Oscars 2019: The memes and moments everyone is talking about

Last month, Tracee Ellis Ross and Kumail Nanjiani announced the nominees for the 91st edition of The Academy Awards, which took place on Sunday, February 24, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Following a groundbreaking year for the industry, which saw Hollywood attendees calling for better representation and a change in the industry’s attitude to women with the Time’s Up campaign on both the red carpet and the acceptance speeches, this time’s award ceremony saw a focus on the political, with calls to action against the current president being a common trope in acceptance speeches. Green Book, a film about a black musician and his white chauffeur driving through the segregated South bagged Best Picture; Bohemian Rhapsody won big with four awards, while Roma and Black Panther received three awards apiece. Scroll ahead for the most memorable moments from the 2019 Academy Awards.

Queen opened the show with special guest Adam Lambert

The surviving members of the classic rock band Queen were joined by Adam Lambert as they performed their hit numbers, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’, to open the 91st Academy Awards. The performance was in honour of the late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, as his biopic Bohemian Rhapsody won four trophies at the show, including Rami Malek for Best Actor. The star-studded audience was seen enjoying the performance, and going by the shares and retweets, fans particularly loved the close-ups of Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez rocking out to the songs.

Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and Maya Rudolph delivered a monologue at the host-less ceremony

The three actors referenced Donald Trump, the infamous Fyre Festival and the lack of anchors at this year’s awards in a monologue at the start of the show. Kevin Hart was initially pegged as the host for the evening, but he pulled out due to controversial comments he made about race in the past. “We’re not your hosts, but we’ll stand here a little too long so the people who look at USA Today tomorrow will think that we hosted,” said Fey, as the trio presented an award for best supporting actress (which went to Regina King for her work in If Beale Street Could Talk).

Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry showed up in their own costumes

Melissa McCarthy and Brian Tyree Henry showed off their own ‘best costumes’ as they announced the winner of Best Costume Design this year. They wore a medley of some of the costumes from the films nominated in the category—The Favourite, Black Panther and Mary Queen of Scots. McCarthy sported a gown with stuffed animals on it, attached to a long train and rabbit puppet, while Henry wore a cape, hat and mask on his ensemble.

Lady Gaga won her first Oscar (and everyone’s hearts during her performance with Bradley Cooper)

Lady Gaga has been having a busy awards season—after winning a Golden Globe and two Grammys for her song ‘Shallow’, she took home best original song at the Academy Awards as well. Gaga tearfully accepted the award and thanked her A Star is Born co-star Bradley Cooper. “There’s not a single person on the planet who could have sang this song with me but you,” she said. The two received a standing ovation for their performance, as they sang a stripped down version of the winning song while sitting at a piano and gazing into each other’s eyes—giving fuel to fans who are rooting for the two to have an off-screen romance as well.