Those hilariously awesome, totally unexpected stars of the 2015 Oscars
Last night’s Oscars were filled with deeply moving speeches and profoundly heart-wrenching, brilliant performances that made us cheer and weep simultaneously. The true stars of the night (John Legend, Common, Patricia Arquette, writer/winner/speech genius Graham Moore, winners Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore—and even though he wasn’t nominated—the wonderful David Oyelowo whose reactions through the night completely encompassed our feelings.). And then there were those surprising stand-outs who we didn’t expect to leave such a lasting, and wonderful impression. Here’s a brief tribute to those other people (and things) who helped round out the night with lots of unexpected moments.
Seat Fillers!
If you’re lucky enough to be called up to the stage, you have to get there quick, and then you’re pulled away for a little bit to head into the Academy Award press room to gush about your new award even more. Someone’s gotta keep your seat warm back in the audience, right? That’s where seat fillers come in. Usually no attention is drawn to them — except this year when NPH started calling them out. He met one girl in the audience, who then moved to where Octavia Spencer was SUPPOSED to be sitting watching his Oscar predictions. After NPH’s bit with two seat-filling ladies in red, the Internet went wild over them. Yahoo Style called their outfits “chic.” People called them “so hot right now.” Hey, seat fillers were having a real moment.
Moms (and dads, too!)
Parents were the big winners at the Oscars. They dominated the coveted date spot, with Emma Stone and Bradley Cooper both taking their moms down the red carpet. Maybe you were lucky enough to catch Dakota Johnson and her mom, Melanie Griffith bickering like mom and daughter on the red carpet and you realized that they’re a regular mom and daughter duo.
But, the big parent moment came when JK Simmons took to the stage for his Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and reminded everyone in the audience — and back home — to not tweet or text their parents, but actually call them and have a real conversation. We will tomorrow, JK, don’t worry.
Legos
While The Lego Movie was not nominated for Best Animated Feature (even NPH made a jab about it, too) but it was a winner for a short Oscar moment. Singing sister dream team, Tegan and Sara sang The Lego Movie‘s song, “Everything is Awesome” and was joined by Andy Samberg’s Lonely Island comedy dream team. They were also joined by Batman — as played by Will Arnett, who voiced Batman in the movie — and Questlove playing Batman’s Robin. There were dancing construction workers, cowboys, and confetti, and then there were Lego Oscar trophies and everything was 100% awesome.
Adele Dazeem
One of the most notable moments of the 2014 Oscars came when John Travolta wickedly flubbed Idina Menzel’s name. She handled it like a pro, though, and laughed it off like the rest of us. But, very few days have gone by where we haven’t heard an Adele Dazeem joke. It’s pretty common by now.
Idina returned to the stage and introduced her “dear friend, Glom Gazingo.” Yes, that would be Travolta. The two of them had a good laugh about the mistake again, with Idina quipping, “It’s not like [the name] is going to follow me around for the rest of my life.” She’s a funny lady that IDINA.
Emma Stone’s Lego Oscar
Did you notice when our girl Emma got her hands on one of the Lego Oscar trophies, and clutched it tight as they read her name during the Best Supporting Actress nominations? It was a Tina-and-Amy-level joke and we seriously appreciated it. Quick, cast Emma in another movie so she can win an Oscar for real. STAT.Michael Keaton’s underwear Odd, but true. Michael Keaton’s underwear got not one, but two perfect shoutouts during the telecast. First, there was NPH’s little single-shot Birdman homage of him trying to get from his dressing room to the stage. Then, he took the stage in his tighty-whities, because why not? Then, later on in the show, while accepting the trophy for Best Director, Alejandro González Iñárritu mentioned that he was also sporting some original Michael Keaton briefs. Hey, obviously, they were good luck.
