The 97th Academy Awards are spreading the love around, dishing out awards to “Anora,” “Conclave,” “Wicked” and “The Substance” in the ceremony’s first two hours

This year’s Oscars ceremony has already seen a standing ovation-prompting performance by Wicked duo Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, a show-stopping Adam Sandler moment, and two wins so far for Anora director Sean Baker.

It’s a truth universally acknowledged at the Vanity Fair Oscars party that if you see flash bulbs out of the corner of your eye, and then everyone rushes toward the front of the room, someone with an Oscar just walked in.

An awards season full of unpredictable twists came to a close with Sunday night’s 97th Academy Awards. Director Sean Baker’s rollicking Anora was the night’s big winner, scoring Oscars for five of its six nominations, including for Best Picture.

The Vanity Fair Oscar party saw Hollywood A-listers fawning over Cynthia Erivo and Zoe Saldana, and Sean Baker and his “Anora” crew passing around their statues.

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.

The 97th Academy Awards are spreading the love around, dishing out awards to “Anora,” “Conclave,” “Wicked” and “The Substance” in the ceremony’s first two hours.

Smaller movies didn’t mean smaller viewer numbers for the Oscars. An estimated 19.7 million viewers watched Sunday night’s 97th Academy Awards ceremony, the biggest audience in five years.

Mikey Madison won Best Actress for 'The Substance' at the Oscars 2025, beating Cynthia Erivo, Karla Sofía Gascón, Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres.

This year’s Oscars ceremony has already seen a standing ovation-prompting performance by Wicked duo Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, a show-stopping Adam Sandler moment, and two wins so far for Anora director Sean Baker.

Oscars was one for the books. From Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande’s breathtaking opening performance to the many wins for Sean Baker’s Anora starring Mikey Madison to Timothée Chalamet’s butter yellow suit,

Anora” and its star Mikey Madison had a huge night, Conan O’Brien threw heaters, and some winners shared political messages.