The comedienne hosted the Academy Awards for the second time (the first was in 2007), filling her opening monologue with jokes about California's storming weather (of rain), the prettiest person in the room (Jared Leto) and the Oscars being so similar to The Hunger Games — because everyone is starving with cameras on them.
STORY: Oscars: Ellen DeGeneres Mocks L.A. Rain in Monologue, Calls Liza Minnelli a Drag Queen
During the ceremony, DeGeneres also popped out behind Sandra Bullock and Leonardo DiCaprio in the audience to take the ceremony to commercial, and she gifted Bradley Cooper lottery scratchers as a consolation prize.
STORY: Oscars: Ellen DeGeneres Mocks L.A. Rain in Monologue, Calls Liza Minnelli a Drag Queen
Anne Hathaway presented the award for supporting actor to Jared Leto for his role in Dallas Buyers Club. His speech included thanks to his mother and brother and a dedication to the victims of AIDS and the unrest in Ukraine and Venezuela.
Pharrell Williams rocked out to "Happy" at the Oscars on Sunday, during which he went into the audience to shimmy — literally — with Lupita Nyong'o, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams in the front row. With a black version of his now-signature Vivienne Westwood hat, Williams filled the stage with a choir of high school students and 20 professional dancers.
STORY: Oscars: Pharrell Williams Dances With Lupita Nyong'o, Meryl Streep on 'Happy'
Catherine Martin won the costume design award for The Great Gatsby. "I do have a few words tucked into my bra — it's a very Australian thing to do," she joked in her speech. "It's where you put your tissues!" Martin also won the production design Oscar for Gatsby with Beverley Dunn.
Dallas Buyers Club won the award for best hair and makeup, accepted by Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews. To Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey, they said in their speech, "Thank you so much for letting us transform and torture you through a million, bazillion changes a day!"
Frozen took home the award for best animated feature, accepted by Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee and Peter Del Vecho (pictured). Laurent Witz and Alexandre Espigares won the animated short award for Mr. Hublot.
STORY: Oscars: 'Frozen' is Disney Feature Animation's First Best Animated Feature Win
Karen O took the stage Sunday to perform the Oscar-nominated original song from Her, "The Moon Song," with Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig accompanying on guitar. Dressed in a deep-V red gown, a seated Karen O brought an ethereal mood to the Dolby Theatre, with Koenig's help on supporting vocals.
STORY: Oscars: Karen O Performs Ethereal 'Moon Song' With Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig
Netflix broke into the Oscar club Sunday night, winning its first Academy Award for the best documentary short subject The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life. Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed accepted the honor.
STORY: Oscars: Netflix Wins First Academy Award for 'The Lady in Number 6'
Morgan Neville, Gil Friesen and Caitrin Rogers accepted the award for best documentary feature for 20 Feet From Stardom. Darlene Love joined them onstage and broke out into "His Eyes Were on the Sparrow," earning a standing ovation.
STORY: Oscars: Darlene Love Gets Standing Ovation After '20 Feet From Stardom' Win
After Darlene Love's spontaneous solo, Kevin Spacey came onstage to present a segment on the Academy's honorary awards. But before doing so, he said in the voice of his House of Cards character Francis Underwood, "And I sing because it's so nice to be out of Washington and here with all my Hollywood friends."
Italy's The Great Beauty won the foreign language film Oscar, with Toni Servillo and Paolo Sorrentino accepting the award.
U2 sang their Oscar-nominated original song "Ordinary Love" from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom live for the first time. This is the band's second Oscar nomination (they were also nominated for "The Hands That Built America" from the 2002 film Gangs of New York) and their first new song in three years.
STORY: Oscars: U2 Receives Standing Ovation for Original Song 'Ordinary Love'
After changing into an all-white outfit, DeGeneres invited Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Lupita Nyong'o, Kevin Spacey, Jared Leto and Channing Tatum to join together for an epic star-studded selfie with the goal of breaking the Twitter record for most retweets. Subsequently, Twitter itself went down.
Lupita Nyong'o won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role in 12 Years a Slave. After thanking her character and Solomon Northup, she said to Steve McQueen, "You charge everything you fashion with a breath of your own spirit. Thank you for putting me in the position. It has been the joy in my life."
STORY: Oscars: Lupita Nyong’o Earns Her First Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
After joking that the Oscars were like The Hunger Games, DeGeneres distributed slices of pizza to the stars, with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Lawrence and more helping themselves to a slice, as Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey volunteered to help serve. Though Leonardo DiCaprio turned it down, DeGeneres made it a point to serve one star in particular: "Kerry Washington is pregnant, she needs some."
Gravity won the Oscars for sound mixing, sound editing, cinematography and film editing. Alfonso Cuaron and Mark Sanger accepted the award for film editing (pictured).
To present the ceremony's special tribute to The Wizard of Oz, Whoopi Goldberg came onstage and lifted her gown to reveal that she was wearing a pair of Dorothy's ruby red slippers, complete with the Wicked Witch of the East's signature striped stockings.
Pink had a memorable Oscar debut, paying tribute to the 75th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz by performing one of Judy Garland's most memorable songs, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," from the 1939 Oscar-winning film. Garland's three children — Liza Minnelli, Lorna Luft and Joey Luft — all reunited at the ceremony to celebrate their mother and the film.
After the commercial break, Degeneres emerged in a Glinda costume from The Wizard of Oz, joking that she was ready to take part in the anniversary tribute.
Bette Midler appeared for her first performance on the Oscars, to sing "The Wind Beneath My Wings" during the ceremony's In Memoriam segment.
STORY: Oscars: 'In Memoriam' Snubs Cory Monteith, James Avery, Tom Clancy
Degeneres followed her star-studded selfie with a shot with Liza Minnelli, either as a way to reconcile after calling her a drag queen in her monologue or as another opportunity to plug a Samsung product. Minnelli attended the show with siblings Lorna Luft and Joey Luft as the ceremony honored their mother, Judy Garland, in The Wizard of Oz.
Though he starred in three massive music movies (Saturday Night Fever, Grease and Hairspray), John Travolta misspoke when presenting the singer from the year's biggest music movie, Frozen, introducing Idina Menzel as "Adele Nazeem." Unfortunately, Degeneres only did a little bit better, calling her "Eye-dee-nuh" instead.
STORY: Oscars: John Travolta Breaks Silence Over Idina Menzel Name Flub
Broadway veteran Idina Menzel heated up the Oscars stage with her standout performance of Frozen's nominated song "Let It Go." Keeping on-message with the icy theme of the animated feature, Menzel — in a blush-toned dress, contrasting with her black gown from the red carpet — worked the bare stage against a backdrop of glistening floor-to-ceiling jewels.
STORY: Oscars: Idina Menzel Belts Out 'Frozen' Show-Stopper 'Let It Go'
Kim Novak and Matthew McConaughey presented the Oscars animation categories. While the two actors joked that both of them have dabbled with animation throughout their careers (Vertigo and Magic Mike), Novak paused to say that she's "glad to be here," and then the pairing both chose opposite phrases to announce the category, though said in unison. The moment made for one of Bing's biggest search spikes of the evening. Watch a clip here.
Steven Price won his first Oscar for Gravity's original score. "Alfonso [Cuaron], I share this with you, and you inspired every frame in this film, and, certainly, every note I ever wrote."
Oscars: 'Let It Go' Wins for Best Song, 'Gravity' for Best Score
Husband-and-wife composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez won the original song Oscar for "Let It Go" from Frozen, which they celebrated with a rhyming, melodic speech. The win also makes Lopez a rare EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) winner.
STORY: Oscars: 'Let It Go' Wins for Best Song, 'Gravity' for Best Score
At one point, DeGeneres walked through the aisles with Pharrell Williams' Vivienne Westwood Mountie hat to collect money for the pizza they ordered. Harvey Weinstein threw in $200 and asked, "Does that cover it?" DeGeneres replied, "It's a start," while John Travolta, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt and Chiwetel Ejiofor also tossed in a few bills. Lupita Nyong'o contributed her lip balm, to which DeGeneres said, "That's worth something!"
John Ridley won the adapted screenplay Oscar for 12 Years a Slave. He thanked producer Jeremy Kleiner, among others, saying, "You made the film happen."
STORY: Oscars: '12 Years a Slave's' John Ridley Wins for Best Adapted Screenplay
Spike Jonze won the original screenplay Oscar for Her. The writer-director thanked those who helped him make the film, saying, "I'm up here with all of my friends and family who support me and help me make what we make. We made a movie about relationships and intimacy, and that's what we share together."
STORY: Oscars Spike Jonze Wins Best Original Screenplay Honor for 'Her'
Throughout the evening, celebrities presented reels of film clips that celebrated heroes in film — real-life heroes (Gandhi, Silkwood), superheroes (Superman, The Dark Knight), animated heroes (Shrek, The Incredibles), action heroes (Seven Samurai, Gladiator), literary heroes (To Kill a Mockingbird, Grapes of Wrath) and more. Chris Evans (Captain America) introduced the superheroes segment.
Sidney Poitier came onstage with Angelina Jolie to present the best director Oscar. "It is my pleasure to be here in such inspiring company, to help celebrate all the extraordinary talent represented tonight," he said to a standing ovation. "It's encouraging and invigorating. Please, keep up the wonderful work."
Alfonso Cuaron also collected the best director Oscar for Gravity. In his acceptance speech, he thanked star Sandra Bullock as the heart of the film.
STORY: Oscars: Alfonso Cuarón Wins Best Director For 'Gravity'
Cate Blanchett won the best actress Oscar for Blue Jasmine. "Sit down, you're too old to be standing!" she laughed at the very beginning of her acceptance speech praising fellow nominees' performances. To Julia Roberts, she said, "Hashtag 'suck it,' you know what I mean?"
STORY: Oscars: Cate Blanchett Wins Best Actress for 'Blue Jasmine'
Matthew McConaughey won his first Oscar for his lead role in Dallas Buyers Club. He calmed his usual exuberance and concluded his heartfelt speech with his now-signature line — "All right, all right, all right" — from Dazed and Confused.
The final Oscar of the night, best picture, went to 12 Years a Slave. "It's been an absolute privilege to work on Solomon [Northup]'s story," producer Brad Pitt said before introducing director Steve McQueen. "Everyone deserves not just to survive but to live — this is the most important legacy of Solomon Northup," said McQueen toward the end of his speech. "I dedicate this to everyone who has endured slavery and to those who continue to endure slavery."
Benedict Cumberbatch was all over the awards circuit this year, with roles in both 12 Years a Slave and August: Osage County. Fittingly, he always seemed to be in-frame throughout the telecast, beginning with a hilarious U2 photobomb on the red carpet.