Oscars 2023: Facts you should know about entertainment’s biggest night

“We didn’t want to make this year all about last year,” McNearney, 45, told Variety. “I cannot tell you how many Will Smith jokes we had that then we got rid of.

aired Sunday night on ABC, was viewed by an estimated 18.7 million, according to preliminary Fast National Live+Same Day numbers released Monday by ABC. That’s up 12% from last year’s show — and was a three-year high — but was still low compared to most years.The evening’s main counterprogramming, the season finale of “The Last of Us” pulled in 8.2 million viewers across HBO and HBO Max. The show began at 9 p.m.

Whether it was the lingering drama of The Slap or the prominence of blockbusters in the best picture race, a bigger audience was lured back to the Oscars this year.

Oscars 2023 telecast — but was he wrong? Throughout the show, Kimmel was heard introducing the first time nominee as “Rih-Ann-uh,” which didn’t sit right with some of the “Bad Girl” icon’s fans. As per usual, rabid social media watchdogs promptly logged onto to Twitter to snap at this year’s Oscars host for mispronouncing the pop superstar’s name. “I will be haunted by Jimmy Kimmel’s pronunciation of ‘Rihanna,'” @hannahkritz complained.

Celebs gathered at the Dolby Theatre in California on Sunday night to celebrate the best of films at the 95th Academy Awards.

Jenelle Riley Deputy Awards and Features Editor History was made at this year’s Academy Awards, thanks to historic wins for Asian actors Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, along with costume designer Ruth E. Carter becoming the first Black woman to win two Oscars and best original song winner “Naatu Naatu” marking the first victory in the category for an Indian film. As expected, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” dominated with five wins, with “All Quiet on the Western Front” right behind it with four. In the meantime, acclaimed best picture nominees including “Elvis,” “The Fabelmans,” “Banshees of Inisherin” and “Tar” went home empty-handed despite 30 nominations between them. Here, Variety breaks down the biggest snubs and surprises of the 95th Annual Academy Awards.

went down largely as expected. However, there were some tight acting races that turned out differently from what many pundits assumed and some shocking slights in the less-glamorous categories. Here are the biggest snubs and surprises from the 95th Academy Awards.Austin Butler, who played the King, versus Brendan Fraser in “The Whale” for Best Actor was always a neck-and-neck fight. Even after Fraser was victorious at the SAG Awards, many thought Butler would still nudge him out at the Academy Awards.

In a night where "Everything Everywhere All at Once cleaned up, there were still many talented nominees who went overlooked from Stephanie Hsu to Colin Farrell.

2023 Oscars on Sunday.Will Smith didn’t return to violently clobber Chris Rock. He couldn’t.

a crisis team in place ready for any potential snafus. It was a stacked year for Best Picture, with the likes of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Women Talking,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,”  “Tar,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The Fabelmans” and “Elvis” facing off – not to mention, more crowd-pleasing hits such as “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.” The ceremony was staid, compared to last year’s infamous #SlapGate.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is the big winner of the night!

Academy Awards brought out the biggest names in Hollywood for a night of fun and celebration.Coming together at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, this year's Oscars was a musical performance-filled gala that also served as a celebration of cinema greatness and delivered some truly unexpected surprises and category upsets.Hosted once again by Jimmy Kimmel — serving as emcee for the third time -- this year's show expertly navigated the potentially choppy waters of the first show since the infamous slap heard 'round the world.From some long-awaited wins to some truly touching acceptance speeches, here are all the best, biggest and most memorable highlights from Sunday's 95th Oscars ceremony!After parachuting into the Dolby Theatre (literally dropping down from the rafters), Kimmel delivered a monologue that was gently playful, poking fun at some of the nominees but with a loving and considerate tone — for the most part.After ribbing Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and Tom Cruise, he addressed last year's infamous slap toward the end of his monologue, explaining, «We want you to have fun, feel safe, and most importantly, we want me to feel safe. So, we have strict policies in place.

Oscar at tonight’s (March 12) ceremony for his role in The Whale.The ceremony took place in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre, with Everything Everywhere All At Once leading the nominations going into the show.Fraser was named Best Actor for his role as Charlie in The Whale. “So this is what the multiverse looks like!” he joked as he collected the award.

scoring the award for Best Picture at the 2023 Oscars.Harrison Ford presented the award onstage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, where Hollywood’s biggest stars gathered to celebrate the big night, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.Directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who had won earlier in the evening, were joined on stage by the entire cast to accept the historic award.“The world is changing rapidly and I fear our stories are not keeping at pace and sometimes it’s a little scary,” Kwan said, “but I have great faith in these stories.”“Everything Everywhere All At Once” received more Oscar nominations than any film this year with a whopping 11: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, two for Best Supporting Actress, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Score and Best Song.The movie ended up winning seven of the 11 noms, including Best Picture, Best Actress for star Michelle Yeoh and Best Director for filmmakers Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan.The film was the movie to beat this year, having won the top prizes at both the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Producers Guild Awards.The comedy-drama beat “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tár,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Triangle of Sadness” and “Women Talking” for Oscar victory.“Everything Everywhere All At Once” made history as the first sci-fi film to ever win Best Picture.The movie stars Michelle Yeoh — who won Best Actress — as a Chinese immigrant who is swept into parallel universes in order to save all of existence and connects with the other lives she could have led.“Everything Everywhere All At Once” is also the first film to win

Everything Everywhere All At Once.”Yeoh, 60, is the second woman of color to win in the category, following Halle Berry for “Monster’s Ball” (2001).In her speech on stage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, she tearfully thanked her cast and crew in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and her family. “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities,” Yeoh said.

said in The Guardian at the time. “He was lucid, conscious.

swooped in to deliver a powerhouse performance of “Hold My Hand” at the last minute on Sunday — RiRi still got the prime spot as the final Best Song performer.Backed by strings and a choir, she shined in a sparkly, bejeweled black gown while delivering a solemn yet gospel-spirited rendition of “Lift Me Up” that drew a standing O from the audience — including boyfriend A$AP Rocky — as much for Bosemanas for her performance.But it remained to be seen if Rihanna and her co-writers — producer Ludwig Göransson,  “Wakanda Forever” director Ryan Coogler and Nigerian artist Tems — would take home the Best Original Song Oscar.“Lift Me Up” — released last October and serving as Rihanna’s comeback single after a lengthy music hiatus — faces stiff competition from Lady Gaga’s “Top Gun: Maverick” track “Hold My Hand” as well as “Naatu Naatu,” the “RRR” ditty that became the first tune from an Indian film to win the Golden Globe for Best Original Song in January.The other contenders include “Applause,” the “Tell It Like a Woman” tune that scored the 14th nomination for perennial Best Song bridesmaid Diane Warren; and “This Is a Life,” the “Everything Everywhere All at Once” number performed and co-written by Son Lux’s Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski.Follow The Post’s Oscars 2023 live coverage Rihanna’s Oscar night appearance continues an impressive streak for the pop superstar.

Angela Bassett made history as the first Marvel Cinematic Universe star to score a nomination in one of the big acting categories at the 2023 Oscars.

Steve Pond‘s final analysis of the race, the year’s seemingly unstoppable breakout hit probably won’t sweep Sunday’s ceremony, taking all 11 of its nominations, but it will definitely win a lot. And despite the film’s momentum, there are still plenty of big potential surprises in store, namely in three of the four acting races.

Hollywood is descending on the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles for the 95th Academy Awards.