Oscars ceremony was full of standout moments — from the show’s powerful opening number featuring Wicked nominees Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo to Conan O’Brien’s hosting zingers — but the night was also filled with famous firsts.

Twenty-two years after winning best actor for “The Pianist,” Adrien Brody won the same Oscar again for his performance as another Holocaust survivor in Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist.” He somehow kept the playoff music at bay.

Anora was the film of the night, Adrien Brody can’t put a sock in it, A Complete Unknown went home empty-handed, Brady Corbet never got a chance to speak, I never need to hear a song from any show in the Wizard of Oz franchise ever again and the world can finally forget Emilia Pérez ever happened!

Grande first delivered a moonlit rendition of “Over the Rainbow,” which Judy Garland famously sang as Dorothy in the movie “The Wizard of Oz.” Erivo then belted her version of “Home” from the 1975 Broadway musical “The Wiz,” a Dorothy number originally performed by Stephanie Mills onstage and by Diana Ross in the 1978 film adaptation.

Not only did Sean Baker win the Best Director for the night at the Oscars 2025, his movie Anora also bagged the Best Picture at the 97th Academy Awards this year. Baker was a first time nominee in the category of Best Director and the film on the whole earned six nominations at the awards.

Sean Baker’s acclaimed dramedy dominated the 2025 Oscars ceremony, which also included emotionally searing acceptance speeches and high-energy musical numbers.

Anora has triumphed at the 2025 Oscars, netting five Academy Awards and an impressive first-time distinction for writer-director Sean Baker. The indie film, made for just $6million (£4.7m), was the big winner of the night,