On February 26, 2017, the Oscars ceremony presented actors, actresses, designers, choreographers, and others in the film industry with Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards (“Oscars”) for their outstanding work. Taking place in Hollywood and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, this ceremony as well as its performances were broadcasted worldwide. However, the entire award show was ultimately overshadowed by a severe faux pas at the very end of the ceremony.

The 2017 Oscars had quite a few mishaps throughout, including but not limited to a background dancer hitting Auli’i Cravalho with a prop during her performance of “How Far I’ll Go” from Moana, the Academy placing a photo of the wrong woman (who is still alive) in a memorandum slide, and the most glaring, severe miscommunication regarding the award for Best Picture.

Shree Menon ‘20 exclaims, “From the feud between Matt Damon and Jimmy Kimmel to candy falling from the sky to Denzel Washington marrying tourists, the night couldn’t be more humorous… oh wait, then it was Steve Harvey all over again!”

To give context, the Best Picture Award is the last award of the night. The extremely prestigious accolade is granted only to the world’s most elite and highest quality films. This year’s ceremony nominees included Arrival, Moonlight, La La Land, Manchester by the Sea, Lion, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, Hacksaw Ridge, and Fences. The presenters, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, Bonnie and Clyde, unknowingly walked on stage with the wrong envelope for the award winner. What they held was actually the envelope for Best Actress in a Leading Role, which was awarded to Emma Stone for her performance in La La Land. As such, Dunaway mistakenly announced that the musical film had won Best Picture.

As men with microphone headsets flooded onstage to correct the error, it became clear that the actual winner for Best Picture is Moonlight. The last time a mix-up like this happened was in 1964, with the Best Music Score award.

While the Best Picture gaffe was the most prominent incident during the ceremony, there were definitely other highlights of the show too. Lin Manuel Miranda, creator of Hamilton and contributor to the Moana soundtrack, introduced Auli’i Cravalho with a rap sequence leading directly into “How Far I’ll Go,” a nominee for Best Original Song.

Carollyne Conway ‘18 adds, “I loved Auli’i’s performance; she is so talented. She has a beautiful voice and absolutely crushed it. Also, the people with the “waves” dancing around were a really cool addition. She did such an amazing job and I’m in awe of her because she’s only 16!”

Additionally, John Legend, with a combination of both “City of Stars” and “Audition” from La La Land, took the stage to perform. His showcase included transitions with dancers and piano.

Although there were mistakes in the ceremony, these amazing and powerful highlights should not be overlooked. The 2017 Oscars Ceremony was riddled with many unexpected missteps, but nevertheless upheld the award show’s tradition of spectacular performances.