conclusion

The 2025 Oscars proved to be a night of significant achievements for independent films and rising stars, juxtaposed with critiques on speeches and presentation formats. Pop Culture Happy Hour offers a balanced view, celebrating successes while thoughtfully analyzing areas for improvement. This episode serves as a comprehensive guide for those who missed the ceremony, providing insightful commentary and engaging discussions on the ever-evolving landscape of pop culture.

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Produced by Mike Katsif, Liz Metzger, Hafsa Fathoma, and edited by Jessica Reedy. Theme music by Hello, Come In.

Transcript

[Stephen Thompson]

This message comes from Carvana. Sell your car the convenient way, enter your license plate or vin, answer a few questions and get a real offer in seconds. Go to Carvana.com today. This year's Oscars have all been handed out, and it was a big night for Honora. That film won five awards, including Best Picture. And star Mikey Madison scored one of the night's few upsets, winning Best Actress. It was also a special evening for Adrien Brody and for anyone who likes long and discursive Oscar speeches, he had you covered. I'm Stephen thompson. It is 12:21am and we are recapping the highs and lows of this year's Oscars on NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour.

[Aisha Harris]

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[Stephen Thompson]

Coverage, they'll work with you to choose.

[Aisha Harris]

The policy that best serves you and your family. Discover how Amica can help protect what.

[Stephen Thompson]

Matters most to you today.

[Aisha Harris]

Go to ameca.com and get a quote today.

[Stephen Thompson]

Joining me today are my co hosts, Aisha Harris. Hey, Aisha.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Actually, Stephen, I'm Bill Skarsgard in disguise.

[Stephen Thompson]

Favorite presenter joke of the night, Linda Holmes. Hey, Linda.

[Linda Holmes]

Hello, Stephen.

[Stephen Thompson]

And Glen Weldon. Hey, Glenn. Hey.

[Aisha Harris]

I don't have a bit. I'm too tired. Hey, Stephen.

[Bill Skarsgard]

I'm on the West Coast. It's not that late.

[Aisha Harris]

Today.

[Stephen Thompson]

I was going to introduce you all in the spirit of the five and be like Aisha Harris, my wonderful, brilliant friend. Your insights make me laugh, make me cry, and most importantly, make me think Glenn Weldon. Anyway, well, we should kick off with kind of the big headline of the night. Massive night for Honora. Anora won Best Picture. Sean Baker won four. Four Oscars. Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best editing, as well as a producing Oscar as part of the Best Picture win. Mikey Madison also won Best Actress. What'd y'all think about that?

[Aisha Harris]

I'm happy for Honora. I mean, Honora is a small independent film from a small kind of boutique distributor, Neon. And also, not for nothing, it's about sex work. And you know, Sean Baker, you know, he looks young, but this guy has been around. He's put in the work. His first film came out 25 years ago. He wears four hats. Director, editor, writer and producer. And as you mentioned, he won for them all tonight. Good for him.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah, I'm happy. This was fun, and it was great to see him shout out the independent filmmaking aspect of this. I think the independent spirit was able to sneak its way into this very glamorous ceremony.

[Linda Holmes]

Yeah, I mean, this movie was not for me, really, but I think he's really talented. I think the people who are involved are really talented. This wasn't my favorite, but it doesn't matter. I'm happy for everybody. I was surprisingly not that invested in who won what this year, but. Cause not that much of this was stuff that I was super passionate about.

[Aisha Harris]

Well, the interesting thing about Madison's win is, you know, the rap against Chalamet winning this year was always too young. He hasn't earned it. Chalamet is 29. Madison is 25. But, you know, at the end of the day, the work is the work. And the Academy really loves Honora. And that put him over the top.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. Once she won Best Actress, it was already pretty clear by that point that Honora was gonna take home Best Picture based on how the night was unfolding. But once Honora kind of pulled her over, when everybody expecting Demi Moore to win for the substance, it was pretty clear that this was going Honora's way.

[Aisha Harris]

Yep.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, I kind of alluded to the Best Actress win for Mikey Madison. That had to be the biggest upset of the night, right?

[Linda Holmes]

Yeah, I think so.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah. I mean, it seemed as though Demi Moore was the front runner for so long. She was doing all of those interviews and all these profiles, and there was very much this force behind her of like, it's time. It's time she's finally being accepted into the A list. Or like, the A list in the top, top, top A list. And I was sur. But again, I was hoping that Maggie Madison would win. I think Demi Moore gives a really great performance, but I was all in the camp for Honora, so I was happy.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah, I was happy about this one as well. And the fact that she's 25. Whatever. Like you said, Glenn, a great performance is a great performance. Look, Anna Paquin won an Oscar.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah, she did.

[Stephen Thompson]

You give the award for the Work and Timothee Chalamet, you'll have many more bites at the apple. A complete unknown. One of the few films kind of in this Oscar field that didn't win anything tonight.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah, that and Nickel Boys. Kind of disappointing, but it is what it is.

[Stephen Thompson]

Great film. Should have been nominated for cinematography. So speaking of cinematography, Lowell Crawley did win Best Cinematography. He worked on the Brutalist. It rightly won Best Score. Daniel Bloomberg's gorgeous score ended up winning. And Adrien Brody won Best Lead Actor and gave the world's longest speech.

[Linda Holmes]

Yes, he did.

[Stephen Thompson]

I'm Wrapping up. I will wrap up. Please turn the music off. I've done this before. Thank you.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Thank you.

[Stephen Thompson]

It's not my first rodeo, but I will be brief. I will not be egregious, I promise.

[Linda Holmes]

It's one thing if your speech is very long and you're talking about a lot of important and sort of other things. If he was talking about the themes of the film most of the time, this was a very long speech that was mostly about himself and how it feels to win an Oscar and how it feels to win two Oscars. And I got to the point where it was like, all right, my dude, I'm ready for this to be over. I really enjoyed this telecast in a lot of ways. And this was sort of my. My low point. This was kind of the point where I was like, other than that, I was in a pretty good mood, you know, so he kind of brought me down a little bit. But, you know, I still think he's a good actor.

[Bill Skarsgard]

But, you know, the whole time I kept waiting and waiting. I was like, okay, you keep talking about yourself, but are you going to mention, you know, anti Semitism that is on the rise in the present day, like, the themes of this movie, like, what are we doing? And then when he does finally get to that part, it was, like, so shambling and didn't really cohere. All the wind was sucked out of whatever power you might get from those words.

[Stephen Thompson]

I'm here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression and of anti Semitism and racism and of othering.

[Aisha Harris]

I think as a viewer, when you go that long and rambly, you want long and rambly to come from somebody who's legit, surprised, maybe a first timer. But when you're a veteran and you have this much time to prepare because.

[Linda Holmes]

You were the frontrunner, you've sort of been a favorite. Yeah.

[Stephen Thompson]

It's the end of awards season.

[Aisha Harris]

He's had months, and you spend your speech talking about yourself.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, somebody who gave a significantly more polished speech. Zoe Saldana won Best Supporting Actress for her work in Emilio Perez. She is the first Dominican American to win an Oscar. Emilia Pettis, nominated for 13 Academy Awards. It ended up winning two Zoe Saldana and El Mal for best Original Song. What did y'all think of Zoe Saldana's win?

[Bill Skarsgard]

Good for her.

[Linda Holmes]

I didn't like the movie, but I think my theory about this is that because her history in Hollywood includes the Star Trek universe and the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Crossroads with Britney Spears and center strange and center stage. She's been around so long and worked with so many people that she had more of to kind of weather the publicity from this and win anyway, as opposed to some of the other nominations that the film got.

[Aisha Harris]

My theory is that the Academy was looking around for anything they could award this film. They just wanted to save face because 13's a lot of nominations for a very bad film. And so they were like, well, everybody likes Zoe, right? What about Zoe? Let's give it to Zoe.

[Stephen Thompson]

And to be fair, she is terrific in this movie. It is not a good movie. She is not the reason. It is not a good movie.

[Linda Holmes]

I think she's fine in it.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah. The whisper singing, eh? Sure.

[Stephen Thompson]

She brings a physicality to her musical performances.

[Aisha Harris]

Sure.

[Stephen Thompson]

On the subject of long speeches, Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor for his work in Real Pain. And, boy, talk about somebody who's had a lot of experience giving speeches. This awards season gave us another rambler.

[Bill Skarsgard]

About a year ago, I was on a stage, like, and I very stupidly, publicly said that I want a third kid from her because she said if I won the award, I would. She would give me the kid.

[Linda Holmes]

Turns out she said that because she.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Didn'T think I was gonna win.

[Linda Holmes]

I mean, I don't think it's rambling in the sense that, like, he knows exactly what he's doing. He gets up there and he tells the story about how when he won the Emmy last year, he made a comment in his speech about how his wife promised if he won the Emmy, they could have a third kid. And he talked about how I actually want four kids. And when he told his wife that after the Emmy, she said, we can have four if you get an Oscar, which, to me, is legitimately funny. I would mention it also because obviously, the joke was she said that because she didn't think I would ever win an Oscar. So frankly, it's not something I would want someone I was married to to say. But clearly she likes him. And I think if you're married to that guy, this has to be okay with you, or you would run out of the house with your hair on fire in three days.

[Bill Skarsgard]

That's the perfect way to put it.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah. And just as you know that Kieran Culkin is gonna deliver a kind of vibe in a performance. You don' I'm not saying he always plays the same guy. I'm saying he delivers something very specific. You kind of knew what the speech was gonna be like, and he delivered exactly the Speech you thought he was gonna give?

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah, okay.

[Stephen Thompson]

He sure did. Glenn, I know you were very excited about the category Best Animated Feature, and particularly the fact that the winner was Flo. The first time Latvia has ever won an Oscar.

[Linda Holmes]

Go Latvia.

[Aisha Harris]

Go Latvia. They were so happy. This is what you wanna see. Like, they were so happy. They were so surprised. They were so just. I mean, like, this is what. And the film. And so beautiful. And it gets dogs. Right. So everything's good about this movie. Everything's good about this win.

[Stephen Thompson]

Nice. Flo was also nominated. Didn't win, but was nominated in Best International Feature. That went to the Brazilian film I'm Still Here, which is set in the 1970s when the country was under a military dictatorship. Tells the true story of a mother dealing with the disappearance of her politician husband. It is the first Brazilian film to win in this category. And I think, most importantly, it beat Emilia Pettis.

[Bill Skarsgard]

True, true.

[Linda Holmes]

Go Brazil. Good for them.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, enjoyed is not exactly the right word.

[Stephen Thompson]

It's a bleak film, but it's very good.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yes. I was moved by it. And like a lot of the things that were nominated this year, it felt very relevant to the current times. So, yeah, I just really appreciated it and I'm glad it won.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah, me too.

[Linda Holmes]

Co sign all that.

[Stephen Thompson]

Best Documentary Feature went to no Other Land. It's made by a team of Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers and follows the displacement of rural Palestine. Palestinian communities in the Israeli occupied West Bank. Aisha, you really like this film?

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah. I'd been hearing about it all throughout last year from critics and hearing how it was one of the best movies of the year. Strangely enough, this movie still does not have US distribution. It's playing sort of independently at some local theaters, and that's being sort of put out by the filmmakers themselves. Because of the hot button issue around this subject, a lot of people are not able to see it, but I think it's such a powerful film. And I also feel like their speeches, to me, they were the most directly political speeches of the night.

[Linda Holmes]

Sure.

[Stephen Thompson]

There is a different path.

[Linda Holmes]

A political solution without ethnic supremacy, with.

[Stephen Thompson]

National rights for both of our people.

[Linda Holmes]

And I have to say, as I.

[Stephen Thompson]

Am here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block.

[Bill Skarsgard]

So, yeah, I'm just really happy to see that it won and I hope that it winning means more people are able to see it.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. So Linda alluded to enjoying the overall telecast, and I enjoyed it as well. And I think one of the big reasons that it added up to a pretty fun night was Conan O'Brien's work as the host. This was his first time hosting the Oscars, and among other things, he got off one of, frankly, the most political jokes of the night. You know, Honora's having a good night.

[Linda Holmes]

Yeah, that's great. Yeah, that's great news. Two wins already.

[Bill Skarsgard]

I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian.

[Linda Holmes]

Well, he, I thought, got off to a little bit of a slow start. I think they opened with this spectacular. We'll talk about it a little more later. But they opened with this spectacular number that drew from Wicked, and I think following that would have been hard for anybody. And he came in and he sort of was doing the sort of, well, this movie and then Punchline and then this movie and then Punchline. I thought most of those jokes were not that great. But then I do think he got his feet under him. And once he was doing his very odd little quick production number called I Won't Waste Time, which is, of course, sarcastic.

[Bill Skarsgard]

I won't waste time.

[Stephen Thompson]

He won't waste time.

[Bill Skarsgard]

I won't waste time.

[Linda Holmes]

He won't waste.

[Bill Skarsgard]

To give its whole time to perfection. To waste time on some idiocy would be a dereliction.

[Stephen Thompson]

I won't waste time.

[Linda Holmes]

I thought he was starting to get the feel of Conan. And by the time he had the sandworm from Dune that was playing various musical instruments, I was like, okay, this is the sort of, like, almost like higher budget public access feel that Conan O'Brien has at his best. And I think by then he was on solid ground.

[Aisha Harris]

He has what Carson used to have.

[Linda Holmes]

I was gonna say that's what people. Going back to Johnny Carson.

[Aisha Harris]

Exactly. He loves basketball. In the audience's abject rejection of a joke. And that's great. I will say that musical number. Linda, we disagree. I think I Won't Waste Time. I get it's a goof. The goof is that he, Conan O'Brien, would do a musical number because obviously he's not a song and dance man. But the joke works better when it's well executed. If he could at least find the beat or the rhythm or the rhyme, I think it would have worked better. But again, it's hard to hold anything against Conan because he's out here, he's being Conan.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah, we didn't need that Adam Sandler bit, though. I don't know what was going on there. I was very confused. Were they referencing a movie? I haven't seen all of his movies, so maybe they were referencing something that I wasn't aware of.

[Aisha Harris]

But like, what are you doing right now?

[Linda Holmes]

I'm asking you what you're wearing.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Nobody even thought about what I was wearing.

[Stephen Thompson]

Til you brought it up. The vibe of that was very much the weakest moments of the Jimmy Kimmel Oscars where, like he would do bits kind of from his show. It felt like a bit from another show kind of being ported into the Oscars.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah, Letterman used to do that too. Letterman, when he hosted that one time, he would bring in bits from his show. This was a really mostly very straight ahead Oscars. It felt very familiar and old school. There was no reinvention of the wheel here. And while in any other year I would say that's boring and boring, or if you want to be generous and say familiar is kind of comforting. I mean, everything from the winters being very predicted to a hilariously on the nose In Memoriam where they used the Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem Mass in D minor. Sure. I mean, it's a straight ball down the middle. But it hit, you know, it landed with me.

[Linda Holmes]

I actually didn't think it was boring. I actually thought it was sort of fun. Partly because I think the presenter banter was a clique better than usual.

[Aisha Harris]

Oh, I knew that.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah.

[Stephen Thompson]

June Squibb in everything. Give me June Squib in everything.

[Linda Holmes]

So presenting makeup and hairstyling. June Squibb comes out with Scarlett Johansson and says this very unexpected thing.

[Aisha Harris]

I got a little makeup done too.

[Linda Holmes]

And I'm actually being played by Bill Skarsgard right now. I just thought that was so funny and weird.

[Stephen Thompson]

Her comic timing was so sharp. And may she be our next Betty White.

[Linda Holmes]

If you didn't actually see Thelma, which she was in in 2024, seek out that movie. Cause it is really a fun and also very sweet and touching movie. So in addition to the fact that she's adorable on awards shows. Yes, yes. She's also really good in that movie.

[Stephen Thompson]

So an actress. She's great in Nebraska. She's terrific.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah. I would not have been mad if she had gotten nominated for Thelma. I'm just saying. Yep, agree.

[Stephen Thompson]

One question I had for you guys because I think there is definitely a range of opinions about this and there's certainly a range of opinions about this on this panel. What did you all think about the quote unquote fab five approach of giving out some of these awards? In some cases you would have a presenter and instead of showing clips of the supporting performances, the presenter would kind of talk about each actor or actress and kind of Move through and kind of giving them a bunch of praise and then announcing the award and in some cases with, like, costuming that you would have, like, five presenters each, you know, kind of representing each nominee, talking about their virtues. What did y'all think about that?

[Aisha Harris]

I was very worried about this. Cause I was worried it was gonna come off. Like, I'd like to thank the little people, right? Very condescending. But they did something very smart, which is they had the actors talk about the nominee that they worked with in the film that they were nominated for. So they did this both for cinematography and for costume design. I thought the actors praising the cinematographers was sincere. I felt a little rote. But the actors praising their costume designer, that felt very real to me. And I think that's because that's a very immediate and intimate real relations that develops over time. And so all of a sudden, it felt like these stars had a rooting interest, like they were each rooting for their person.

[Stephen Thompson]

If I have to say the words sumptuous fabrics one more time in an interview, I'm going to defy gravity off.

[Linda Holmes]

The side of this stage. Paul, how very dare you for being.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Such a one of a kind talent.

[Stephen Thompson]

I love you so much.

[Aisha Harris]

And the ultimate winner was Paul Tazewell for Wicked, the first black man to win this category. And you could just tell how happy Bowen Yang was. For him, it was great.

[Bill Skarsgard]

I mean, this felt like the best case scenario of this format, but I still think it just kind of adds on more time. And when it came down to this happening with the supporting actor and actress categories, it came off a little bit more stilted, I think. Or just felt a little like when it's just Robert Downey Jr. Talking about each person, I'm just like, I don't know why, Just show me a clip instead.

[Stephen Thompson]

Sometimes it can at its worst, it can kind of just feel like celebrities fluffing celebrities.

[Linda Holmes]

Oh, it can. I just think it didn't.

[Aisha Harris]

And I just always find it cheesy and cringe. But. Except, you know, except for the costume designer this year. But I'm here for cheesy and cringe. I'm here for. That's the Oscars, baby. Go cheesy, go cringe.

[Stephen Thompson]

Well, never cheesy nor cringe are the musical numbers.

[Bill Skarsgard]

May I refer you to Rob Lowe and Snow White's at Oscars of yore.

[Stephen Thompson]

Never, never, never have the Oscars ever been cheesy or cringe in terms of musical numbers. But I did want to talk about the way the Oscars staged Music this evening because it was unusual, right? Like, the five nominees for Best Original Song were literally relegated to scan the QR code. You literally. If you wanted to hear the original song of nominees, you would scan a QR co. And as somebody who every year ranks the Best Original Song nominees, I think that was probably the right call. But then you had a whole bunch of musical numbers. The telecast opened with Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo performing several songs from the wizard of Oz cinematic universe. Ariana Grande performed Somewhere over the Rainbow. Cynthia Erivo performed Home, and together they sang Defying Gratitude.

[Aisha Harris]

Just you and I.

[Stephen Thompson]

You also had the less thematically relevant James Bond tribute where you had Lisa from Blackpink singing Live and Let Die. You had Doja Cat singing Diamonds Are Forever and the wonderful Never Pitchy Ray singing Skyfall. Then you had, you know, the In Memoriam incorporated music. And then you had Queen Latifah singing Eason down the Road from the Wiz as a tribute to Quincy Jones.

[Aisha Harris]

Come on in.

[Linda Holmes]

Ease on down. Ease on down the road. Come on, y'all.

[Stephen Thompson]

What did you guys think of the music on this telecast?

[Aisha Harris]

I'm seeing a lot of folks online complaining about the dance numbers. I'm going to rush to the barricades to defend the old school dance numbers, not just because I'm a gay man, although that is a factor. But also, they're so much more preferable to those interminable Oscar montages, which are just clips from various movies united by some theme, like a salute to the car chase. Who cares? You know, you can get that on YouTube.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Well, we did get a salute to LA, for obvious reasons.

[Aisha Harris]

We also got a bunch of clips from Bond movies. But, like, this is an awards ceremony, right? An awards ceremony is a live event. It is people together in a room. It is theater. It's often very boring theater. But whenever you can get some actual theater into the mix, I say do it.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah.

[Stephen Thompson]

I mean, that was an exasperated. Yeah, I know. It's like one o'clock in the morning.

[Bill Skarsgard]

Yeah, okay.

[Linda Holmes]

No, here's the thing.

[Bill Skarsgard]

I enjoyed the opening number of Summer of the Rainbow and Cynthia Erivo singing Home from the Wiz, even though that's not in Wicked, obviously. And then they brought it in with Defying Gravity, and they sounded great. They also looked great. Loved it. Queen Latifah singing Ease on down the Road as a tribute to Quincy Jones, a song he did not write. Yeah. Yes. He composed the music and he arranged the music for the movie version of the Wiz, but he didn't Write that song. I would have loved to see someone perform. The theme song from in the Heat of the Night, which he did compose in the movie, was sung by Ray Charles. I know it's not necessarily celebratory in the way that Yson down the Road is, but I don't know, sometimes maybe we just need to be a little bit real.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yson down the Road at least had some verve.

[Linda Holmes]

I did sort of get the sense that they were trying to broaden out your idea of, like, yes, it's Wicked and it's the wizard of Oz and it's the Wiz. I felt like they were trying to create this sort of whole vision of that story and the different ways that that story has been inflected in film over time, which makes some sense to me. And I think that. Cause when Ariana Grande came out, she sang Somewhere over the Rainbow. So the only song that was from Wicked in that opening number is Defying Gravity. Right, Right. It's a Wizard of Oz number and a Wiz number and a Wicked number. But I agree with Aisha that I wanted them to do either more with that number or less.

[Aisha Harris]

It felt.

[Linda Holmes]

And I guess this is what Glenn is saying is it's a very standard awards show number, and maybe there was something cooler that you could have done for Quincy Jones. The James Bond thing, to me is like, it's fine. I mean, I liked the fact that they showed off some good singers. Oh, and I did want to say about the In Memoriam thing, the one thing I agree with Glenn, that the In Memoriam music was pretty on the nose. But I did think. The other thing I liked about this telecast was that they foregrounded the orchestra quite a bit in this telecast. So I liked the fact that you saw quite a bit of the orchestra. They were very present and they were very visible, and I enjoyed that. I enjoyed the orchestra.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah, I like the orchestra being above the stage. Above and behind the stage. It was a cool visual. I hadn't seen that before.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. All right. Well, I think it's fair to say we are satisfied.

[Bill Skarsgard]

I mean, we're here.

[Stephen Thompson]

This puts a wrap on another awards season. We want to know what you think about this year's Oscars. Find us at Facebook. And one last thing before we go. You've heard us talk about pop culture happy hour, plus many times on the podcast. And starting this weekend, we're gonna be releasing monthly bonus episodes. These are gonna be mailbag style. Linda, what are you and I talking about in our first episode?

[Linda Holmes]

Well, Steven, somehow you and I have found a way to have a discursive conversation with each other. What we are answering listener Elizabeth R's question. Thank you, Elizabeth R. For your question. What's more fun to discuss, something you love or something you hate? And do you like it when your feelings conflict with one of the other hosts? As you may have been able to tell from this very episode, sometimes our feelings do conflict. So we will get into it and talk about what that's like.

[Stephen Thompson]

Yeah. So if you want to get these monthly bonus mailbag episodes, subscribe now to pop culture happy hour [e-mail] happy we'll also have a link in our episode description. That brings us to the end of our show. Linda Holmes, Alicia Harris, Glenn Weldon, thanks so much for being here.

[Aisha Harris]

Thank you.

[Linda Holmes]

Thank you.

[Stephen Thompson]

This episode was produced by Mike Katsif, Liz Metzger at Hafsa Fathoma and edited by Jessica Reedy. The whole team worked on this one. And hello, Come in provides our theme music. Thank you for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. I'm Stephen Thompson, and we will see you all next time.